Billing for your footwear shop in Himachal Pradesh
Boots before the snow, the pair brought back after a wet walk and the April school shoes, on your phone.
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The old bill found at the counter, the paule as a visitor's gift and the maker's lots on his page
A boot changed after a wet walk, written down as two bills
When the man returns with the boot that leaked, find his bill, cancel it and make a new one for the pair he takes instead. The cancelled bill and the new one both stay on record, so the change is written down and next season you can see which make of boot came back.
Paule and woollen socks as the visitor's gift
A visitor picks up a pair of paule, the woven slippers with wool on top, and a pair of woollen socks to carry home as gifts. Each is its own item, at its own rate, and the visitor pays by UPI at the counter. The bill reaches his phone on WhatsApp before he leaves the shop. The gift is wrapped in the bill as much as in paper.
The mended boot done in a quarter hour, while the trekker runs for his bus
The bench has glue, thread and a quarter hour. Make the mending one item sold by the job, so the trekker's bill is ready when the last stitch is, and he is on his way with the boot before the bus leaves.
The boots of the first snow week, the pair that leaks after a wet walk and a chappal made to measure
Five pairs for one family in the week the snow comes
When the first snow is a day away, a father brings his whole family: his wife, his mother and three children, each with a different foot. You find five pairs in five sizes, and he pays in one lump from the roll in his pocket. He leaves with the boots in two bags. A week later one pair is too tight and he comes back to change it, and you cannot say which size went to whom, which pair was the tight one, or what each cost. The shop remembers one total and five different feet.
The pair that leaks after a wet walk
A man comes back a week after the first snow with a boot in his hand. It leaks, he says, after a long walk in wet snow, and he wants it changed. He has no bill, you have no way to find the day he bought it, and the pair was one of three you sold that morning. You change it to keep the peace and lose the margin, or you refuse and lose the customer.
The trekker's sole that came away on the stones
In the walking weeks a visitor from the plains comes in with a boot whose sole has come away after one day on the stony path. You glue and stitch it at the bench in the corner while he drinks his tea, and he pays a few coins and runs for his bus. The glue, the thread and the quarter hour are never written anywhere. At the month's end the bench has worked every day and the book does not know it.
What a hill footwear shop keeps on the phone, from the first snow to the school shoes
Credit book (khata)
A page for the family of five with each pair and its size under the name of whose foot it is, so in the next snow week the boots for the smallest foot are not guessed from the father's.
Orders to suppliers
A page for the maker, with each order, its style and size and the customer it is for, and each pair noted as the bag comes back.
Daily reports
Which Chamba chappal styles the visitors took, read day by day, so the maker is asked for the styles that moved.
Chamba's rumal, Shimla's bazaars and the Mandi crossroads, as a shoe shop hears of them
A footwear shop in the hills hears about the crafts and bazaars of other districts from the people who walk in.
- Chamba Rumal, an embroidered handicraft and common wedding gift, is Chamba district's One District One Product.
- Shimla's main shopping areas are The Mall, Lower Bazaar for daily items, Tibetan Bazaar for imported electronics and fancy items, and Lakkar Bazaar for wooden crafts.
- Mandi town sits where National Highways 20, 21 and 70 meet, and the whole district depends on it for trade and commerce.
What footwear shop owners in Himachal ask
How do I tell a worn sole from a leak the shop should change?
Look at the day on the bill and at what the boot has done since. A boot that leaks within a week of a wet walk is the shop's to change, and one that is worn after a season is not. The page keeps what was agreed, so the next visit starts from it.
Every Chamba chappal style comes in its own sizes. How do I keep the styles apart on the phone?
Name each item with its style and its size, such as nokdar 8 or V-shaped 7, each with its own rate and count. A customer who asks for the fish-design in a size is told in a moment whether the shelf has it.
A guesthouse takes a dozen woollen socks and a visitor takes one pair. Can both come from the same item?
Yes. Make woollen socks one item with its rate for a pair. The visitor's bill has one pair and the guesthouse's has twelve, and the count of socks goes down by the same number.
Chamba chappals and their dozen styles
Chamba Chappal, handcrafted leather footwear made in Chamba district, was certified as a Geographical Indication product on 14 September 2021. The GI tag makes the name something a shop can say with confidence.
Chamba chappals now come in about a dozen styles, including nokdar, V-shaped and fish-design, made from sheep and goat skin and other leathers. A shop that stocks several of them has several items on its shelf.