Retail Insight on February 5th 2010

February 5, 2010

News for the Retail industry

Previous Issues

 

News: Apparel, Specialty, CDIT ...

Shopper's Stop says it'll sustain growth in Q4 Moneylife Personal Finance Magazine Shopper's Stop hopes to touch double-digit like-to-like sales growth by Q4FY10 and is positive that it will maintain this momentum. A majority of retailers are witnessing improved footfalls.

Suvidhaa Infoserve to open 1000-1200 outlets every month Economic Times Retail chain Suvidhaa Infoserve today said it plans to open 1,000-1,200 new outlets every month across the country and is eyeing a one-lakh strong network in the next two-three years.

Fi opens fifth store in Delhi indiaretailing.com Fi, women's wear brand promoted by Sharad Nawalgaria and Samir Nawalgaria from SNG Fashions Pvt Ltd, has launched its 20th store in India and fifth in Delhi at GK 1. The store occupies 1,500 square feet and is spread over two floors.

Vishal Retail says stake sale, other options open for revival Business Standard Debt-ridden Vishal Retail today said it is not ruling out diluting chief promoter Ramchandra Agarwal's majority stake in the company but the final decision rests on the outcome of ongoing corporate debt restructuring mechanism. The company also said that its lenders are expected to meet next week to decide upon further course of action regarding the process.

Opening in July at IGI: Delhi's most expensive mall Times of India The glitzy domestic-cum-international terminal (T3) that opens from July will have a retail area larger than most malls. And, the rentals here are the highest in NCR. Some of the world's biggest names have booked space here. Apart from top Indian brands, eateries and service providers, global biggies like Versace, WH Smith, Swarovski and HagenDaz are setting shop at T3. That's not all. The international side of the terminal will have the biggest duty-free area among all airports in India.

Odyssey expands in Bangalore  indiaretailing.com Odyssey India Ltd, which is 100 per cent subsidiary of Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited, today opened its sixth store in Bangalore. The store, spread over an area of 840 square feet, stocks over 5,000 books under various categories.

Crocs launches its 'Feel Good Revolution' Images Fashion Crocs, in association with fashion designers Rahul Jain and Gunjan Arora, launched its collection for men, women and children. Crocs also launched its theme 'Feel Good Revolution' at the same event to its patrons.Crocs Inc. is a designer, manufacturer and retailer of footwear for men, women and children under the Crocs™ brand. The brand is sold in more than 125 countries and comes in a wide array of colours and styles.

Subhiksha ex-directors asked to explain lapses Economic Times The ministry for corporate affairs (MCA) has found lapses in the books of troubled retailer Subhiksha and is now seeking answers from its former directors, according to multiple sources familiar with the development. Incidentally, Subhiksha has reopened a few stores under a franchisee by name Triad Trading Services. Three stores in Thiruvanmiyur, Triplicane and Ambattur in Chennai have become operational since February 3. These are still in their earlier no-frills avatar but not the self-service format.

News: Food & Grocery, QSR ...

Monginis plans 50 outlets by end this year ImagesFood.com After a recent store launch in Indore, Mumbai-based leading bakery chain, Monginis now plans to open 50 more outlets across the country by end of the year 2010. The company also plans to double its retail distribution from the current retail network of 15,000 stores across the country.

Big Bazaar launches a range of Chinese soups  fnbnews.com Big Bazaar, one of the biggest retail players in India, has launched a range of classic and Chinese soups under its private label "Tasty Treat." The Classic soups and Chinese range will be available at an introductory price of Rs 30 with an offer of Buy 2 & Get 1 Free.

Retail Trends

Retailers scale up ops to get foothold Economic Times Lured by rising consumer demand and a huge untapped market, organised shoemakers and retailers such as Metro Shoes, Catwalk and Reliance  Footprint are scaling up their presence to get a foot in the Rs 11,900 crore retail shoe market in the country.  Reliance Footprint, part of Reliance Retail, plans to spend Rs 400 crore to add 100 outlets across the country in two years to sell branded footwear such as Gel-Kayano of Asics, Adidas and Hush Puppies in its stores.

Custom packs seen as win-win for FMCG cos, big retailers Hindu Business Line FMCG companies have decided to create specific pack sizes and variants to cater to modern trade, making a beginning with Kishore Biyani's Big Bazaar outlets. Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) and Procter & Gamble (P&G) are willing to 'collaborate to win' with retailers to make it a win-win situation for both. At the recently concluded Retail Leadership Summit organised by RAI (Retailers Association of India), Mr Manish Tiwary, Vice-President (Customer Management), HUL, said, "We are looking at bringing out customised shampoos at a lower cost soon and are checking out this proposition with the shoppers.''

Retailers to continue with high sales Business Standard Kishore Biyani's hypermarket chain, Big Bazaar, managed to rake in Rs 243 crore at its four-day shopping festival built around the Republic Day last month. That was 27 per cent higher than last year's R-Day event, 14 per cent higher than Future Group's internal target. In contrast, year-on-year sales growth in the whole month of January last year (2009) was 21 per cent, though same-store sales (SSS) -- considered a superior measure of sales growth -- were in low single digits.

Retail Insight

Henkel Study Identifies Three Main Shopper Styles Shopper Marketing Henkel defines the groups by behavior, beginning with shoptimizers, who conduct a "very high" level of pre-planning (looking at ad circulars, etc.), redeem a "very high" amount of coupons and have a "very high" response rate to every day low price (EDLP) strategies. This group is also sensitive to in-store promotions. Mainstreeters have a "very low" use of pre-planning, a "low" use for coupons and an "average" response to EDLP, but are "highly sensitive" to in-store promotions.