Grand Galleria opens at High Street Phoenix, Mumbai

Mumbai’s premier shopping destination High Street Phoenix has added a new shopping centre in its vicinity. Branded Grand Galleria, the centre spreads over 60,000 square feet in two floors and houses a variety of fashion apparel and accessories, home décor and furnishings, bath and body, leisure, travel and outdoor merchandise. Further, the company plans to launch two of its upcoming projects in Mumbai and Lucknow soon, informed a top company official.

Speaking to IndiaRetailing, Vinay Menon, centre director, High Street Phoenix, said, “High Street Phoenix has already established itself as one of the best retail destinations in south Mumbai. With Grand Galleria, we look forward to ensure that both retailers and shoppers have the most satisfying and sterling retail experience ever.” 

“Grand Galleria has 32 stores in addition to a seven-screen PVR multiplex. The opening of PVR Cinemas and Croma store has added value to it and the footfalls have been increasing tremendously beyond our expectations,” added Menon. 

Speaking about the upcoming projects, Menon further disclosed, “We have planned to roll out Mumbai's first luxury destination — Palladium by the end of May this year. Further, Phoenix United, which is being developed in Lucknow, is scheduled to be opened in September this year." 

"Besides housing a blend of both national and local brands, Phoenix United will also have Lucknow’s first six-screen multiplex and a night club,” he added. 

The stores in Grand Galleria include Basecamp Traveller, Be:Home, Biba, Bose, BHS, Costa Coffee, Croma, Krystal Mirage, EcoScapes, Episode, Esbeda, Fab India, GNC, H&A (Home and Apparel), Identiti, Jashn, Jas Jewellery, Lancome, Lush, Monarch, Nachtmann, Neckties & More, Om Ved, Patchouli, Penny Lane, Redmond, Sia, Storm, Subway, Tesoro and William Penn. 

High Street Phoenix is spread across three zones — Skyzone, Courtyard and MainStreet Boulevard. While the leading national and international retail outlets feature in Skyzone, Courtyard represents various eating joints, The Bowling Co and Big Bazaar outlet. MainStreet Boulevard houses formal and casual clothes, premium accessories and jewellery brands. 

E-retail — the future of a cash-crunched industry?

"Online shopping is not only more convenient for consumers with hectic lifestyles, but also gives a better deal for their money," says Veer Kaul CEO of Art d'nox, the premium stainless steel home décor chain from Jindal steel. There are eight exclusive Artd'nox stores in key metros like New Delhi and Mumbai, besides at 41 multi brand outlets including Shoppers Stop, Westside, Home Stop and The Home Store. Kaul finds the online format exciting, though the concept is still in a nascent phase in India. 

Small eyes big
According to a study by Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), India's unorganised retail sector is expected to grow at about 10 per cent per annum with sales rising from US$ 309 billion in 2006-07 to USD 496 billion in 2011-12. The study further suggests that organised retail is likely to grow at a much faster pace of 45-50 per cent per annum and quadruple its share in total retail trade to 16 per cent by 2011-12. The study also revealed that the majority of unorganised retailers indicated their preference to continue in the business and compete rather than exit, representing a future scenario in which both unorganised and organised retail not only coexist but also grow substantially in size. 

In such a scenario, there is certainly a need for the former and larger segment to innovate. Online retail is one such tool to boost the sales of small retailers. For those operating single or even a couple of stores, the clientele may be limited; however, their adoption of an online model will not just boost visibility and reach – and thereby sales revenues — but also help build proximity with clients, thanks to many inbuilt tools.

Shalini Gera, GM, Ferns N Petals - ecommerce, says, “Online retail offers global reach for both buyers and receivers, which is absent in the case of a fixed physical store. It also provides round-the-clock reach and hence there are no market timing restrictions."

Despite all the advantages, when it comes to credibility, it is no secret that Indian consumers still prefer a touch-and-feel experience when it comes to shopping. Some analysts, however, believe that it is only a matter of time before Indians begin trusting the online shopping space.

“E-commerce is growing by 30-40 per cent each year and with branded players stepping in for most products, credibility is not a major issue. Besides, online retailers are extremely cautious of this fact and go the extra mile to ensure that customer experience is above expectation," says Gera.

