When Comic Con returned to Hyderabad this September, the multi-genre entertainment and comic convention gave a huge boost to Hoozinc, which sells quirky merchandise and geeky T-shirts. Started by Chandni M Sakurikar and Nikhil Kapur in 2011 as an online venture, Hoozinc has opened a store in the upmarket Banjara Hills of Hyderadad. Both were fresh out of a mechanical engineering college when they started Hoozinc.
Comic Con—which originated in San Diego, USA—first came to India in 2011. The main edition is held in New Delhi every year, while Express editions are held at Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Comic Con Hyderabad was launched on September 21, 2013.
“There is a lot of awareness after Comic Con come to Hyderabad as people have been exposed to something like this, so there is a better market for us. According to Comic Con, Hyderabad is the highest spending city after Delhi,” 25-year-old Sakurikar says.
Kapur says Comic Con’s third edition in Hyderabad gave them the brand recognition they were looking for. “This year, Comic Con was bigger and better than before. We started receiving orders from Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai due to our presence in Comic Con,” says Kapur.
“We started with T-shirt designs of our own and eventually drifted into custom prints. In the first year, we were producing T-shirts and selling a lot of custom artwork. After a year, we started a store in Hyderabad, where we started selling merchandise, which included bobbleheads, and posters, banners, coffee mugs, etc of English TV shows and movies,” says Sakurikar. Their initial investment was Rs 80,000, and after Comic Con came to Hyderabad, they earn Rs 53 lakh annually.
They started Hoozinc from a spare bedroom and sold their products through Facebook. “It did really well, and then we took a big risk of opening the store. It worked and we started getting a lot of clients. We did all its promotion through social media,” she says. “Now we’re partners with Baahubali (S S Rajamouli’s multi-lingual blockbuster movie) and have tied up with them for their accessories. We display accessories badges, art frames, posters, mugs, etc.” T-shirts of superheroes and famous people are hot sellers.
“Baahubali is a one-of-a-kind film that captured the country’s imagination. Shah Rukh Khan’s Ra.One had also given out merchandise, but it didn’t find many takers. If a film or show does well, we will come up with merchandise,” says Sakurikar.
Prices of their products range from Rs 200 to Rs 10,000. The most popular merchandise is that of actors of English TV shows like The Big Bang Theory, Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad, among others.
Hoozinc has two people working for them in the store and two more freelancers who take care of the online platform. While online shopping is favoured these days, the Hoozinc store gives “customers an experience when they visit. Most people come because they want to get a feel of this place. We also have an online store,” says Sahurikar.
Hoozinc plans to strengthen its presence on the Internet and take the brand outside Hyderabad. “We do a lot of graffiti and are exploring the scene outside Hyderabad. We are looking at Delhi and Mumbai as major markets. We’re looking at opening another store in Hyderabad and are also working on our online market,” she says.]
Zing Thing
● Sakurikar and Kapur started Hoozinc from a bedroom in 2011
● Products cost between Rs 200 and Rs 10,000
● The most popular merchandise is of actors of English TV shows like The Big Bang Theory, Game of Thrones
● They have partnered with Baahubali to sell the film’s merchandise