The couple established a dry goods store, before adding a rum shop. This marked the start of offering a variety of products to ably serve the community for over three decades.

Chanka, the youngest of their 7 children, married fellow Pasea Village resident Indra Ramsaran and received the property from Maharaj upon his passing in 1970.
Focused on modernizing the business, Chanka and Indra immediately began to implement their plans to take it to a new level. In doing so they redefined the Tunapuna retail landscape, with the construction of a modern structure that would become the first multi-storey retail building outside of Port of Spain in 1972.

With everything in place; the new business model, the name C&I (Chanka & Indra) and the logo, an unexpected alternative presented itself. Chanka was offered a partnership at a prestigious international accounting firm. This opportunity would make Chanka the youngest person locally to be offered a partnership.

Both Indra and Chanka decided to take unexpected risks – Indra who was teaching at St Joseph’s Convent at the time – would forge ahead in running C&I, while Chanka pursued the partnership position.

Under Indra’s stewardship, C&I soared with her nurturing approach of running the store as an extension of her own family. She was lovingly addressed as “Mom” by both employees and customers alike. Indra was more than just a boss and supplier. She treated employees and customers as her own children, always providing sound guidance and advice as a mother would, and being a haven for those in need.

Indra’s strong ties and connections to the community, her unique insight into the latest trends and emerging styles, her in-depth understanding of what matters at the stages of life, and her natural creative flair, provided the platform that deeply satisfied the needs of the customers.

By the mid-1970s the store became a ‘go to’ location for the ideal products for everyday life, luxury items and special occasions. The store’s show windows became an unofficial landmark in Tunapuna, one that changed on a weekly basis to the delight of the local and wider national community.

Central to Indra’s ethos was the desire for her customers to benefit from the same products that she used, emphasizing the twin aspects of quality and affordability. These attributes were driven by the networks and connections that were created, from familial relationships that empowered C&I employees, to close bonds forged with the numerous repeat customers, as well as corporate social responsibility programmes to help uplift the immediate community and beyond.

Indra also ensured that the company kept pace with societal changes, which shifted rapidly from the corporate-minded 1980s to the beginning of the mass technological age of the late 1990s and the consumer’s greater individualism in the early 2000s.

Indra passed away in 2010 having created a robust organizational “Family First” culture within C&I, to ensure that it will live on successfully.

Our wish is for everyone to become part of the wonderful family we have built. C&I’s online evolution takes us into the exciting era of growing our ‘Family First’ community, without limits. It is our newest shop window and through it, we invite you to enjoy our convenient, state-of-the-art, personal shopping experience designed to meet your household’s specific needs.

Enjoy!