cool retail

Piramyd Retail eyes 'global' JVs to take on rivals


Stunned by a fierce competition, the Piramyd Retail, owned by the
Ashok Piramal group, is revamping its business operations, and has
initiated joint venture talks with foreign retailers to set up new
formats like speciality stores or hypermarkets.

Unlike in the past, its core brands, Piramyd and Trumart will now be
handled as separate business units (SBUs). The company is also
ramping up the number of stores under both outlets and has set up a
team to identify new business opportunities.

"We have realised that there is a lot of catching up to do and are
in a hurry to do that. We have tied up additional space in the last
one year. There is a complete change across functions in the way we
look at business and a lot of dynamism is being brought in. Our team
is in place and the growth focus is clear," said Nandan Piramal,
executive vice-chairman. While Bipin Gurnani will head Piramyd, ex-
Lever hand, Upamanyu Bhattacharya will head Trumart. The expansion
may be funded either through internal accruals or private equity.

Trumart is being positioned as an upscale kirana outlet with a focus
on local catchment areas. "Instead of setting up single stores
across cities, we are planning to progressively exhaust each city by
ramping up Trumart outlets in residential areas and building up
scale in each market. Grocery, home and personal care products are
high-volume-low-margin-business and it makes better business sense
to focus on scales to be competitive," said Mr Bhattacharya.

Currently, there are 7 Piramyd outlets and around 14 Trumart outlets
across the country. "We are also identifying differentiators for the
malls, from a first-mover advantage to the service aspect. We are
looking at personalising loyalty benefits targeting individual
consumer needs based on their previous buying patterns," said Bipin
Gurnani.


Piramyd Retail, which was listed on the bourses in '05 was one of
the first few retail outlets to open shop in the country. A few
years back it was seen as a strong competitor to players like
Shopper's Stop and Pantaloon.

However, lack of strong management focus and an unclear growth
vision saw the brand slipping at a time as competition picked up
steam in the last two years. Analysts say the company may seek
foreign equity partnership at a later point to keep pace with fierce
competition. "It is not something we are looking at immediately. For
now, our focus is to tone up the current core businesses, identify
new growth formats and ensure that support systems are in place to
gear up for the change in approach," Mr Piramal said.

The Piramal Group sold Crossroads to the Pantaloon Group and put all
future retail expansions under Crossroads on hold. Following the
merger of Piramal Holdings with Morarjee Realties, Crossroads had
been left out of the group's retail plans. All future retail forays
were to be done only through Piramyd, the retail arm of the Piramal
Group.
 
Click to expand...
Retail Trends 2007: Beauty, Fashion... China...by Patricia Pao

November 7, 2006

As consumers take more control over all aspects of their harried
lives, 2007 will bring major shifts in beauty, especially organics,
and fashion. Expect growth to come from non-traditional sources. For
beauty, spas continue as the hotbed of innovation, while fashion
growth will continue for those "fast follow" shops that help women
take control over how they look.


Finally, Americans will continue their fascination with China. In the
next 10 years, as many Americans will be visiting China as traveling
to Europe. And, just as they did 20 years ago when they brought back
a taste for things French and Italian from their travels, they are
likely to embrace Asian themes.


Do-It-Yourself Spas


More and more people want to "spa" on their own. The desire for
privacy and their own space encourages them to learn how to
incorporate the spa experience into their everyday lives.


Viceroy Palm Springs Resort & Estrella Spa, Palm Springs, CA, offers
an "Ice House Treatment"; the guest is provided with all of the
necessary supplies and expected to perform the protocol herself. And
a new brand, Akhassa, has recently launched with the mission of
bringing the Asian spa experience to the American home.



Feeling the Need for Speed: Disruption in Fashion


It no longer takes 9-12 months to "fast follow" runway trends. H&M,
Zara, Topshop boast of being able to translate and merchandise runway
trends for a mass audience with production times under 30 days. Wal-
Mart hosted "Rock the Runway" in September as part of New York City
Fashion Week offered clothing that was highly reminiscent of lines
shown by Proenza Schoueler and Roland Mouret.
 
Material Gains—Going Green and Bright


Clothes are about to get a whole lot greener and brighter. Fibers
from wood pulp, bamboo, seaweed, soy and corn blended with luscious
organic silks and cashmeres are becoming a fashion staple. With
Philips' new Lumalive system, swaths of fabric can be turned into
glowing, multicolored panels able to display characters or simple
animations.
 
