Retail Insight on November 6th 2009

November 6, 2009

News for the retail industry

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News

TVS Shriram fund buys 25% stake in Landmark Economic Times Chennai-based PE fund TVS Shriram Growth Fund will buy around 25% stake in book and music retail chain Landmark, a closely-held subsidiary of Tata's Trent, for Rs 65 crore. The deal values Landmark at Rs 260 crore.

Wal-Mart chief knocks at PM's door Economic Times Its wall-to-wall influence in America may be waning, but Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, is pushing its cart harder than ever to find its square inch in India. S Robson Walton, chairman of Wal-Mart Stores, met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Wednesday, in what is seen as an effort by the world's second-largest company to press its demand for permission to invest in multi-brand retail.

Barista launches liqueur coffees; looks at Rs 300 cr sales Business Standard Italian coffee chain Lavazza on Thursday launched liqueur coffees in India and said it will expand its cafe outlets Barista as part of plans to clock Rs 300 crore revenue from the country by next year.

Retailers extract higher margins from FMCG firms Business Standard The terms of trade are slowly tilting in favour of modern retail. Despite going through a correction phase, which saw many retailers shutting stores, modern trade is beginning to cash in on its scale and clout by seeking higher payouts from suppliers.

Regional apparel cos quicker in store rollouts Economic Times Brands such as Liverpool Retail India's Barcelona, Vir Retail's John Hill and Nahar Group's Cotton County that sell outfits at less than one-third the price of national brands are opening stores faster than the cautious national brands.

Government Rules Out Multi-brand FDI In Retail Namnews At a conference, Anand Sharma, India's Commerce and Industry Minister, said there were no plans to liberalise the rules, as the current foreign direct investment (FDI) policy was working well.

Retail Trends

IT growth in Indian retail slowing in '09: Survey CIOL The IT market in the Indian retail sector will grow at an estimated Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 23 per cent during 2008-2012; reaching $1.4 billion by 2012, says the latest research from Springboard Research, an IT Market Research firm.

Focus shifting to profitability at store, regional levels in retail Livemint As consumers return to stores, retailers are again eyeing growth plans in the wake of a reviving economy, except this time they are focusing firmly on profitability at the store and regional levels.

Shobhana Subramanian: When shoppers don't stop Business Standard Another one almost bites the dust. Vishal Retail has been bailed out by its bankers who have put together a corporate debt restructuring (CDR) plan for the beleaguered company, which has piled up a debt of Rs 700 crore.

Retail Insight

RFID Adoption in the Retail Industry USA Strategies Inc The inevitable change from printed UPC identification of industrial and consumer products to Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems has been written about for several years. This study recognizes that inevitability but addresses the rate of such adoption specifically at the individual package (unit) level.