Indian Talent, Global Content
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Indian Talent, Global Content |
August 2008: What's in the breeze |
News Update from the Retail Scene in India
The retail industry could see a sea change with the Government of India considering Foreign Direct Investment. With this in view, Chillibreeze plans to bring you periodical updates on the retail scene in India.The Chillibreeze Business Research Team has writers with interest and experience in the Retail industry, will be populating this page with the updates. Retail News 30th April - 6th May 2006 For other weekly updates click: Weekly Retail Update
April 30th - May 6th India Retail News: Foreign Craze, Swatch, Gucci, Childrenswear1. Tuesday, May 2, 2006 Pantaloon Retail opened its newest retail venture Depot, specializing in books, music and gift items in Mangalore. According to Preeti Vyas, the company has “aggressive plans” for this segment of the retail space and will be opening several stores across the country. Store sizes will vary as will the formats; some will function as standalone stores and other will be part of either Big Bazaar or Central. Pantaloon is planning to have 100 stores in the next eighteen months with the next opening slated for Ahemdabad in June. Source: The Hindu Business Line 2. Tuesday, May 2, 2006 Pantaloon Retail’s hypermarket format store, Big Bazaar will be opening several stores in the east, with the bulk of the openings taking place in tier II towns. The new stores will be opening in Haldia, Barddhaman, Kharagpur, Ranchi, Agartala and Patna. According to Rajan Malhotra, head big Bazaar category management (apparels), all Pantaloon Retail formats will have an increased presence in the east with 40 to 50 stores opening in the region. Source: Business Standard 3. Wednesday, May 3, 2006 Pantaloon Retail is reorganizing its healthcare and beauty services under a new brand, Health Village. The new brand will be opening first in Ahmedabad and then Bangalore and Mumbai. According to Rahul Bhalchandra, head Wellness, for Pantaloon Retail; this will be a new format by including products and services. The Health Village brand will be targeted to the lower and middle income segment and will use fair prices, which will be lower than the current levels, as well as its variety of products and services to attract its customers. Its sub-brands will include Star & Sitara for its beauty salons, Tulsi for its pharmacy, Tumeric for its beauty stores centers, Roots for its fitness centers and Elaichi for its health café. Source: The Hindu Business Line 4. Thursday, May 4, 2006 K Raheja Group’s retail division, Shopper’s Stop announced that net profits had risen by 73.7% to Rs. 70.3 million for the quarter that ended March 2006. Sales have risen by 43% to Rs. 1.52 billion, while before tax profit increased by 136% to Rs. 11o million. The company’s expansion has resulted in employee costs increasing by 39.7% to Rs. 40 million. According to BS Nags, MD Shopper’s Stop, 62% of total sales resulted from its First Citizen loyalty programme. Shopper’s Stop recently ventured into the food and beverage business and opened its café BRIO in Bangalore and Mumbai. It has also become the franchisee for UK based Mothercare, which opened in four of its stores. Currently there are 19 Shopper’s Stop stores, 1 Home Stop store and 31 Crossword stores in 10 cities in India. Source: Economic Times 5. Thursday, May 4, 2006 Even in the current liberalized economy, foreign products are still high selling items. Sankalp Retail Value Stores (SRVS) is the master franchisee for US based My Dollar Store, which has been opening 5 stores a month for the past three months. Ajoy Krishnamurti, CEO for SRVS said that the company plans to open five to seven stores each month of the next three months. My Dollar Stores stock 23 product categories with 70% sales taking place through food, cleaners and cosmetic items. The company has been opening stores with Spencer’s Hypermarket in Aurangabad and will follow the same arrangement when it opens in Chennai. Other upcoming openings will be in Nashik and Pune. Source: Economic Times 6. Thursday, May 04, 2006 Monalisa, a childrenswear brand from Italy will be entering the Indian market through a licensing agreement with garment manufacturer Kads Fashion in India. The stores will officially be launched in January 2007 but a “soft launch” is planned for September in 40 stores in Delhi-NCR in multi brand stores. The Monalisa brand will be targeting the 0-15 age bracket and will offer accessories like caps, hats and scarves. Although, the prices of the garments will be slightly higher than other children’s wear brands, they while still being affordable. Piero Jacomoni, President and CEO of Monalisa said "India is one of the big emerging economies and we think our brand will do well here." Source: The Hindu Business Line 7. Thursday, May 4, 2006 In preparation for its entry to the retail segment, UB Group has appointed KSA Technopak as its retail consultant and to conduct a detailed market study. The focus of the study will be on fashion items, accessories, apparel and innerwears with the ‘Kingfisher’ brand. According to sources, the company plans to invest Rs. 5 billion as an initial investment to enter the market. Source: Business Standard 8. Thursday, May 4, 2006 Several international retailers are rushing to form deals to enter the Indian retail market. Paris based lingerie and womenswear retailers, Etam Group recently signed a 50:50 JV with Pantaloon Retail to form Etam Future Fashion. Both sides will invest Rs. 350 million to open 150 stores in standalone and shop-in-shop formats. Pantaloon recently signed a deal with Lee Cooper, and international brands such as Zara, Cerruti and Roche are reportedly in talks with Indian retailers. Mothercare recently opened in India via a franchise deal with the K Raheja Group. Build-a-Bear Workshop Inc has recently signed a deal with the Murjani Source: Economic Times 9. Friday, May 05, 2006 Book Café, a brand of the English Book Depot (EBD) will be opening a store in Amritsar in the next 2 weeks. Including the upcoming store in Amritsar, the Book Café will have 36 outlets across 16 cities in India. Sandeep Dutt, promoter and CEO, EBD Book Café Pvt Ltd, “Book Café aims to offer a superior book shopping experience and to reinvent the way books are bought and sold in India”. The company has been strengthening its position in the north and is now entering the west, which will be following by the south and the east. The combination of book stores and cafés has been steadily growing. According the Dutt, the Book Café “reports sale growth of 50-100 per cent by adding a book shop, while book shop reports 200 per cent as a growth rate in terms of sales". The company plans to open over 300 outlets over the next five years, with the first 100 being operational by December 2007. Current locations include Ludhiana, Jaipur, Kanpur, Indore, Patiala, Chandigarh, Pune, Delhi, Udaipur, Agra, Gurgaon and Lucknow. Source: Business Standard 10. Friday, May 05, 2006 Retail space in Hyderabad is increasing at a fast rate and attracting India’s top retail chains. There will be close to 1.5 million sq ft of retail space created in the next two years in 12 malls. Companies such as Raheja’s, IJM, DLF, GVK and IVRCL are all planning to set up malls in the city with investments close to Rs. 5 billion. According to industry sources, the majority of the malls will cater to middle and upper middle income segments and approximately 60% of customers are anticipated to be less than 25 years. Hyderabad is today seen as one of the best markets for retail due to its mature shopping habits and value based shopping style. Source: Economic Times 11. Friday, May 05, 2006 Swatch, one of the most famous Swiss companies, launched its most expensive watch brand, Breguet in Bangalore. Radolphe Schultheless, VP Worldwide Sales, said that the Breguet was "most complicated watch in the world", and only 15,000 pieces were made each year. The Breguet watch is handmade and is sold in 45 countries in only 450 places. Source: Economic Times 12. Friday, May 05, 2006 Owner of Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR) Francois Pinault will be visiting India to review the market for himself. PRR is the owner of the Gucci and YSL brands. PPR will be entering the Indian market in a partnership with the Murjani Group and will be getting a presentation by senior retail consultants on the retail scenario in the country. Source: Economic Times 13. Friday, May 05, 2006 UK based Costa Coffee is planning to expand and increase its stores from the current 13 to 300 stores over the next 3-4 years. Alan Parker, chief executive of Whitbread Plc, said "We expect to be in all the major cities and metros in the next couple of years". Devyani International Ltd, the master franchisee for Costa Coffee will be taking care of the expansion. The company also holds the master franchisee for Pizza Hut and KFC. Costa Coffee is planning to open 40-50 outlets by the next year and increase its marketing operations to increase popularity. According to market research studies, the fast food segment in India is likely to grow at 40% per year, while the coffee segment is expected to have a higher growth rate. Source: The Hindu Business Line 14. Saturday, May 06, 2006 K Raheja Group’s hypermarket division, HyperCITY will be tying up with several global brands. Currently, the company has tied up with John Lewis Partnerships for Waitrose food products. According to Andrew Levermore, CEO of HyperCITY, “This section will cater partly to the expats who are shopping here as well as to the Indian consumer who wants slightly high end products. About 60 per cent of the products seen here (like the UMI range of beauty products and organic fruit juices etc) has never been seen in India before.” Another firm the company has tied up with is Blue Foods to run two instore cafés, Café Brio and Desi Café. There will also be a demo kitchen to display gadgets and cookware and to hold live cooking demonstrations. The group has tied up with Medicine Shoppe to set up a 24 hour pharmacy in its outlets. Plans are also being made for an ATM to increase convenience to shoppers. Source: Business Standard
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