The Rise of the "Precautionary Principle"

Americans increasingly need to take control of their lives.
Everything that can be is being tightly controlled, from cleaning
products to grooming items to what we ingest. "Precautionists" swap
chemical products for vinegar and water. They might leave their shoes
at the door so they don't track in contaminants. They sleep on cotton
sheets, eat organic food, and buy chemical-free toothpaste and
deodorant. Some have banished bleach claiming that they have "given
up on their whites ever being white." Balance is the key to
alleviating stress. "Precautionists" are cautioned to continue to
lobby for a better environment, to be prudent but to live and enjoy
life.
 
Green Is Good

Green is here to stay as evidenced by waiting lists for the Toyota Prius and, notably, the success of Al Gore's documentary "An Inconvenient Truth." Nike recently announced that it figured out how to remove the greenhouse gas from its sneakers and Levi Strauss will introduce Eco Jeans, its first organic-cotton line.

According to Organic Exchange, a nonprofit advocacy group, demand for organic cotton by clothing makers is increasing at an annual rate of 93%, and it projects that sales from organic cotton will total $2.6 billion by the end of 2007. Vendors from American Apparel to Wal-Mart and Zara now offer clothing under the organic cotton banner.
 
Organic Beauties


The beauty organics market has grown 15-20 percent in sales each year over the past nine years. Increasingly, beauty products are formulated with ingredients that are food-grade, natural, chemically free, organically produced.

Jurlique, an Australian skincare company, has taken this approach since 1985 with the goal to grow the "purest skin care on earth" because "your skin eats too." Von Natur aims to extend vegan living while NOe Cosmetics uses only organic, food-grade ingredients in its formulations. Wal-Mart recently announced it will start selling natural, organic products.

Its interest in natural and organic personal care is indicative of the shift taking place in the mass industry as a whole. The natural organic trend represents a
 
Asian Chic

In the next 10 years, as many Americans will visit China as will travel to Europe and will likely embrace Asian themes, as they did 20 years ago after visiting Europe in large numbers.

In fact, Shanghai Tang, owned by Switzerland-based luxury-brands holding company Richemont, aspires to be the bridge between East and West. Each collection reflects a China-related theme. The fall/winter 2005 collection was inspired by Beijing's Forbidden City. Design motifs included elements such as symbols from the emperor's robes (sun, moon, five-clawed dragon, the color yellow) and embellishments fit for an imperial court (brocade, jade, lapis, and fur).

Always on the hunt for the newest, the greatest, and the freshest looks, French Vogue recently featured a Chinese model on its cover for the first time.
Chinese medicine is gaining mainstream acceptance in the West and as a result is being incorporated into beauty protocols. Leading hotels in Asia have recruited experts in Chinese medicine to design programs and are offering treatments to their guests. Over the next four years, they expect to offer similar experiences in Chicago, London, and Vancouver.
 
Activewear as Everyday Wear

Two-thirds of American women dedicate at least half of their closets to activewear and are not saving workout clothes for the gym. They are trading traditional sportswear for activewear as their casual apparel of choice.

Going forward, activewear manufacturers will place much more emphasis on having a fashion point of view, which explains the recent partnerships between Stella McCartney/Adidas and Alexander McQueen/Puma. American Eagle's new retail concept, Martin + Osa, is dedicated to fusing high-tech sport and casual sportswear. And, L.L. Bean, the grandfather of activewear, is creating bricks and mortar shopping emporiums dedicated to celebrating the wearing of activewear
in the Great Indoors. Actress Scarlett Johansson will launch a line of urban activewear next year in partnership with Reebok.
With high-tech innovation in performance fabrics and design, activewear is working harder than ever to keep its cool—in the gym and on high fashion runways. Thanks to casual Fridays, activewear has become a uniform for more and more Americans.
 
The Branding of Private Label

What appears an oxymoron has become true. A Brandweek article
(8/21/06) noted that consumers are warming to Wal-Mart private label
brands: Great Value, Equate, Sam's Choice, Wal-Mart, and Member's
Mark. And 82% of consumers say store brands have closed the gap with
national brands. Wal-Mart's Ol'Roy dog food is preferred over Purina.
7-Eleven now sells more of its private label Santiago beer than
Corona. About one of two fans sold in the U.S. is Home Depot's
Hampton Bay brand.


Retailers are beginning to recognize that they cannot simply rely on
nationally branded products to draw consumers into their stores and
sustain loyalty. Albertson's supermarket chain has rolled out
Essensia, a premium label brand of cookies, crackers, frozen foods
and frozen deserts that are "only available at your local store."
 
