New-age Hotelier

Vipul Dua, 35, Founder and Managing Director, Peddlers

As a 12-year-old, Vipul Dua read somewhere that Cancerians are true hoteliers. To fulfill what he dreamt as a child, Dua opened a retro chic night spot – Peddlers in Sector 35, Chandigarh that gradually became Chandigarh’s favourite hangout destination. As of now Peddlers have five branches – three in Chandigarh, one in Amritsar and another in Ludhiana. Peddlers Patiala is going to be launched soon. SMART CHOICE Being an English pub that plays live music and gives platform to a lot of upcoming singers and bands is what eventually made Peddlers pick up as a concept. Dua says, “We devoted a day each to different bands and they performed live every day. If a Wednesday was dedicated to Gurnazar Live, Thursday was all about Swastik Band’s performance. These bands range from Bollywood to sufi, retro etc.”

PLAN B The recent liquor ban had every plan of spoiling Dua’s huge business but he immediately came up with another plan. “Last month we launched a Pan-Asian cuisine takeaway – Mrs Wong’s where we offer take away sushi, cuisine based dimsums and a Wox—is a box from the Wok.”