Starling Garments

Down in A Pudur, specifically at Swamynathapuram 1st Street, you’ll find our unit. It’s number 4-L and it's been the home for Starling Garments for some years now. The area is full of similar shops, so the hum of sewing machines is basically the background noise of the whole neighborhood. We have a small group of tailors who have been with us since the beginning. They know their way around the patterns better than I do. The street outside is narrow, so when a truck comes to pick up the finished garments, everything else has to stop. It’s a bit of a scramble every time. We don't have a fancy lobby or any air conditioning, just the big windows and some sturdy fans to keep the air moving while we work. My desk is right by the door so I can see who is coming and going. We don't use any big marketing plans; word just gets around from one person to another. Sometimes we stay late when a big order is due, and we’ll get some snacks from the shop down the road. The floor is always covered in thread and small scraps of fabric, no matter how much we sweep. It’s just the way a garment place looks. We are just a local business trying to keep the machines running and the orders moving out on time. It is a lot of work but we stay busy.