Retail insight as on 11th June 2010

June 11, 2010 News for the Retail industry Previous Issues   At a Glance  Prateek Apparel to set up 300 value retail stores in 3 years Casio India targets Rs 140 cr turnover in FY'11 Surya eyes 300 Viva stores Artsana plans R&D centre for baby care products in India Amigo Sport launches Fifa merchandise in India Swensen's ice cream enters India Impresario to add six Mocha cafes this year, tap Tier II mkt Amul's MD resigns as board split over chairmanship Buoyant Pepsi to take contract farming to troubled states 'Cambridge is a customer-driven brand' Martjack set to revolutionize retail commerce   News: Apparel, Specialty, CDIT ...  Prateek Apparel to set up 300 value retail stores in 3 years mydigitalfc.com Prateek Apparel, the retail arm of Prateek Group and a domestic player in the apparel design, manufacturing and retail spaces, is looking to set up a total of 300 small format value retail store F Square stores in the next three years. The Bangalore-based company, which runs the Coupon malls across India, currently has 100 F Square stores in Karnataka. Casio India targets Rs 140 cr turnover in FY'11 Press Trust of India

Casio India, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Casio Computer (Japan), said it was aiming for a Rs 140 crore turnover in the current fiscal, besides expanding its footprint pan-India. "Currently, Casio's endeavour would be to penetrate in both modern retail as well as traditional distribution channels," a statement said. The company is eyeing markets such as Delhi, Goa, Chennai and Bangalore and after establishing itself here, plans to foray into the North-East and other tier II destinations.

Surya eyes 300 Viva stores Sify Chandigarh-based Surya Pharmaceutical Limited plans to have 300 Viva stores, the pharmaceutical retail chain by Surya, by the end of this fiscal. Rajiv Goyal, Chairman and Managing Director, Surya Pharmaceutical Limited, said the company aims to have 500 Viva stores in the next three years.

Artsana plans R&D centre for baby care products in India Economic Times Italian health and wellness products major Artsana SPA said it will open an R&D centre in India, its third globally, by the end of this year, to develop products for infants, as it looks to expand operations in the Rs 7,200-crore baby care market here. The company currently sells the Chicco brand of baby care products in India. It opened its first flagship outlet in April this year.

Amigo Sport launches Fifa merchandise in India Indiantelevision.com Amigo Sport has launched Fifa merchandise in India through a licensing agreement with Global Brands Group, which is the master licensee of the Fifa brand globally. Amigo Sport will distribute Fifa merchandise and open two official Fifa stores in India, at the end of the month. The company has tied up with departmental stores like Westside, Shoppers Stop to push Fifa merchandise.

News: Food & Grocery, QSR ...

Swensen's ice cream enters India Deccan Herald San Francisco-based ice cream brand Swensen's opened its store at Mantri Mall, Bangalore, through a franchise model in partnership with RJ Group, marking its entry into the Rs 1,300 crore Indian branded ice cream market. RJ Group firm Devyani International Limited President Virag Joshi said the company aims to open another five stores in three months. The company has a target of opening 80 stores in South India, in the next five years.

Impresario to add six Mocha cafes this year, tap Tier II mkt Business Standard Hospitality firm Impresario said it plans to scale up the presence of its retail cafe chain 'Mocha' by adding six more outlets this year, as it looks at tapping the Tier-II markets and small cities. Impresario currently operates 20 Mocha outlets in major metros, including Delhi NCR, Bangalore and Mumbai. The new outlets would be a mix of company-owned and franchise operated.

Amul's MD resigns as board split over chairmanship Economic Times In a development that shook the cooperative sector, BM Vyas, the Managing Director of Rs 8,000-crore Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) that owns country's largest food brand Amul, put in his papers. The resignation comes in the wake of intense politicking that has been underway, since last month, over the chairmanship of GCMMF.

Retail Trends

Buoyant Pepsi to take contract farming to troubled states Business Standard Ram Prasad Ghosal, a potato farmer from Bamunpara in West Bengal, owns 10 acres of land. Just two months earlier, though, his ilk faced a major scare. Hardly a year after working with Pepsi, Ghosal bought a tractor and potato harvester. The company also helped him getting cheaper loans and last year, he also bought weather insurance. What PepsiCo started as a pre-condition to its entry in India is today its most welcomed programme.

'Cambridge is a customer-driven brand' Daily News & Analysis In the 1960's, Cambridge's founder, Mohanlal Bhatia, began selling shirts stitched by his wife along with cut-trouser pieces on a door to door basis, when the concept of ready-made garments was unheard of. Then, he decided to execute this on a large scale. With the success he achieved came the idea of starting an exclusive showroom. What began with a single shop in South Mumbai, today has grown to a network of more than 200 stores.

Martjack set to revolutionize retail commerce openPR Martjack, a Multi-channel Commerce platform from Reasoning Global eApplications Ltd is turning into pillars of strength for Retail Commerce in India. The S-a-a-S (Software-as-a-service) solution, which allows manufacturers, organized chain retailers and single store owners to set-up ubiquitous eCommerce presence, is gaining immense credibility as a preferred online retailing platform of choice.

Retail Insight

Designing for Retail Realities Brand Packaging Brand marketers can no longer afford to ignore the way packaging appears in the 'real world'. Packaging rarely appears as we'd like it to at retail. Instead, packages are frequently knocked over, facing sideways or backwards, partially obstructed, scrunched up or dented, or compromised by poor lighting or careless stocking.