Inc 5

No Guarantee On Fancy Goods reads a notice over the cash desk at Inc. 5. Har! Har! Hyuk! Nice one! And we thought we were the only funny ones around. Waitaminnit! These people are not joking. They don't have a funny bone in all their collective bodies. That's 4 bodies into 206 bones, which makes it... er... 824 bones. And that brings us closer to the required word limit. Yes!

After reading that disclaimer, a quick glance around the place will tell you, you're doomed. In screaming red letters. All the merchandise here is fancy-schmancy. And you don't have the choice of walking out empty-handed. The smart salesmen here will see to it that you don't. Once in, they'll make sure you walk out poorer by a few hundreds and skipping in your new footwear. Yes, skipping! That's how blissfully unaware you'll be.

And the cause for that effect is not one but 20. Anna Romanov, Florsheim, No Limits, Marco Ricci, Studd, Raspberry, Lee Cooper, Red Tape, Wild Fire, Cat, Ganuchi, Franco Leone, Mojri, Dong Fang Dubai, Calynda, Picasso, Skechers and Aster are all of the causes. These are the names that are tagged onto the footwear that preens itself on the Inc. 5 shelves.

Inc. 5 is the latest in footwear stores from the house of Regal Shoes. It has branches in Hyderabad, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Baroda. The Hyderabad sister spreads itself over a marvelously lit 650 square feet, and stocks men's and women's footwear, belts and handbags.

Men's footwear is priced between Rs. 795 and Rs. 4,795, a Florsheim pair being the one on the upper limit. Women's footwear starts at Rs. 450 and goes up to Rs. 2,995 for a pair of sleek, Anna Romanov stilettos.

The belts here are in-house designs and range between Rs. 495 and Rs. 595. The handbags and purses are available in various colors to be hidden only by embroidery and sequins, and can burn a hole to the size of Rs. 2,985 in your pockets. One such bag comes with a pair of matching sandals. Talk of your fancy deals.

The store has two kinds of floorings ? one is carpeted, and the other wooden ? to help you test your prospective purchase on different surfaces.

So pull up those socks, chin up, march in and get ready for some heavy-duty unnecessary shopping.