Retail Insight on January 22nd 2010

January 22, 2010

News for the retail industry

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News

Big Bazaar eyes Rs 210 crore sales from 'Sabse Saste 4 Din' offer Business Standard Big Bazaar, the largest chain of hypermarkets from Future Group, has once again come up with their special Republic Day offer of 'Sabse Saste 4 Din' from January 23 to 26, 2010, at its all 120 Big Bazaar outlets across the country. This year, Big Bazaar is eyeing 25-30 per cent rise in sales during these four days, as compared to the same event last year.

Trent to open 7 Star Bazaars next fiscal Daily News & Analysis Trent, the Tata group retailer that operates hypermarket chain Star Bazaar in western and southern India, is looking to open 2-5 new stores by March 2010, Gordon Reid, chief operating officer, Trent, said on the sidelines of Retail Leadership Summit on Thursday.

Mango's new India strategy: open five new stores, rework pricing FashionUnited India (blog) Mango, the well known Spanish brand, known worldwide for its nightwear, casual wear, and sportswear among others is now aggressively looking at a global expansion plan. The brand plans to open three new stores a week all over the world in the coming year. At the moment, the brand has 1,392 stores across the world.

We will tap Indian market, says Hamleys Economic Times UK's iconic toy brand Hamleys plans to be in India and in Middle East market only, to learn business in diversified market in initial years before looking towards other lucrative emerging market for growth. Gudjon Reynisson, CEO, Hamleys says, "India is a very unique market with lots of diversity, its a very exciting market with lots of retail opportunity, we are trying to tap the opportunity before going to other places."

Subhiksha plans relaunch in Chennai Livemint A year after shortage of cash forced Subhiksha Trading Services Ltd to close its nationwide network of 1,600 supermarket stores and default on loans, vendor payments and staff salaries, the Chennai-based discount retailer is trying to get back on its feet. The seller of groceries, fruits, vegetables, medicines and mobile phones is planning to reopen a handful of outlets in Chennai.

Big Bazaar outlets to come up in Rourkela, Sambalpur  Business Standard Future Value Retail, the Future Group firm which owns value retail formats like Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar, plans to open three to four Big Bazaar outlets in Orissa. These stores are likely to be opened in locations like Rourkela and Sambalpur. Presently, there are three Big Bazaar outlets in the state- two in Bhubaneswar and one in Cuttack.

Provogue in joint venture with JL Morison Daily News & Analysis Provogue India, the apparel retailer, is signing a joint venture with JL Morison, the fast moving consumer goods distribution company, to distribute body-care products, Salil Chaturvedi, director, Provogue India, said. The new company will become subsidiary of Provogue.

Odyssey to open first Editions store in Chennai on Jan. 22 indiaretailing.com In an attempt to strengthen its foothold in the India, leading smoothie and juice bar chain 'Jus' Booster Juice plans to open five more outlets by March 2010. The Canadian brand entered India through its master franchisee Brand Calculus and currently has nine outlets across and further plans to have around 40 outlets pan-India by the end of 2010.

Gitanjali Lifestyle to open 63 Maya stores, 63 Suddhi outlets Daily News & Analysis Gitanjali Lifestyle, the retail arm of the Rs5,000 crore branded jewellery major, Gitanjali Group, will open 63 Maya departmental stores and 63 Suddhi outlets by the end of FY 12. While Mayawill be a combination of exclusive brand outlets and multi brand outlets, Suddhi outlets will be company-owned and operated.

Booster Juice to have 40 outlets by 2010-end ImagesFood.com In an attempt to strengthen its foothold in the India, leading smoothie and juice bar chain 'Jus' Booster Juice plans to open five more outlets by March 2010. The Canadian brand entered India through its master franchisee Brand Calculus and currently has nine outlets across and further plans to have around 40 outlets pan-India by the end of 2010.

Estee Lauder opens store in Mumbai FashionUnited India (blog) International cosmetic giant Estee Lauder is aiming to increase its presence in the fast growing India market. As a part of this strategy, the brand is targeting the metros to open new stores. Recently, it opened a freestanding store in Palladium, Mumbai's swanky new luxury mall.

Spice Retail: Bought Global Access Retail Chain NASDAQ Spice Retail Ltd. said Monday it has bought retail chain Global Access in a move that will help the New Delhi-based company to enter India's southern region.

UK's Southern Fried Chicken set to make India debut ImagesFood.com Southern Fried Chicken (SFC), a UK-based leading fast food restaurant chain, is all set to make its India debut with the opening of its first outlet in Hyderabad on January 22nd. Meanwhile, the company, which is scouting for franchisees across India, has plans to invest substantially to open around 200 stores pan-India by 2012 fiscal-end.

Retail Trends

Interview with Govind Shrikhande, Customer Care Associate, President & CEO, Shopper's Stop Ltd India Infoline.com Mr. Govind Shrikhande is the Customer Care Associate, President & CEO at Shopper's Stop Ltd. He has been with SSL since April 2001. Prior to being appointed to the post of President and CEO, he served at SSL as Executive Director & CEO. Prior to that he was the Director - Buying and Merchandising and has been part of the turnaround team at SSL. In a freewheeling one-on-one interaction, Mr. Shrikhande says: "We are adding 18 new Shoppers Stop stores in the next 30 months, which translates into about 1 million SFT of retail space."

India's wealthy soak up luxury National Brands such as Cartier, Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, Armani and Versace are among the retailers that have entered India in the past two years to chase the country's growing class of super rich. Asia is fast emerging as the world's largest market for luxury brands, accounting for as much as half of the total US$80 billion (Dh293.84bn) global luxury industry.

Organised retail food chains stay small BloombergUTV Organised retail food chains have remained marginal players in India as their share in terms of sale has been only 1.26% in the sector in fiscal 2008-09. Organised retailers are restructuring business models to ensure long-term sustenance and growth, after a learning experience from a few closures of such stores in the past two years due to financial and operational constraints.

US retailers unsure about home should look abroad Moneycontrol.com US retailers that focused on recalibrating their domestic business in 2009 to adjust to weak demand should venture beyond their home turf this year for growth, retail experts say. While growth of consumption-driven economies like the United States and Britain remains sluggish, emerging economies fuelled by the purchasing power of a growing middle class offer attractive investment opportunities.

Retail Insight

Proven Pricing Strategies for Retailers to Drive Measurable Top- and Bottom-Line Improvements JDA With their profit and revenue goals on the line, retailers are striving to build stronger bonds with their customers. A strategy gaining notice with leading retailers is consumer-centric pricing and promotions. Early adopters are pricing and promoting items according to local demand, consumer demographics and other factors to maximize value. These retailers are connecting any price changes back into their demand plans to ensure that inventory is readily available for customers to purchase.