Retail Insight on September 8th Oct 2009

October 8, 2009

News for the retail industry

 

News

'Pvt labels will be one of our largest growth drivers' Business Standard Kishore Biyani, the founder of Future Group, plans to more than double retail space to 30 million sq ft by 2013 and push the private labels business, while getting into new service areas. Meanwhile, consumers are indulging again, he says.

Provogue reworks business plans, strategises to boost revenues Business Standard After a year of slow growth, apparel maker and retailer Provogue is reworking its business strategy to boost revenues and prop up margins, a top company executive said. Under the new strategy, Provogue plans to reduce the size of its stores, sell more of its vendor brands, slow expansion in its discount format, and scale down mall development.

Coffee Day targets $1bn revenue club Daily News & Analysis Cafe Coffee Day (CCD), the largest coffee chain in the country, is brewing fresh expansion plans, including in overseas market, with an eye on reaching the $1bn revenue mark by 2015.

Bloc U-turn on Reliance agri-retail Times of India Forward Bloc, which vehemently resisted Reliance's foray into agri retail, seems to have done a turnaround. The Left Front ally is now keen to have Mukesh Ambani send fresh proposals for doing business in Bengal.

Vishal Retail to raise Rs 250 cr via QIP route Business Standard Diversified retail player Vishal Retail today said it will raise Rs 250 crore through private placement of shares with potential buyers.

Allen Solly gets more youth-oriented; expands casual wears Business Standard Aditya Birla Group company Madura Garments is revamping its Allen Solly brand by making it more youth-oriented and expanding offerings in casual and party wears, besides its formal wear segment.

Marico, Grasim to settle Kaya trademark row mydigitalfc.com Marico sued the Birla company in February for using the word Kara in a skin wipe range. Marico's stand was that the Birla brand sounded similar to its own registered trademark, Kaya Skin Wipes. Marico also moved the trademark registry.

Bial retail row may be settled out of court Livemint Flemingo International had approached court alleging it was illegally excluded from bidding at Bangalore airport. Meanwhile, a person close to the situation said Nuance has decided to settle the matter by paying Rs6 crore to Flemingo.

Retail Trends

FMCG: Moving fairly fast Business Standard Among the better performers were Tata Tea and Godrej Consumer. However, the report notes that Hindustan Unilever saw lower volumes in categories such as toilet soaps and washing powder.

Indian Retail Bounces Back With IT PC Quest The Indian retail market has embraced IT to encompass most of its vital operational areas. What began with Point of Sale (PoS) devices has pervaded to Social Networking, ERP suites and everything in between.

Retail Insight

Copy the Best Retailers RPM An RPM study of leading specialty retailers reveals five concepts that can be applied to any retail proposition. Have you noticed that the Vodafone shops are amongst the busiest retailers in shopping malls? Obviously this is because the cell-phone is the "must have" accessory of this decade, but take a look at how few products these stores have on display.