Retail Insight as on 19th February 2010

February 19, 2010News for the Retail industry









Previous Issues

News: Apparel, Specialty, CDIT ...



Spencer's to invest Rs 100 cr to open about 15 large stores

Economic Times

RPG Enterprises' retail arm Spencer's Retail will invest about Rs 100 crore to open up to 15 large stores across the country this year. The company also said, as part of its growth strategy, it will focus on expanding in the Tier-II cities and concentrate more on private labels.





Koutons Retail looks beyond India

FashionUnited India (blog)

Koutons Retail India plans to open around 200 stores in FY11, in addition to its existing 1,400 stores spread all over India. The company is also considering opening stores in the Middle East and South East Asia in the next fiscal. According to Koutons General Manager (Sales and Marketing) Akash Deep Sandhu, the company is focusing more on their family concept stores which was introduced last year.





Reliance Webstore goes for direct sales

Economic Times

Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (RADAG) has diversified into direct selling of telephony products and services under its retail arm, Reliance Webstore, and is eyeing a revenue of Rs 110 crore in the first year.





How are Indian SMEs piggybacking on Wal-Mart?

Moneycontrol.com

Wal-Mart has long epitomised the great side of American capitalism. Very few are aware that for the past seven years, Wal-Mart has been actively procuring products for its global stores from India. So how did Indian SMEs build big businesses riding piggyback on Wal-Mart? And what lies ahead for them as the departmental store prepares to set foot in India?





Max to open 40 new stores

Business Standard

Max, the largest value fashion brand in Middle East, is the newest entrant in the Kolkata retail scene, with its first store in City Centre 2, Rajarhat. The store offers apparel for women, men and children, besides footwear and fashion accessories. Vasanth Kumar, Executive Director, Max, said, "Max is currently the largest value retailer in the country. We currently have 23 stores across India and plan to take it to 60 stores by 2011-12."





Radhika Piramal to shape VIP Ind's future

Economic Times

The glass ceiling is cracking - even if the pace is still glacial - in traditional Indian business families. Radhika Piramal, the younger daughter of Dilip and Gita Piramal is taking charge at VIP Industries, the world's second-biggest luggage maker after Samsonite. The 31-year-old Harvard graduate will become Managing Director from April 10, 2010, replacing the incumbent Sudhir Jatia who recently quit.





News: Food & Grocery, QSR ...



Bharti Walmart JV bets big on SMEs for growth

NDTV.com

Bharti Walmart, the cash and carry joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and Walmart Stores, is looking at buying out some small and mid size companies, mainly in the FMCG and consumer durable spaces, to fuel up its growth.







Newby Teas makes India foray, aims to tap premium segment

Business Standard

UK-based premium tea company Newby Teas announced its foray into the estimated Rs 7,500-crore Indian branded tea market with plans to introduce about 150 varieties within the next three years. The Indian arm of the company, Newby India has already invested about Rs 25 crore in setting up a research and packaging facility in Kolkata. It will be investing about Rs 20 crore next fiscal to ramp up its overall operations in India.







'There may be a shakeout'

Business Standard

Specialty coffee chain Gloria Jean's Coffees, which silently entered India two years ago via a master franchise agreement with Citymax Hospitality, a company controlled by the Dubai-based retail group Landmark, is looking to ramp up operations now. From the current nine outlets, the intention is to scale up to 25 and then 100, by the end of 2013.





Retail Trends



Organised retail to grow by threefold in 5 yrs: Technopak

Business Standard

Global consultancy firm Technopak today said the organised modern retail segment in India will grow by over three times during the next five years, to reach a figure of $80 billion. The consultancy said the share of private labels in the annual sales of organised retail players will also grow to around 25 per cent by 2014, from the existing 10-15 per cent.





Google takes fizz out of Coke

Business Standard

Retail giant Walmart retained the top spot, while search giant Google toppled Coca-Cola to became the second-most valued brand among the global Top 500. The ranking was done by Brand Finance, a UK-based leading brand valuation consultancy.





Retail Insight



10 Best Practices in IT Outsourcing Today

RIS

To a greater or lesser degree, some form of information technology outsourcing is used by virtually every retailer operating today. The very nature of retail IT--its complexity, scope and scale--means retailers must rely on outside service providers if they are to operate effectively.