CHESHUNT, England -- When Wal-Mart Stores Inc. entered the British
market in 1999 by buying a chain of stores here, many expected it to
dominate. Instead, Wal-Mart's largest non-American operation has been
struggling recently, and its top local rival is thriving.

That rival is Tesco PLC, Britain's largest retailer. Its big weapon is
information about its customers. Tesco has signed up 12 million Britons
for its Clubcard program, giving cardholders discounts in exchange for
their name, address and other personal information. The Clubcard has
helped boost Tesco's market share in groceries to 31%, nearly double the
16% held by Wal-Mart's Asda chain, according to market-research firm
Taylor Nelson Sofres.

The data let Tesco tailor promotions to individual shoppers and figure
out quickly how new initiatives are working. After Tesco introduced
Asian herbs, cooking oil and other ethnic foods in neighborhoods with
many Indians and Pakistanis, the data showed the new products were also
popular with affluent white customers. The company quickly expanded the
rollout.

Tesco's computers often turn up counterintuitive results. Shoppers who
buy diapers for the first time at a Tesco store can expect to receive
coupons by mail for baby wipes, toys -- and beer. Tesco's analysis
showed that new fathers tend to buy more beer because they are home with
the baby and can't go to the pub.

The data-driven strategy puts Tesco at the vanguard in retailing as
traditional advertising loses effectiveness. Procter & Gamble Co.,
Coca-Cola Co. and Kimberly-Clark Corp. are among the consumer-products
companies that buy analyses based on Tesco data.

The British retailer is increasingly battling Wal-Mart around the globe.
It plans to open a chain of small stores on the West Coast of the U.S.
next year, its first foray onto Wal-Mart's home turf. Wal-Mart wants to
expand in Central Europe, where Tesco has a firm foothold.

As the U.S. market becomes saturated, Wal-Mart is looking overseas for
growth. It has had some successes, including Mexico and Canada, but many
of its overseas ventures are hurting. Its Japanese unit has suffered
losses. Last month, Wal-Mart abandoned an eight-year effort in South
Korea by selling its 16 outlets there to a local competitor for $872
million. Tesco says its 39 Korean stores are successful.



Asda in the U.K. accounts for about 10% of Wal-Mart's overall business
and 45% of its international sales. The unit thrived under Wal-Mart's
ownership for several years but Wal-Mart says sales were "slightly
negative" last year and profits were "below plan." (It doesn't report
exact figures.)

Tesco has used its knowledge of shoppers to fight Wal-Mart's core
appeal: low prices. After Wal-Mart bought Asda, Tesco searched its
database and singled out shoppers who buy the cheapest available item.
They were most likely to be tempted by Asda, Tesco figured.

Tesco then identified 300 items that these price-sensitive shoppers
bought regularly. One was Tesco Value Brand Margarine. Tesco lowered the
price of the margarine, along with other products with similar profiles.
As a result, shoppers didn't defect to Asda, says Clive Humby, chairman
of Dunnhumby, a British research firm that is majority-owned by Tesco
and analyzes customer data for the retailer. Tesco's sales jumped 17% to
$79 billion in the year ended Feb. 25, and net income rose 17% to $2.96
billion.

Founded in 1919 as a grocery stand in East London, Tesco grew into a
supermarket chain after World War II and opened its first superstore in
1968. The company's name comes from its first private-label product,
Tesco Tea, which founder Jack Cohen named by combining the initials of a
tea supplier, T.E. Stockwell, with the first two letters of his own last
name.

In the 1990s, as space for new big stores became scarcer, the retailer
refined its strategy. Today it operates 2,306 stores in Britain in four
sizes: huge supercenters stocking everything from lawn furniture to
apples; large stores that have a limited range of nonfood items; regular
supermarkets; and "Tesco Express" convenience stores with merchandise
tailored to neighborhood tastes.

Tesco's size is raising antitrust concerns in the U.K. Last month, the
British government ordered an investigation into the power of the
country's four biggest supermarket chains. Tesco Chief Executive Terry
Leahy said the company isn't doing anything improper to block
competition. He said Tesco is successful because "millions of ordinary
consumers vote with their feet when they go shopping."

As Wal-Mart is increasingly doing in the U.S., Tesco tries to appeal to
both affluent and bargain shoppers. It has several private labels,
ranging from the "Tesco Finest" line that includes duck pâté and
cashmere sweaters to the "Tesco Value" brand, which offers baked beans
and the like. The idea for the Finest line came a few years ago when
Clubcard data showed that higher-spending customers weren't buying wine,
cheese and fruit from Tesco. The retailer upgraded its offerings in
those categories.