Khurshid Iqbal, business head— operation, Sweet World, a popular European concept of a pick-n-mix candy shop, elaborates the role of online retail in food. "We currently operate 53 outlets—both company owned and franchised. Besides planning 50 more outlets by December 2009, we will soon launch an online retail site for the customers. Online retail will help us reach clients in the areas where we currently have no stores."

Jagdeep Chhabra, managing director, Chhabra Triple Five Fashions says, "Chhabra555, a traditional Indian women’s ethnic wear retailer with 35 physical stores, also has an online presence. However, company's revenue generation through online shopping is minimal at this point of time." The reason for this, he elaborates, is because customers want to touch and feel the products before making the final purchase. However, he believes over the next 2-3 years, the customer mindset will change in favour of the online shopping experience.

Cost effective
Besides offering significant benefits to consumers in terms of accessibility and product & price comparisons, online retailing has commercial advantages as well. It allows much larger inventory breadth, offers cost savings through a lack of physical infrastructure and overheads, and potentially offers a global consumer base to almost any size of business.

The biggest advantage of online sales is its cost effectiveness. The online version is not only available at zero real estate cost but also zero inventory cost. Gera further says, "It gives measurable options for marketing available on digital medium. Further, the retailer can reach a large targeted audience in lieu of targeting audiences through traditional media, which may not always be significant."

India story
According to a recent Visa e-commerce tracking survey, eighty per cent of internet users in the Asia Pacific region made an online transaction and spent an average of over USD 3,000 each in the past 12 months. Further, the survey revealed that in India, purchasing digital downloads was the most popular form of consumer e-commerce. Seventy-six per cent of respondents from India, the highest among Asia Pacific countries including Hong Kong (China), Singapore, Japan, Korea, Australia and India, have bought some form of digital entertainment over the internet in the last 12 months; music downloads (63 per cent) emerged as the most popular digital entertainment purchase.

Online consumers in India recognise the convenience of online shopping as reflected in the high percentage of internet users who buy a wide range of products, from those for everyday use to the occasional high-value item online. According to the report, the top draws for shopping online spotted airline tickets at first place, followed by online travel agents, travel accommodation. Clothes and shoes grabbed the fourth spot while car/motorcycle stood fifth. However, food and groceries segment was positioned seventh in the Visa e-commerce tracking survey.

The online shopping market in India is on the rise. Recently, to address the requirements of the consumer base, Reliance Money also forayed into the segment. As per India Retail Report 2009, books, electronic items, clothes/accessories, gifts and CDs/DVDs make up the largest chunk of e-retail sales at 28 per cent, 26 per cent, 25 per cent, and 23 per cent respectively, followed closely by watches, mobile phones, software, movie tickets etc. Major players in the segment are futurebazaar.com, HomeShop18, ebay, Indiatimes and individual retailers. Observers indeed expect the online shopping concept to boom in the near future, provided awareness about the safety of financial transactions over the internet spreads across consumers.

Aditya Birla Nuvo plans 150 new stores at city centres

Aditya Birla Nuvo, a part of the Aditya Birla Group, plans to rejig its apparel business by opening 150 new stores at city centres, where footfall is higher, after closing 30 unviable stores, a top company official has said.

The company’s move comes after its net loss widened to Rs 141.2 crore in the March-ended quarter, owing to mounting losses in apparels. The loss was Rs 82.2 crore in the apparel business, against a loss of Rs 4.44 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year. Revenue from sale of garments fell 1 per cent to Rs 273.3 crore during the period, when consumers responded to the financial downturn by tightening their purse strings.

“In the current quarter, we plan to close 30 stores where sales per square feet have dropped significantly. We expect to save Rs 10 crore annually with the closure of these unprofitable stores,” said Pranab Barua, whole-time director of Aditya Birla Nuvo and chief executive of the textile and apparel business, Aditya Birla Group.

The apparel business arm of the company, which has Madura Garments Lifestyle & Retail and Peter England Fashions & Retail, runs 340 stores in the country. Madura Garments has brands such as Louis Phillippe, Van Heusen and Allen Solly and a tie-up with fashion brand Esprit.

