Ooty to get premium Tasmac outlet

The Nilgiris will soon have premium Tasmac outlets to cater to tourists thronging the hills for vacation as well as residents. Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (Tasmac) has chosen Ooty, Coonoor and Masinagudi in the Nilgiris to set up premium outlets and is in the process of scouting for buildings in posh localities with car parking facility.
The shops will target high-end customers and will store imported liquor and beer.Value added Indian liquor products will also be available at the shops with salesmen and supervisors donning uniforms. Customers can use their debit or credit cards for making payments at the computerised billing counter.
"The new outlets are for high end customers in the district and tourists. The supervisors and the salesmen will be given training on interacting with customers," said A Shanmugasundaram, senior regional manager, Tasmac.
The premium outlets will sell liquor in the range of 500 and 20,000.
"We don't see much potential for premium outlets in Gudalur town. However, we are conducting a survey and if there is a feasibility then a premium outlet will also be opened in Gudalur," he said.
According to him, last year, Nilgiri district, with 133 Tasmac shops, showed negative growth in sales. "We conducted a survey which revealed that liquors from other states were sold here illegally and mixing of water with liquor was rampant in the outlets. There were also cases of misappropriation of funds by employees. These malpractice ruined the sales growth in the Nilgiris", he said.
In the past few months, officials charged seven shops with misappropriation of funds and several other outlets were found selling liquor mixed with water. "We have dismissed 23 employees on charges of misappropriation and adulteration. Twenty eight cases are still to be investigated," he said. After stringent action by the officials, the Tasmac outlets in the Nilgiris have shown an average of 10% growth this current year, according to him.