In 1995, Tesco introduced the Clubcard under Mr. Leahy, then head of
marketing. Today, about 80% of Tesco shoppers are Clubcard members. They
join by filling out an application form at a store, which includes
optional questions about the size of their household, the ages of their
children and dietary preferences.

Members receive a plastic card in the mail, which they use at the
checkout to receive a point for every pound they spend. (They must spend
at least £150, about $280, to begin getting points.) Each point is a
penny off future purchases, or it can be converted into miles in
frequent-flier programs. On top of the points, big spenders get discount
coupons every three months on particular products, keyed to their buying
profile in Tesco's database.

Adele Fiala, a 36-year-old homemaker in London, recently used air miles
earned from her Clubcard for a weekend trip to Seville, Spain, with her
husband. While she tosses promotional mailings, "I always open the mail
from Tesco," she says. She recently switched from powdered laundry
detergent to liquid capsules after receiving a one-pound-off coupon in
the mail from Tesco.

To help analyze the mountains of data that Clubcard generates, Tesco
turns to consultancy Dunnhumby, named for its two founders -- Mr. Humby
and his wife, Edwina Dunn. Dunnhumby is also active in the U.S. as an
adviser to supermarket chain *Kroger* Inc., analyzing customer data and
running its loyalty-card program. Dunnhumby's offices in Ealing, just
outside London, receive data on 15 million Tesco shopping baskets every
week.

Each product is scored on 50 dimensions such as price and the size of
the package. The computer looks for customers whose shopping baskets
have similar combinations of scores. Dunnhumby classifies shoppers in
six segments. The "Finer Foods" segment, for example, is made up of
affluent, time-strapped shoppers who buy upscale products. "Traditional"
shoppers are homemakers with time to buy ingredients and cook a meal.

Many retailers consider loyalty programs expensive to manage and think
they slow down the checkout line. Neither Wal-Mart nor its Asda unit has
a frequent-shopper card, though Asda tried one for four years before
dropping it in early 1999. Asda argues that it can get nearly the same
information for less money by combining Wal-Mart's powerful
sales-tracking computers with targeted market research such as focus groups.

"There clearly are benefits to having loyalty-card information but there
are costs as well," says Jon Owen, head of research and pricing at Asda.
"We prefer to give our customers the value in different ways."
 
hottest news till date in retail sector has come up in form of tieup of Bharti with Walmart (what a deal!!). Here is the news about the tieup that was published in Economic Times(18/11/ 06)
NEW DELHI: There's wide speculation that Wal-Mart has finally identified Bharti as its potential partner in India and is close to signing a franchisee agreement for its consumer retail venture, reports Our Bureau in New Delhi.

Simultaneously, the buzz is that the $260-bn retailer is also planning a cash-and-carry business in the country, in joint venture (JV) with the Bharti group, sources told ET.

Bharti has been talking to Tesco, and the company maintains it has not taken a final call on who its partner will be. When contacted, a Bharti spokesperson said, “We continue to be in talks with all leading global retail majors and no decision has been reached yet on who will be our partner.”According to sources, Bharti is interested in getting into a wholistic tie-up with a foreign partner which will involve cash and carry, logistics, and retail franchising. While government regulations currently ban FDI in retail , the foreign partner can fully own the cash-and-carry business.

The buzz is that Wal-Mart and Bharti are giving final touches to a JV in the cash-and-carry business. “The JV will set up 2 separate companies in India. One will be a back-end company, with business interests in cash-and-carry. The other company will deal with front-end retail, based on a franchising model. Under this model, the back-end cash- and-carry operations will act as a single sourcing point for the front-end consumer retail business. The Bharti Group is clear that it would get into a partnership with a foreign player only when it is wholistic in nature, including back-end, front-end and logistics,” said an industry source.
 