The company is also taking other cost cutting measures in apparels which are expected to save it Rs 100 crore in fiscal year 2010, he says. “We will align all growing businesses and close the loss-making stores. Moreover, we have a plan to reduce the store area in some cases,” he added.

The company also plans to revive the Allen Solly brand to boost revenues and improve visibility. “Van Heusen, Louise Phillippe and Peter England were doing very well when Allen Solly sales was falling,” he said.

Aditya Birla Retail, another group company which runs supermarkets and hypermarkets, has closed 70 unviable stores of its More chain to improve profitability. Almost all retailers, such as the Future group, Reliance Retail and others, have scaled down expansion as shoppers defer purchases and downtrade to beat the slowing economy.

Analysts cited high leverage positions and rising debt to equity ratios as reasons for the slower expansion of retailers. “Across the board, expansion plans are being relooked, due to capital scarcity and catchment reassessment. Given high debt levels and an almost dormant equity market, the capital for growth has become scarce,” says a report from Edelweiss Securities.

Emami’s summer campaign targets Rs 300-cr sales

Emami has launched a bigger summer campaign this year with a stronger budget and higher sales target than before.

“This season we are targeting sales of about Rs 300 crore, marking growth of around 30 per cent over the last summer,” Aditya V Agarwal, director of Emami Ltd, said indicating that Emami would invest Rs 60-70 crore on advertising and brand promotions for six summer months. This would represent roughly 20 per cent growth in the budget over the last summer. The campaign would largely be centred around its power brands – Navratna Oil and Boroplus. 

Brand extension exercise 
The introduction of two new hair oils as an extension of the Navratna brand — Navratna Oil Lite, non-sticky hair oil with mild fragrance, and Navratna Extra Thanda Oil, a stronger variant, he said, created a new hair oil range reinforcing existing regular product Navratna Oil aimed to provide “cooling effect” in summer.

The brand extension exercise was being undertaken for talcum segment of Navratna with the launch of a new talcum powder called Navratna Cool Talc: 24-hr Fresh. New SKUs of 20 gm and 300 gm for Navratna Cool Talc Active Deo were also being launched.

The summer campaign would also take on board the Boroplus range — Boroplus Ice Pricky Heat Powder with three variants cool, lavender and sandalwood, and French herbal. Emami, as it was pointed out, was also looking at strengthening its foothold in the OTC segment nationally with brands such as Lalima and Sardi Ja.

A new TV commercial of Navratna Cool Talc would go on air nationally featuring Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan. Superstar Amitabh Bachchan has appeared and sung for another new commercial for Navratna Oil. 

Boroplus range would carry on their campaigns with actor Kareena Kapoor.

Future Group launches Canadian beauty brand Faces in India

Kishore Biyani-led Future Group has launched Canadian wellness brand Faces Cosmetics in India. Initially, Faces products are launched at Pantaloon’s Ghatkopar in Mumbai and The Great India Place mall at Noida in Delhi-NCR region. Further, the company plans to roll out the product across Future Group retail formats, according to a company press release. 

Speaking on the launch, Smita Gautam, beauty head — Faces said, “I am very excited about the new product we have launched, and the immediate customer interest has been very encouraging. Through ongoing research and development we will continue to develop innovative products to suit the Indian beauty market.” 

Faces Cosmetics is majority owned by Indivision India Partners, a private equity fund that has a strategic relationship with Future Group in India. Indivision has partnered with Pantaloon Retail, the flagship retail company of Future Group, to strategically promote the Faces brand in the Indian market. 

Faces offer a comprehensive range of product categories for men and women of all ages, with over 1000 SKUs to suit every skin type, colour and look. Currently, the brand is available in over 60 standalone stores in Canada, th US, Central America and Europe, added the release. 

Adidas plans to open 200 stores by 2009-end

The sports footwear and apparel major, Adidas India Marketing Pvt Ltd has planned to open 200 outlets by the end of calendar year 2009. Speaking in an exclusive interview, Andreas Gellner, MD, Adidas India stated, “We are planning to open 200 stores by December 2009. It looks pretty much like our plans would become reality.”

