Every family business begins with a shop. However, very few grow into a habit! For over four decades, Arihant has been one of those habits for Gandhinagar families. It is basically a place people visit before weddings, festivals, school reopening, job interviews, family functions, and countless occasions in between. 

The store has seen children grow into parents, fashion trends come and go, and shopping moves from markets to mobile phones. Yet Arihant continues to hold its place. So, what makes the story interesting is not how many stores it opened. It’s how the business chose to grow which is Slowly and Consistently.
 

Across three generations of one family, without moving away from the values that built it in the first place. This is a Business Story about trust, patience, and the kind of entrepreneurship that compounds quietly over time.

 

 

One Simple Belief Of Arihant Outlets Which Made It Start 

The journey began in 1983 when Late Shri Jaysukhlal Tarachand Jhatakia opened the first Arihant outlet in Sector-21, Gandhinagar. Retail looked very different then. Customers weren’t comparing products online. There were no shopping apps, influencer recommendations, or endless discount banners. People bought from businesses they trusted. That understanding shaped Arihant from day one.

The focus was straightforward: quality products, fair pricing, and a shopping experience that made customers comfortable enough to return. And they did. Over the years, those customers became regulars. Then they became families. Then they became generations.

So, what started as a single garment store eventually became one of Gandhinagar’s most recognised family retail businesses. Today, Arihant operates four outlets across the city and provides employment to more than 130 people, making it a remarkable local success story in Gujarat’s retail landscape.

 

Three Generations And A 41-Year Entrepreneur Journey of Arihant Outlets

One of the reasons Arihant’s story stands out is because every generation added to the business without trying to replace what came before. In 1984, founder Jaysukhlal Jhatakia’s son, Jaideep (Jayesh) Jhatakia, joined the business after completing his studies. Years later, Himanshu Harkantbhai Jhatakia came on board in 2001. The third generation followed with Mohak Jhatakia, who joined after completing his MBA in 2014, and most recently Tirth Jhatakia, who entered the business after finishing his MBA.

For many young professionals, an MBA often opens doors to corporate careers. Mohak and Tirth chose to return to a business built by their family and carry forward a reputation that had taken decades to earn. This blend of experienced mentors and younger decision-makers has created an interesting balance. The senior generation understands relationships, customer behaviour, and market cycles.

The younger generation brings systems, technology, and fresh perspectives. Together, they are writing the next chapter of Arihant’s entrepreneur journey, a reflection of how the growth of Entrepreneurship often happens within family businesses that evolve with every generation.

 

 

One Outlet At A Time: The Growth Story 

Many businesses speak about rapid expansion. Arihant’s growth followed a different path. 

The first outlet opened in 1983. The second arrived in Sector-7 in 2004. The third outlet started operations in 2009. In April 2024, Arihant launched its flagship store in Kudasan. 

Four outlets across forty-one years.

The second store arrived after more than two decades of building trust. The third followed five years later. The flagship outlet at Kudasan marked another milestone in Arihant’s journey. Each expansion reflected confidence earned from customers rather than growth driven by speed. That patience reflects a larger lesson about Running A Business: sustainable growth happens when trust grows alongside it.

 

Why Do Customers Keep Returning to Arihant Outlets?

If you ask the Arihant team what keeps customers coming back, and the answer isn’t fashion. It’s trust. The business built its reputation around transparent pricing at a time when the market increasingly moved towards discounts, offers, and promotional tactics. That decision wasn’t always easy.

Convincing customers to embrace fixed pricing required consistency and confidence. Yet over time, that approach became one of Arihant’s biggest strengths. Arihant chose a path that wasn’t always popular in retail. While many stores leaned heavily on discounts and promotional offers, the business stayed committed to straightforward pricing and long-term customer relationships. Even its hassle-free return policy became part of the trust equation.

Customers knew exactly what they were paying for. They knew the quality they would receive. And they knew the business would stand behind its products. Over time, Arihant evolved into a complete family shopping destination, offering products across men’s, women’s, and kids’ categories under one roof.

 

 

Keeping Traditional Values Relevant In Modern Retail

Fashion retail today moves faster than ever. International brands have entered Indian markets. Trends change every season. Customers discover styles through Instagram and shop directly from their phones. Arihant has adapted to all of it.

The business continuously updates collections, trains employees, improves systems, and evolves the shopping experience to stay relevant for newer generations of customers. But the core philosophy remains unchanged.

Trust. Fair pricing. Customer satisfaction. Those values have survived changing markets because they solve something timeless: people want to shop from businesses they believe in.

 

Arihant Outlets is a Local Institution rather than just a Store!

Today, Arihant means different things to different people. For customers, it is a trusted family shopping destination. For Gandhinagar, it is a business that has grown alongside the city. For more than 130 employees, it is a source of livelihood and opportunity.

And for the Jhatakia family, it represents four decades of work carried forward by three generations. That impact extends far beyond retail. In many ways, Arihant represents the spirit of Business In Gujarat, relationship-driven, community-focused, and built with a long-term mindset.

 

 

What Arihant’s Story Teaches Young Entrepreneurs?

Every successful business develops systems over time. According to Mohak Jhatakia, every organisation has operational loopholes at some stage. The responsibility of a business owner is to identify them early and build strong processes around them. His advice to young entrepreneurs and family businesses is simple.

• Build systems.
• Focus on processes.
• Never compromise on ethics.
• Because systems create scale, but values create longevity.

For anyone interested in Entrepreneur And Entrepreneurship, that lesson may be more valuable than any growth hack.

 

The Next Chapter Of Arihant Outlets

After building a strong presence across Gandhinagar, Arihant is preparing for its next phase of growth. The company plans to expand into smaller towns where organised retail continues to gain momentum. An online platform is also in development, allowing customers to shop from anywhere while maintaining the same trust and service experience that has defined Arihant for more than four decades.

For a business that started with one store in 1983, the roadmap ahead remains rooted in the same philosophy:

Grow steadily. Serve consistently. Keep customers at the centre of every decision.

 

Conclusion

In a world fascinated by startup headlines and overnight success stories, Arihant represents a different kind of entrepreneurial success.

One built over decades. One built through relationships. One built by showing up for customers year after year.

From a single outlet in 1983 to four stores across Gandhinagar today, Arihant’s journey reflects some of the strongest qualities associated with Business In Gujarat, trust, discipline, ethics, and long-term thinking. And perhaps that’s why Arihant still feels familiar after 41 years.

It never chased attention. It earned trust. One customer, one family, and one generation at a time.

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