Jewellery & Watches
1. Apranje Jewelers receives IGI certification
Bangalore based Apranje Jewelers announced that it is the first
diamond jewelry store in the city to become certified by the
International Gemological Institute (IGI). The International
Gemological Institute is an independent testing facility for gemstones
and fine jewelry.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Source: The Hindu Business Line
2. Tanishq to open in the US
Titan Industries jewelry brand Tanishq announced that it will be
launching in the US market by next Christmas. Initially the company
will be going through a franchisee model, to gauge on how the brand
will be accepted in the US market. Tanishq sees a huge potential in
the US due to the large number of people of Indian origin settled
there.
Besides targeting the Indian customer, Tanishq is considering
attracting the average American consumer also. A company spokesperson
said that, "We can't ignore the general American consumer. We are
figuring out details and the strategy will be firmed up in the next
two months."
Friday, November 03, 2006
Source: Business Standard
3. Timex to diversify to make jewelry, sunglasses and other accessories
Timex announced its plans to diversify to manufacture jewelry,
sunglasses and other accessories, although no timeline of this process
had been set up. The company also wants to expand its retail outlets
in the next 18 months to 120, from its current 32. New stores will
have a multi-brand strategy.
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Source: The Economic Times
Luxury and Lifestyle
1. Blue Clothing Company to retail luxury brands
Increasing demand for luxury brands is leading to brands such as
Versace to relocate from multi brand outlets (MBOs) in five-star
hotels to exclusive boutiques to reach more customers. Blue Clothing
Company authorized licensee of several luxury brands is now retailing
Versace, Corneliani, Cadini and Sisley though exclusive stand alone
stores.
Abhay Gupta, Executive Director of BCC, said that "These exclusive
brands need an exclusive treatment, and MBOs cannot give the consumer
a complete shopping experience when it comes to luxury labels."
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Source: The Economic Times
 
hottest news till date in retail sector has come up in form of tieup of Bharti with Walmart (what a deal!!). Here is the news about the tieup that was published in Economic Times(18/11/ 06)
NEW DELHI: There's wide speculation that Wal-Mart has finally identified Bharti as its potential partner in India and is close to signing a franchisee agreement for its consumer retail venture, reports Our Bureau in New Delhi.

Simultaneously, the buzz is that the $260-bn retailer is also planning a cash-and-carry business in the country, in joint venture (JV) with the Bharti group, sources told ET.

Bharti has been talking to Tesco, and the company maintains it has not taken a final call on who its partner will be. When contacted, a Bharti spokesperson said, “We continue to be in talks with all leading global retail majors and no decision has been reached yet on who will be our partner.”According to sources, Bharti is interested in getting into a wholistic tie-up with a foreign partner which will involve cash and carry, logistics, and retail franchising. While government regulations currently ban FDI in retail , the foreign partner can fully own the cash-and-carry business.

The buzz is that Wal-Mart and Bharti are giving final touches to a JV in the cash-and-carry business. “The JV will set up 2 separate companies in India. One will be a back-end company, with business interests in cash-and-carry. The other company will deal with front-end retail, based on a franchising model. Under this model, the back-end cash- and-carry operations will act as a single sourcing point for the front-end consumer retail business. The Bharti Group is clear that it would get into a partnership with a foreign player only when it is wholistic in nature, including back-end, front-end and logistics,” said an industry source.
 
Wal-Mart had been in talks with all prominent Indian retailers as well as a couple of real estate companies for entering India.

The world’s largest retailer was always in favour of forging an alliance with a strong partner who is also politically savvy. Not surprisingly, it has held talks with Reliance, the Aditya Birla Group and Mahindra & Mahindra in the past.

At the same time, as it’s well known, the entire top brass of Wal-Mart International has lobbied with the government to open the retail sector to FDI, which did not break much ice. After two years of hectic lobbying, Wal-Mart has finally understood India is in no hurry to allow foreigners in food and grocery retail. Also, it has already lost sufficient ground to Reliance Retail, which has started rolling out its stores.

Sources also add Wal-Mart needs Brahma to enter India, given the latter’s successful track record in telecom and the political goodwill that it enjoys. Also, it is learnt Bharti’s retail infrastructure is in place for Wal-Mart to roll out quickly.

India is also important for the US retailer as this is where the company’s future growth lies. Wal-Mart recently rejigged its geographical presence around the world. Faced with intense competition from local retailers, it exited large markets like South Korea and Germany. Currently in the Asian region, it has retail presence only in China with 66 stores and Japan where it has 391 stores.

According to sources, the business model that Wal-Mart has finally zeroed in on India is similar to that of African food retail chain Shoprite.

Apart from the cash-and-carry format, the chain also operates in India under the franchisee route. The company is setting up a 70,000 square feet hypermarket mall at Mulund in Mumbai, in agreement with the Nirmal Lifestyle Mall.
 
*New technology drives automation *
The pressure on telcos to reduce costs as their margins are squeezed is on
the increase. Meanwhile, as products and services are increasingly being
commoditised, many telcos are seeking to differentiate on customer service.
How are telcos reconciling these seemingly conflicting aims of reducing
costs while improving customer service?