Gellner further stated that the new stores would be present in a mix of higher tier as well as lower tier cities such as tier III and tier IV towns. “Our growth is happening through more intensive penetration of metros like Delhi, but it is also coming from smaller environments like tier III and tier IV cities,” Gellner remarked.

Gellner informed that Adidas at present has over 450 stores, out of which around 130 outlets are present in smaller towns.

Commenting on the recent media reports about Adidas closing down a number of its stores, Gellner stated, “For every retailer, to review store portfolios and closing down one or the other store is an ongoing and normal routine.”

“But obviously, in the current environment when the consumer demand is not very strong and the rentals have been unhealthily inflated in the last two years, there is probably even a bigger sense of reviewing the store portfolio and making decisions to close stores which don’t have the outlook to become profitable in the near future. So that’s what we are doing on an ongoing basis. We have been closing a few outlets. But the net addition would be 200 stores this year. I don’t think there is anything abnormal in this practice and every retailer should do this.”

Grand Galleria opens at High Street Phoenix, Mumbai

Mumbai’s premier shopping destination High Street Phoenix has added a new shopping centre in its vicinity. Branded Grand Galleria, the centre spreads over 60,000 square feet in two floors and houses a variety of fashion apparel and accessories, home décor and furnishings, bath and body, leisure, travel and outdoor merchandise. Further, the company plans to launch two of its upcoming projects in Mumbai and Lucknow soon, informed a top company official.

Speaking to IndiaRetailing, Vinay Menon, centre director, High Street Phoenix, said, “High Street Phoenix has already established itself as one of the best retail destinations in south Mumbai. With Grand Galleria, we look forward to ensure that both retailers and shoppers have the most satisfying and sterling retail experience ever.” 

“Grand Galleria has 32 stores in addition to a seven-screen PVR multiplex. The opening of PVR Cinemas and Croma store has added value to it and the footfalls have been increasing tremendously beyond our expectations,” added Menon. 

Speaking about the upcoming projects, Menon further disclosed, “We have planned to roll out Mumbai's first luxury destination — Palladium by the end of May this year. Further, Phoenix United, which is being developed in Lucknow, is scheduled to be opened in September this year." 

"Besides housing a blend of both national and local brands, Phoenix United will also have Lucknow’s first six-screen multiplex and a night club,” he added. 

The stores in Grand Galleria include Basecamp Traveller, Be:Home, Biba, Bose, BHS, Costa Coffee, Croma, Krystal Mirage, EcoScapes, Episode, Esbeda, Fab India, GNC, H&A (Home and Apparel), Identiti, Jashn, Jas Jewellery, Lancome, Lush, Monarch, Nachtmann, Neckties & More, Om Ved, Patchouli, Penny Lane, Redmond, Sia, Storm, Subway, Tesoro and William Penn. 

High Street Phoenix is spread across three zones — Skyzone, Courtyard and MainStreet Boulevard. While the leading national and international retail outlets feature in Skyzone, Courtyard represents various eating joints, The Bowling Co and Big Bazaar outlet. MainStreet Boulevard houses formal and casual clothes, premium accessories and jewellery brands. 

Small city, big battle

Big Bazaar sales remain unaffected amid slowdown. Reebok too observes zooming revenue figures. High profile Westside is all set to mark its presence. Metro-centric entertainment chain PVR is ready to compete with Inox. With just one operational mall to be followed by four more soon, this sugar bowl of India is claimed as one of the most promising retail destinations. 

Spread over an area of 108.66 square kilometre accommodating about 758,181 people (ICMR Estimation, 2008, based on NRS Data, 2006) with a population density of 6,166 persons per square kilometer (Census, 2001), the capital city of newly formed state Chhattisgarh, is Raipur. Raipur is proving its critics wrong who categorised it among the laggard cities. With the city’s primary commercial occupation being agriculture and mining, this rice bowl of India is capable of fulfilling high promises for the staggering growth of the retail industry.

Raipur is the hub of activity with an existing mall City Mall 36 . The mall by City Mall Developers spreads across an area of 50,000 square feet. Talking about the success of City Mall 36, Sanjay Gupta, managing director, City Mall Developers, says, “To facilitate the success of the project we focus on varied tenant mix i.e. we look forward to maintain a good tenant mix to ensure maximum spend by consumers and leave no other option for the visitor to feel deprived of their needs and go some place else. We also have good parking facility for 600 cars in open area, 200 cars in basement and parking for 1000 two wheelers. Apart from that, we are fortunate enough to get the Raipur City Bus facility service with a proper bus stop in front of the mall entrance providing economical conveyance to the general public.”

