Retail insight as on 15th June 2010

June 15, 2010

News for the Retail industry

Previous Issues

At a Glance

• Pantaloon lines up post-merger growth plans in home solutions
• Rosebys, National Textile Corporation sign retailing alliance
• Size matters in retail: Kishore Biyani
• Aditya Birla to invest in Karnataka
• The Body Shop bullish on expansion
• Rajesh Exports retail sales rise 10-fold
• Re-STORE planning expansion via franchising
• Kaati Zone rolls out first franchise outlet at Hebbal in Bengaluru
• FINALLY- Wine in DELHI Supermarkets
• Expansion drives up Barista revenues by 25%
• What makes for a good shop?
• Marketers cash in on football frenzy
• Comedy Store set for India act

News: Apparel, Specialty, CDIT ...

Pantaloon lines up post-merger growth plans in home solutions Financial Express Pantaloon Retail, the country's largest retailer, which is in the process of merging its home solutions business with itself, has big plans to stimulate growth in its home retailing business post merger. The business is currently being run by Home Solutions Retail India Ltd (HSRIL) that has stores like E-zone, Electronic Bazaar and Home Town.

Rosebys, National Textile Corporation sign retailing alliance Daily News & Analysis Rosebys Interiors India, the home decor and lifestyle products subsidiary of Sanjay Dalmia-promoted GHCL that runs Rosebys chain of stores, has entered into a deal with the National Textile Corporation (NTC) for retailing home furnishing products through the latter's chain of stores. Through the public-private partnership, Rosebys and NTC will tap the potential in tier 1 and 2 cities to become a major player in the segment by next year.

Size matters in retail: Kishore Biyani NDTV Profit CEO of Future Group, Kishore Biyani, said that size is what retail business is all about. In retail business you either be a small a single store or you be very big-there is nothing in between, he said.

Aditya Birla to invest in Karnataka FashionUnited India The Aditya Birla group has big investment plans for Karnataka. It plans to expand its retail chain in the state. The 123 supermarkets and the two hypermarkets will be scaled up to 172 supermarkets and 10 ypermarkets at an investment of Rs 5.25 billion

The Body Shop bullish on expansion indiaretailing.com The Body Shop (TBS), which offers a number of nature-inspired beauty products, plans to open five stores this month and three more in July. These stores will be located at Colaba, Mumbai; Express Avenue Mall, Chennai; Shoppers Stop, Mulund, Mumbai; Shoppers Stop, Bannerghata, Bangalore; Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi; and the T3 international terminal and domestic terminal of the Delhi airport

Rajesh Exports retail sales rise 10-fold Commodity Online Rajesh Exports closed last financial year with revenues of Rs.184.78 billion. Mehta further said that the retail operations currently contribute about 2% of our total revenue. It is expected to be 10% by March 2011

Re-STORE planning expansion via franchising Franchiseindia.com With its flagship store in Chennai spread in 2500 sq. ft area, Re-STORE is a retail chain of stores pioneering in 'In & Out of warranty' repairing solutions for all mobile phones marketed in the country

News: Food & Grocery, QSR ...

Kaati Zone rolls out first franchise outlet at Hebbal in Bengaluru fnbnews.com Currently, there are 15 Kaati Zone restaurants in Bengaluru and Mumbai, which are located at strategic locations. Kiran Nadkarni, CEO, Kaati Zone said that the franchisee business model allowed the food chain to be positioned differently in the market.

Finally - Wine in Delhi Supermarkets Indian Wine Academy New provisions in the recently announced two public notices officially allow the sale of Indian and imported wine in department stores and supermarkets in Delhi under license L-53A while the newly introduced license L-56 allows sale of IMFL and beer in the stores in the shopping malls, seemingly quiet about wine sales through this channel

Expansion drives up Barista revenues by 25% mydigitalfc Coffee chain Barista expects to increase its revenue for 2010 by 25 per cent. This includes sales of both Barista Lavazza cafes as well as the Fresh & Honest chain. According to Barista Coffee Company CEO Sanjay Coutinho, the firm posted revenue of Rs 225 crore for the year ended December 2009

Retail Trends

What makes for a good shop? Economic Times The world's biggest company has no factories and doesn't manufacture a thing. US-headquartered Wal-Mart Inc is the largest global chain of shops selling the basic stuff of everyday life. More than 200 million customers visit its 8,000 stores every week. At the nano end of the scale, your favourite kirana shop sells goods identical to 10 near by. Yet, you prefer it.

Marketers cash in on football frenzy Times of India Retailers are stocking up on David Beckham caps, while multiplexes are preparing to host some adrenaline-generating screenings for football fans. The FIFA magic is not just driving Indian soccer fans to display their passion for the game, marketers too are using this as an effective tool to reach out to consumers

Comedy Store set for India act Sify Come July 3, Mumbai will witness the opening of the first Comedy Store, a live stand-up comedy theatre, at the High Street Phoenix in central Mumbai. Comedy Store's CEO Don Ward along with Indian business partner, Amar Agrawal (managing director of The Spa Group) are set to open the sprawling theatre spread across 24,000 sq feet and will seat around 300 people

Retail Insight

Jumbo King: The Making of an Indian Fast-food Chain India Knowledge@Wharton You won't get much variety if you visit an outlet of Jumbo King, a fast-food chain that is expanding in western India. On offer are vada pavs (a potato-based patty in a bun), Pepsi and lassi. This is fast food Mumbai style. It won't cost you more than a dollar. (The basic vada pav costs just 17 cents and the most expensive 59 cents.) "I was inspired by McDonald's: Behind the Arches, says Dheeraj Gupta, founder and managing director of Jumbo King, referring to the John F. Love book about the world's largest fast-food chain. "But my target is the suburban train traveler."