For many operators, automation is the key to delivering better service at a
lower cost. By driving down the number of calls to their contact centres,
which are expensive to handle, telcos aim to reduce costs while hoping that
the automated self-service options will please customers. One of the
operators we interviewed anticipated a 30-40% reduction in call volumes over
the next three years. But is this realistic?

Recent advances in technology have enabled operators to automate many
processes that were previously dealt with by people. Improvements in voice
recognition and call-routing technologies have led to the creation of
voice-activated portals, allowing customers to perform a range of tasks,
from simple bill enquiries to more complex line-fault diagnosis and
reporting. Rising levels of Internet and broadband penetration have led to a
parallel evolution of online self-serve solutions, from bill analysis to
technical support.

Indeed, many operators envisage a future in which next-generation networks
will enable them to deliver next-generation operations, and in which
customer interfaces are integrated with back-end systems, thus giving them
the ability to directly configure complex services.
 
*But technology also drives complexity *
Although the majority of customers will undoubtedly appreciate the convenience of automated systems for routine enquiries, we feel that many will still require the reassurance that if they experience a problem someone will take ownership to resolve it.
We also believe that the number of problems is likely to escalate drastically over the next few years. This will particularly be the case in the consumer market, as telcos extend their reach beyond the line socket into the heart of the home, with new services such as TV over DSL and home networking. The same applies to the enterprise market, as telcos move up the value chain towards managed network and IT services.
Not only do these services represent a venture into uncharted waters for most telcos, but they also conjure up a whole range of customer support issues that didn't exist in the days of fixed voice provision. Will the average consumer be able to face the complexity of configuring a home network or installing the CPE required for a TV over DSL service? As the operator provides the service, its call centre is likely to be the first point of contact if anything goes wrong, even if it is for something beyond its control, such as a set-top box or PC fault.
 
*A struggle to reduce costs*

We therefore believe that the new demands placed upon telcos will outweigh the savings made by dealing with more mundane enquiries through automation.
The key challenge for telcos in the coming years will be to balance the cost of the increasing expertise required to support a growing portfolio of products and services, while providing these at ever lower prices.
 
1. US cites RIL entry to make case for foreign retail chains The entry of Reliance Industries Ltd in the retail sector has led to the US pushing for the entry of foreign retail chains into the market. This discussion reportedly came up at the meeting of Indian and US officials at the CEOs Forum. India has been against the entry of foreign retail players saying that local vendors would be hit by such
large scale operations, but US officials are countering this issue, that Reliance and Bharti Enterprises will affect local businesses just the same as Wal-Mart would.
A Commerce Ministry official said that "It is true that there is no way we can regulate the Indian companies which have turned retailers but given the political opposition we are not in a position to allow the foreign chains to enter the Indian market." While the government is open to allowing foreign retailers to set up shop in India, the Left and BJP are opposing the move on the grounds that it will cause widespread job loss in certain communities.
Monday, November 06, 2006
Source: The Economic Times
 
2. Who will be India's Wal-Mart and Kmart?
India's retail sector is soon to have another mega launch announcement, with The Aditya Birla Group who plans to establish more than 6,000 stores in the next three years. The company plans to invest more than Rs. 150 billion, second to only Reliance's investment of Rs. 250 billion to set up 11,000 stores by 2011. These two companies are trying to set up retail chains at levels that global retailers such as Wal-Mart or Kmart established in 3-5 decades.
While Reliance and the Birla's are working their way from cities and urban areas, Wal-Mart got started in the rural areas in the south, and Kmart and Target got started in larger cities. Wal-Mart established itself as a national chain over a period of 30 years and became the number one retail chain in the world and Kmart became a national chain in 8 years, becoming the 29th largest retail chain in 2005.
Monday, November 06, 2006
Source: Financial Express
 
3. Organized retail majors record over 50% growth in Q2
The top five retailers in the organized retail sector have had a phenomenal performance this past quarter, with a combined net sales growth of more than 50% for the quarter than ended September 2006. The top five retailers, Pantaloon Retail, Shoppers' Stop, Trent, Titan Industries and Provogue, have combined net sales growth of 52% and net profit growth of 22%.
Pantaloon Retail had the highest net sales growth at 65%, its value segment increasing by 78% and lifestyle segment increasing by 50%. Value retail accounts for close to 72% of the comp any's turnover. Wednesday,
November 08, 2006
Source: The Economic Times
 
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