Retail Experience

The only mall currently operational in Raipur currently is City Mall 36 which has vertical length up to the fourth floor. Some of the brands present in the mall include Big Bazaar, Reebok, Biba Apparels, Globus, Color Plus, Adidas, Provogue, Levis, John Player, INOX multiplex, Moti Mahal and Music World. While talking to the heads of few of these brands, IndiaRetailing discovered that the brands are faring well above their expectations. 

Rajan Malhotra, president, retail strategy, Future Group says, “Our store is reasonably doing well in Raipur. But we prefer to be more in the centre of the city rather than in the suburbs. No regret, the store is doing reasonably well.” 

“We have now 110 Big Bazaar stores and we are doing well in all the locations. The maximum consumption is happening in tier I and II cities only. In tier III cities, consumption rate is still low. Having said that I must also say that the slowdown impact is very less in tier III cities and thus the stores are performing at constant levels,” he added.

“We have started Big Bazaar chain with three stores in different towns that include Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kolkata (the then Calcutta). We had experimented with three different properties. The first one in Hyderabad was an old market property, which had gone down over a period of time; the Kolkata was an out of town property, it was a highway model and we wanted to check whether the model/concept works. The third one was in Bengaluru and at that point in time it was a new catchment where there was no market at all. We wanted to check whether we can open in a place where there is no market and develop a market out of that. We had three different strategies and we found that over a period of time (7-8 years), the dynamics of all these locations have changed and our market grew out of no where.”

“Basically we look for three core things: where it is, the catchment potential and the size before opening our stores in any particular locality. We look at city wise trends as well,” he added.

On the plans of expansion in Raipur, Malhotra commented, “We won’t open a store in any of the three malls being developed in the adjoining areas of Raipur. We have one market city property coming up in the heart of the town and we will open our store there. "

Sanjay Bindra, director, Biba Apparels says, “In terms of performance, the sales figures in Raipur are very decent.”

On the same lines, Subhinder Singh, managing director, Reebok India, talks broadly on the strengths of tier II and III cities. “Overall our experience is good in small cities. In smaller towns customers are pretty prone to trying out new products. They aspire to get a better lifestyle. It’s a great opportunity to cater their demands.” 

“In tier I, normally we have very big stores and the number of stores is also large. In Delhi itself, we have over 100 stores but in Raipur, we have only one store. In terms of the number of stores it is higher in tier I, but in terms of the performance of stores, even in tier II it is very good,” he added.

About the expansion, Singh disclosed, “We are definitely planning for expansions in small cities, but about Raipur, I am not sure whether we have any store in the pipeline or not for the city.”

Upcoming Malls

Raipur is all set to witness the advent of three other malls soon. While Magnetto mall will start operations this June, City Centre cum Multiplex (RDA Mall) is under construction. Treasure Island is another mall that has also been announced and will be built on the Eastern fringe of the city along GE Road. 

Anand Singhania, managing director, Avinash Developers, which is developing the Magnetto Mall in the city, says, “State capital city Raipur is truly loaded with myriad opportunities as it is in nascent stage of development of real estate and retail. The city embodies a tremendous economic potential with an imaginary annual growth of 20 per cent and the city is fully taking shape as one of the most prominent industrial and commercial hub of central India. It is also showcasing mammoth number of steel rolling mills, sponge iron plants, steel plants and other agro industries. The capital city enjoys surplus electricity, drinking water and paramount connectivity with all metros and big cities with road, rail and air.” 

Transport

Raipur being the capital of Chhattisgarh state has a four lane road to the nearby city Bhilai, which is planned to further extend to Durg city. The Chhattisgarh government also plans to develop another four lane road till Bilaspur city. As far as location of City Mall 36 is concerned the main road of Raipur City coming towards the mall has been widened and reconstructed under the project named as Gaurav Path, which is going to provide good transport. Further, Raipur municipal corporation is also planning to put on the roads the highly mordernised air-conditioned city bus.

