Retail insight as on 31st March 2010

March 31, 2010News for the Retail industry










Previous Issues



News: Apparel, Specialty, CDIT ...



Bharti-Walmart to add 5 cash and carry outlets

Sify

Bharti-Walmart Private Limited, the joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and Walmart Stores Inc will add five more 'easyday markets' (cash and carry wholesale B2B stores) across India in the next financial year. The new stores will be opened at Zirakpur (near Chandigarh), Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patila, Ghaziabad and Jaipur.





Gitanjali plans more stores to increase reach

Livemint

Gitanjali Gems Ltd, India's biggest jewellery retailer that owns brands such as Asmi, Ddamas, Nakshatra and Gili, plans to double its reach in a year's time, to cover 2 million sq. ft of retail space, as it rolls out new stores in smaller towns, railway stations and cinema theatres. "Fifteen years ago, I felt luxury will never arrive in India. It is time now and luxury (business) will explode," said Mehul Choksi, Chairman and Managing Director of Gitanjali Gems.





Croma to promote own LCD products from next month

Sify

Croma, the consumer durables' chain owned by Tata Sons, has plans of entering the LCD (liquid crystal display) category next month. These will be Croma's original products in its own stores, alongside other industry majors like LG, Samsung, Videocon and Sony. Croma started marketing of its exclusive branded products about two years earlier and has 43 outlets. It has planned to increase this to 75-80 outlets by the end of this financial year.





Giovani plans more own outlets, targets tier 2 cities

mydigitalfc.com

Indian suit brand Giovani plans to expand its presence across India including tier 2 cities through its own outlets. It plans to open eight stores this year. Giovani currently has nine exclusive retail outlets in Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Jaipur and Ludhiana.





Rel Vision gears up to widen its customer base

mydigitalfc.com

Reliance Vision Express, the 50-50 joint venture between Reliance Retail and Pearle Europe, is betting on its lower price points as a means to cater to competition and enlarging its customer base. The company is also looking to expand its presence in the country by setting up 60-70 stores every year. Going fo­rward, the company intends to carry on with its 'one new store every 10 days' plan.







The LOOT selling more than 100 brands

BrandsToday.in

The LOOT is a multi-brand, multi-locational discount chain offering customers a wide range of products in apparel, footwear and accessories for men, women and kids. The store retails about 100 brands like Reebok, Puma, Levis, Red Tape, Lee, Wrangler, Spykar, Allen Solly, Van Heusen... It has recently tied up with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to implement their SME ERP solution to streamline and bring efficiencies to its business.





News: Food & Grocery, QSR ...



Pizza Hut to take on Domino's

mydigitalfc.com

Pizza Hut is gearing up to take on Domino's mainly by expanding its delivery busin­ess vertical. Pizza Hut is looking at opening 400 new delivery outlets across the cou­ntry by next fiscal end. These would include separate delivery outlets and delivery panels to be housed either in existing Pizza Hut dine-in formats or at adjacent locations.





Retail Trends



The Indian reTALEs amongst the first comprehensive books about Indian Retail



"The INDIAN reTALEs" by V Rajesh, a veteran of Indian Retail, gives a very good insight into retailing in India with some thoughts of history coupled with a very detailed coverage of the fundamentals of retailing. A must read for anyone interested in Indian Retail.





Consumer goods cos hire consultancies to improve supply chain

Livemint

Makers of consumer goods and personal care products are turning to consultancies to help reduce sales losses and cope with high growth by creating so-called supply chain management networks. They are hiring consultancy firms such as Ernst and Young (E&Y), Goldratt Consulting Ltd and Frost and Sullivan to streamline the chain of activities through which finished products are transported from factories, stored at warehouses, moved to sales outlets and finally sold.







IPL III signs up merchandise partner 'Yog Sports'

Press Trust of India

The Indian Premier League has signed a ten-year deal with Yog Sports to distribute all its official branded merchandise as well as that of the original eight franchise teams. These would be distributed at "IPL Match Stores" inside stadiums, multiplexes, malls, high streets, airports, railway stations, metro stations and other public locations where live IPL matches are screened, a press release said.







Google unveils tool for shopping online in India

Economic Times

Google launched a tool for the growing trend of online shopping in India. "Google users can access information on product names, prices and images from about 30,000 Indian websites and portals, with a new tool, through its search engine," the Indian subsidiary of the global firm said.





Malls are taking over Mumbai

The Decatur Daily

In Mumbai, the fanciest clothing and home stores used to stand alone in charming stone and hardwood boutique shops. For a long time, the specialty stores within the five-star hotels were the closest thing to a shopping mall. So much is changing.





Retail Insight



Interview with Mr Susil Dungarwal, Founder & Chief Mall Mechanic, Beyond Squarefeet



IndiaRetailNews.com

Beyond Squarefeet is India's only true mall advisory firm that prides itself on its "hands-on" experience and approach. Mr Susil Dungarwal, whose title is 'Founder & Mall Mechanic' talks to IndiaRetailNews.com about the mall business in the country, the retail sector and the relationship between the two.