Talks with Saurabh Agrawal
Talks with Saurabh Agrawal
Aastha Almast, Co-Founder of New Shop
Aastha Almast, Co-Founder of New Shop
Aastha Almast is the co-founder of New Shop, India's largest tech-enabled convenience retail network , built on a 24x7 omnichannel franchise model that puts entrepreneur-operated stores at its core rather than corporate employees.
The New Shop scaled from zero to 57 stores in 20 months, grew revenue from ₹2 crore to ₹60 crore ARR in its early phase, and has since expanded to several hundred stores , including the rebranding of 24Seven outlets acquired from Godfrey Phillips India. Aastha leads business development, strategic partnerships, HR, and compliance for the network.
Her entire business case rests on one simple but striking comparison: India has approximately 1,000 organised convenience stores. The United States has 300,000. That gap , and everything needed to close it , is what The New Shop is building.
Background & Journey
Aastha studied Economics at Hindu College, Delhi University, and became one of the youngest certified NSE stock brokers at 18 while still an undergraduate, joining her father's stock broking firm. She completed a PGDM in Fashion Marketing from Pearl Academy as a full merit scholarship student and is also an alumna of IIM Calcutta.
She began her formal career in finance at Bank of America and Standard & Poor's Capital IQ. Before The New Shop, she founded multiple ventures: Motion Punch Studios (gaming), Smartican (AI-led content discovery), and ProductX (online reputation management) , each building a different dimension of her operational and marketing experience. She has been named to BW Businessworld's Retail World 40 Under 40 and won Retail Icon of the Year at the Golden Spoon Awards.
On Dilse Omni Talks
Aastha Almast recently appeared on Dilse Omni Talks with host Saurabh Agrawal, where the conversation explored “Why India's convenience retail sector is one of the largest untapped opportunities in the country”, and how The New Shop is building the infrastructure to capture it.
Background & Journey
Aastha studied Economics at Hindu College, Delhi University, and became one of the youngest certified NSE stock brokers at 18 while still an undergraduate, joining her father's stock broking firm. She completed a PGDM in Fashion Marketing from Pearl Academy as a full merit scholarship student and is also an alumna of IIM Calcutta.
She began her formal career in finance at Bank of America and Standard & Poor's Capital IQ. Before The New Shop, she founded multiple ventures: Motion Punch Studios (gaming), Smartican (AI-led content discovery), and ProductX (online reputation management) , each building a different dimension of her operational and marketing experience. She has been named to BW Businessworld's Retail World 40 Under 40 and won Retail Icon of the Year at the Golden Spoon Awards.
On Dilse Omni Talks
Aastha Almast recently appeared on Dilse Omni Talks with host Saurabh Agrawal, where the conversation explored “Why India's convenience retail sector is one of the largest untapped opportunities in the country”, and how The New Shop is building the infrastructure to capture it.
3 Key Takeaways from the Episode
● Franchisees outperform employees in retail. The New Shop's model is built on the same insight that makes kirana stores work: when an entrepreneur owns the outcome, the store runs better, serves customers faster, and generates more loyalty than a salaried employee managing a corporate-owned outlet.
● India's convenience retail gap is a structural problem, not a demand problem. The demand exists , Indians buy snacks, beverages, and daily essentials around the clock. What has been missing is the organised, tech-enabled format that meets that demand consistently and profitably.
● Acquisition can buy time, and in retail, time is everything. The 24Seven deal gave The New Shop existing locations, existing customers, and existing brand recognition overnight , saving months of location research that in retail is often the scarcest and most expensive resource of all.
3 Key Takeaways from the Episode
● Franchisees outperform employees in retail. The New Shop's model is built on the same insight that makes kirana stores work: when an entrepreneur owns the outcome, the store runs better, serves customers faster, and generates more loyalty than a salaried employee managing a corporate-owned outlet.
● India's convenience retail gap is a structural problem, not a demand problem. The demand exists , Indians buy snacks, beverages, and daily essentials around the clock. What has been missing is the organised, tech-enabled format that meets that demand consistently and profitably.
● Acquisition can buy time, and in retail, time is everything. The 24Seven deal gave The New Shop existing locations, existing customers, and existing brand recognition overnight , saving months of location research that in retail is often the scarcest and most expensive resource of all.
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