Raipur city is situated on the Mumbai-Howrah route of Indian Railways and is well connected with such important places as Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Amritsar, Chennai, Bengaluru and more. Air links to the city connects it with Bhubaneswar, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Nagpur with aviation players including Indian Airlines, Air Deccan, Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines. 

Electricity

The fledgling state of Chhattisgarh is fast emerging as the `power house' of the country with energy starved states rushing to its coal pitheads to set up thermal power stations. NTPC already has a 2,100 MW power plant in the Korba region. In the Sipat region, NTPC will have power generation of 1,980 MW in the first phase, while the second phase will witness 1,000 MW. 

A special high- tension line is being laid between Raipur and Rourkela, in the Eastern grid. With its 'Power Hub' strategy, the state will remain power surplus for all times to come. Hence it would be the preferred destination for all power intensive industries. Jindal Steel and Power Limited too has announced an investment of Rs 160 billion for 1,000 MW power generation from its units that are under construction at Tamnar near Raigarh.

Consumers

The total population of the city according to the SEC classification, as per NRS data, is reported to be 731,429. The percentage distributions of household belonging to various SEC categories in the city are: SEC A1: 9.9 per cent, SEC A2: 9.7 per cent, SEC B1: 13.2 per cent and SEC B2: 8.7 per cent.

The population distribution of SEC A and B has been estimated on the basis of NRS data and this has been estimated by taking into account the proportionate distribution of SEC A and B population in the city.

Structures of consumers comprise of local, adjoining urban and village people along with the inter-state consumers like Orissa, east Maharashtra, east Madhya Pradesh, north Andhra Pradesh and south Bihar as Raipur is the nucleus of trade and commerce of above localities and regions since last six decades. According to our estimation, 73 per cent of the customers fall under the business class, while service class and others contributes 17 per cent and 10 per cent respectively,” estimates Singhania.

The existence of a mall in the city has already influenced the consumers' buying behaviour. The survey undertaken by ICMR in Raipur reveals that the people of the city staying in the trade area are generally aware of the malls, both existing and upcoming, along with the shopping complexes and high street shops. The survey reveals that about 81 per cent of the respondent visit malls, shopping complexes and high street shops at least once in a month and this trend was found uniform in all the age groups and SEC covered. About 97 per cent visit malls for shopping other than grocery shopping. The people visit mall generally with the family and spend at least 1-3 hours.

According to Sanjay Gupta whom we have already introduced as the managing director of City Developers, City Mall 36 currently enjoys a footfall of 10,000 during the weekdays and 45,000 footfalls during weekends. 

Security

Raipur is proving its critics wrong who categorise it among the laggard cities. Like metros, the last movie show at INOX in the City Mall 36 ends at 1.30 pm and it runs to full houses consisting of families and couples.

Naya Raipur

Naya Raipur is the upcoming capital of Chhattisgarh being built near Raipur Airport. The new city is about 20 kilometres from Raipur between two national highways -- NH 6 and NH 43, and the new city and the old one are separated by the airport. Naya Raipur covers an area of about 8000 hectares. The urban design of the new city will incorporate the best of international cities as well as traditional Chhattisgarh culture. The design is the grid pattern city plan. One of the major influences of the design was Kuala Lumpur's new capital complex at Putrajaya.

“New capital – Naya Raipur will be a unique and ultramodern city having international grade facilities and infrastructure in all spheres which will make the city ahead of others. All these ingredients will boost the scope of retail of all formats like apparel, entertainment, food, shopping and amusement which will be offbeat and record making in the retail sector,” says Singhania.

Kaya Skin Care to expand; signs Riddhima K Sahni as brand ambassador

In an expansion mode, Kaya Skin Care Ltd, one of India’s leading chains of skin care clinics, is all set to open 15 new clinics by the end of this year. Among these, seven will be just in the next two months. The wellness retailer is planning to open two clinics in Delhi and again two in Mumbai; one each is Hyderabad, Pune and Bengaluru. The estimated sizes of the new clinics would be 1000 – 1500 square feet of area. 

