AFTER World War I, the family of the late Raman Lal Billimoria left India in search of a better life.
Sharing about their journey, Mr Billimoria’s grandson, Gitendra Kumar, said his forefathers settled in Suva for a while before they dispersed to other parts of Fiji.
He said some of his family members moved to Navua while his grandfather continued to scout for a place to settle and do business.
He ended up in Sigatoka and established the now famous R. Billimoria and Sons shop on Market Lane in the heart of the central business district.
Mr Kumar said his parents’ first venture in Sigatoka was mining.
However, he said, the business was not enough to sustain the family and a decision was made to open a garment shop.
“Before my family moved to Sigatoka, my granddad and my father were living in Suva, they came with a whole bunch of family members who had travelled from India after World War I was over,” he said.
“Because they were a big family, they slowly moved out of Suva which was a colonial town back then and some ended up in Navua.
“Some stayed back in Suva but my granddad was a bit more adventurous and decided to go to Sigatoka.
“Before he started the shop we now know as R. Billimoria and Sons, he was actually doing mining and he was very interested in manganese mining and it was all manually done those days.
“But that didn’t turn out so well so they decided to open a small shop opposite MHs around the market area there.
“The place was owned by a Chinese gentleman.”
Mr Kumar said when the shop was first established, it was a drapery shop and also specialised in readymade wear and tailoring.
“When we started, we used to have a team of tailors and now, over the years, we only have one tailor, all the old tailors passed away and I have one tailor who has been working with us for the past 45 years, he is retired but he does work from home.
“We have been specialising in tailoring for both men and women and we have continued to do so for the past 70 years.”
Mr Kumar said they became very popular because R. Billimoria was the first shop to sell Lee jeans in Sigatoka.
“We have been selling Lee jeans for the last 90 years and we were the first shop to sell it.”
While R. Billimoria and Sons has been a mainstay in the Sigatoka retail scene for more than 70 years, the future of the business was uncertain and Mr Kumar said he had been losing sleep over whether the store would still be around in the foreseeable future.
Mr Kumar said he feared that his son would sell the shop because he was not interested in the business.
“As we are getting older, hopefully we can still survive for the next 10 to 15 years, after that our children might want to sell it.
“Looking at the way things are going, none of our children want to be in business.
“We just don’t know how long it will last with the next generation not keen to work in the shop.
“They all want to work outside and we will try and carry it on until we no longer can. “It has always been a family-run business.”
R. Billimoria and Sons is one of the longest running businesses in Sigatoka along with Tappoos, Sigatoka Electric Ltd, Pratap Foodhall, MAMP Shop 2 Save Supermarket, Neels Restaurant, Bhavani Jewellers, Sigatoka Motor Spares and Patel’s Hardware to name a few.
