Billing for your clothing shop in Lakshadweep
Lungi lengths, kachi cloth and shirts by size, each counted when it is cut or sold.
From the roll on the shelf to the length in the customer's hand
Short ends sold as a lot of their own, and rolls named by the ship
Keep the last ends of rolls as an item of their own, at their own rate. Name each new roll with the day the ship brought it, so that a customer who wants more of the same cloth gets it from the roll she bought from. When a roll holds less than she asks, the phone says so before you pick up the scissors.
The tailor sees the bill too
A customer buys cloth and goes to a tailor. Send the bill to the tailor on WhatsApp as well, with the metres and the border on separate lines, so he cuts what was paid for. A kachi of the wrong length is a loss for the customer and a quarrel for the shop, and the bill ends it before it starts.
The black border, sold by the metre beside the cloth
Make the border an item of its own, sold by the metre. A bill for four metres of white cotton and a metre and a half of black border shows each length on its own line, and each roll's count goes down by what was cut from it. The black border no longer goes unnoticed on the shelf, because it is on the same list as the cloth.
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Tools for a counter that sells cloth by the metre and shirts by size
Daily reports
The metres of each cloth and border that went every day, so the cloth that sells best before a wedding is read from the last one.
Low stock warnings
The rolls running short, with the black border near the top, so it is on the order for the next ship and not missed.
Bills on your phone
Four metres of white cotton and a metre and a half of black border on two lines, with the bill sent to the customer's tailor as well.
Handwork and the cloth counter
Handwork is one of the key sectors the Industries Department names for the islands, and a clothing shop meets the people who do it.
- The Industries Department names coir production, coconut-based industries and handicrafts as the key sectors of Lakshadweep.
A cut length, a size that ran out and a wedding cloth on order
The same cloth, a month later, in another shade
A customer buys two metres of a plain cloth and comes back a month later for two more to match. The roll from the next ship is a little different in shade, and she notices on her own sleeve. You cannot say which roll the first two metres came from, and the customer cannot say what she paid.
Shirts by size beside lungi by the metre
A lungi is cut by the metre, so it has no size. A ready-made shirt or trouser has one, and the younger and town men who wear them ask for the size, not the length. The middle sizes go first, and the ship brings a box that is half small and half large. You can say how many metres of lungi cloth are left, but not how many medium shirts.
The border that goes with the cloth
A woman's kachi in black or white has a black border, and the border is cut as a length of its own. A customer asks for four metres of white cloth and a metre and a half of border, and you cut one and then the other from two rolls. At the end of the day the count of each roll is a guess, and the border runs out without anyone noticing. On the day of the wedding the family asks whether the border can be had by the evening.
A craft trust whose stores and stock list came together
What island clothing shops ask
Can the ends of rolls sit in the stock as one item?
Yes. Make an item for the short ends, priced per metre, for the island's small tailoring jobs. Between ships no new roll comes, so when a roll is down to its last piece, move it to the item and the tailors can see what is left.
A wedding is tomorrow and the border for the kachi must be cut tonight from a separate roll. How do I keep the two rolls straight?
Name each roll for what it is, the kachi cloth and the black border, so they are two items. Tonight's cut puts the metres of each roll on the bill, and by morning each roll's count is what is really left, with the wedding order already done.
A wedding family orders a kachi before the ship and pays part now. What do I write?
Bill what was paid, naming the kachi, and keep the rest on the family's page. Note the cloth against your order when the ship brings it, then make a second bill for the balance.
What islanders wear
Men in Lakshadweep usually wear a white or coloured lungi of light cotton; younger and urban men often add a shirt or wear western shirts and trousers. A clothing shop sells the cotton by the metre for the first and the shirts by size for the second.
Lakshadweep women's daily kachi is black or white with black borders, while silk kachis worn at weddings and special occasions are mostly red with black borders. The everyday cloth is a steady sale, and the red silk is the piece that is ordered ahead.