The new clinics would be opened in Pusa Road and Faridabad in Delhi – NCR region, Powai and Sion in Mumbai, Fatima Nagar in Pune, Vittal Malya Road in Bengaluru and Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad.

Rakesh Pandey, CEO, Kaya Skin Care Ltd, said, “As per our expansion plan we are focusing in almost all the key locations of the major cities across the country and that would include both the high streets as well as the malls, including the luxury malls.”

Kaya skin care clinics are currently present in Atria Mall in Mumbai and Ispahani Centre in Chennai. In HyperCity in Mumbai and Pacific Mall in Delhi, the wellness chain is present in Kiosk Format. 

Kaya has just launched a service called ‘Designer Skin’ to address the specific skin care needs of the season along with a wide range of products armed with the concept of ‘Beauty Through Technology’. The first reel of the service would be focused on skin care and solution specifically for summer. “This is a special kind of service and for that we have signed Riddhima Kapoor Sahni as our brand ambassador, we will keep rolling this with brand new concept to meet the best of our customers,” added Pandey.

Kaya generated a turnover of about Rs 100.84 crore during the financial year 2007-08 and is present across 23 cities with 74 clinics in the country and also 11 clinics in the Middle East as a part of their venture in international operation. 

Woodland to focus on clothing segment

The Aero Group of companies is planning to expand the product portfolio of their Woodland brand, known for shoes, and will now focus on its apparel segment.

The company plans to open large format stores of 4,000 square feet, keeping in mind that apparel would need bigger space for display. It would add 55 more outlets by the end of April 2010 and plans to invest around Rs 100 crore for expansion this year.

In the clothing segment, Woodland caters both men and women. This year, it plans to sell kidswear, too. Recently, the brand introduced its denim range under the same brand name. So far, Woodland sells its shoes in multi-brand outlets. The company now plans to retail its casual wear in multi-brand outlets as well. At present, apparel constitutes 35 per cent of the overall sales of Woodland. 

The company wants to take this share up to 50 per cent. “We want to be rational in our plans, given the market situation. There is great demand in the apparel segment. We have bought new machinery for the purpose,” said Harkirat Singh, managing director, Aero Group. The company wants to set up more stores in high-street locations and enter malls only after they become operational and also plans to introduce its range of sunglasses and perfumes.

Welspun Retail shifting stores to gain out of lower rentals

Welspun Retail, a part of the Welspun Group, said on Tuesday said that it was not closing down any stores but relocating a few of them to new places to save on rents. 

“Rentals were very high last year, but with current slowdown in the real estate sector, we are getting offers from developers who are willing to give their properties on rent at much lower rate or enter into a long-term lease. Thus just by relocating, we will save a lot on rentals,” Welspun Retail's Chief Operating Officer Mr Ajay Kumbhat said. 

Mr Kumbhat said that since rent accounts for around 25 per cent of the cost of operations, getting into a new place at a lower rental meant a lot of savings on that account. “However, we are not closing down any of our stores. We are only relocating some of them to new places in the same locality aiming to maintain market share,” Mr Kumbhat said. 

Welspun Retail, which sells home interiors, has 240 'Welhome' stores in 120 cities and two exclusive 'Spaces Home & Beyond' stores. Welhome caters to the masses and Spaces Home & Beyond meets the 'aspirational demand' of the upper strata of the society. Mr Kumbhat said that the company has already relocated 10-15 stores and is in the process of identifying others which deserve relocation.

Wal-Mart celebrating Earth Month; launches eco friendly bags in India

In an effort to create awareness about green environment, the US retailer Wal-Mart plans to unveil a number of earth friendly products as part of celebrating global Earth Month this April. As part of the plan, Wal-Mart has unveiled flip flops made of 100 per cent recyclable materials in India at Easy Day stores, which are wholly owned and operated by Bharti Retail, according to a company press release.

Doug McMillon, president and CEO, Wal-Mart International, said, “Sustainability is a part of the everyday lives of associates who work at our Super centers, Bodegas, Todo Dias, Sam’s Clubs and offices around the world. We know we can make the greatest impact on our communities by offering eco-friendly products and by supporting sustainable projects that are important to our customers.” 

While in China, the company is offering a mainstays compressed pillow resulting in savings in transportation costs and shelf space, Wal-Mart Puerto Rico launched fashionable and reusable shopping bags with artwork from the Ponce Art Museum and is donating proceeds from the sales of the bag to the museum. 

In partnership with Unilever, Wal-Mart Argentina also launched a special Earth Month edition reusable shopping bag and Wal-Mart Canada announced its move to compaction in powdered laundry detergent. Besides, the company has partnered with local governments and NGOs and will engage its 2.2 million associates worldwide in promoting a cleaner, safer and healthier environment. 

“Wal-Mart’s global environmental goals are simple and straightforward. We want to be supplied 100 per cent by renewable energy to create zero waste and to sell products that sustain our resources and the environment,” added McMillon. 

Wal-Mart Stores Inc operates Walmart discount stores, super centers, neighborhood markets and Sam’s Club locations in the United States. The company also operates in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom, added the release.

Shoppers Stop’s in-store marketing makes the cut for 2009 World Retail Awards

n-store marketing campaigns for a diverse range of international retailers have been shortlisted for the 2009 World Retail Awards to be held in Barcelona, Spain in May. Six retail campaigns have been selected, and will now go head to head to win the In-store Retail Advertising Award at the 2009 World Retail Awards. Making the cut is India's Shoppers Stop's 'Start Something New' campaign, along with Carrefour’s 'With Love to the Environment' in Poland; Nokia’s 'Nseries 2008' at its UK flagship store in London’s West End; Flexa’s 'Invest in Your Children' in Denmark; Max’s 'Max in the City' in Dubai and Saks Fifth Avenue’s 'Holiday 2008' in the US.

In addition to the In-Store Retail Advertising Award, winners will be announced across nine more categories at the Awards Gala Ceremony, which is held each year during the World Retail Congress in Barcelona and the event for this year will take place on May 7, 2009. 

Shortlists have also been revealed in the following seven categories (two remaining awards, which are by nomination only, will be presented to the Oracle-sponsored Retailer of the Year, and Multi Market Retailer of the Year. 

Responsible Retailer of the Year
Cargills Food City; Woolworths Holdings; Tesco Plc; Marks and Spencer; MIGROS; Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC 

Retail Design of the Year
Nike Inc; HMV; Timberland; Harvey Nichols; Monki AB; Teknosa

Emerging Market Retailer of the Year
Fozzy Group; BreadTalk; WUMART STORES, INC; Truworths International; SMYK Sp. z o.o.; Empik Sp.z o.o.

Retail Advertising Award - Traditional Media
Wm Morrison Supermarket PLC; Macy's; Pick n Pay; Target Australia; BURGER KING; Payless ShoeSource; Ricardo Eletro 

Retail Advertising Award - Direct Marketing
Bloomingdale’s; OfficeMax, Inc.; HSBC; Saks Fifth Avenue 

Retail Advertising Award - Digital
JCPenney; HSBC; OfficeMax; Kmart; TK MAXX; Sears

Etailer of the Year
YOOX Group; New Look Retailers; Tesco Stores Limited; Topman; mydeco.com; Zappos.com 

The nine award winners will be selected by a grand jury that comprises a broad spectrum of CEO level, respected retailers and industry advisors from around the world, including Mohammed Alshaya, chairman, MH Alshaya Company; Bernie Brookes, CEO, Myer; Paul Charron, senior advisor, Warburg Pincus; Ravi Dahr, director and professor of marketing, Yale Center for Customer Insights; W Sean Ford, VP, Global Business Unit Marketing, Oracle; Dr Wu Jianzhong, chairman, Wumart Group; Lucy Neville-Rolfe, executive director, Corporate and Legal Affairs, Tesco; Richard Simonin, group CEO, ETAM; Bijou Kurien, president and chief executive – Lifestyle Division, Reliance Retail; Andrew Jennings, group managing director - Retail, Woolworths; Dow Famulak, CEO, LF Europe and executive director, Li & Fung (Trading) Limited; Matt Rubel, president and CEO, Collective Brands Inc. 

Now in its third year, the 2009 World Retail Awards held in partnership with Oracle are a part of the World Retail Congress, which will be held in Barcelona from May 6-8, 2009.

Tesco opens new format department store in Czech Republic

UK-based retailer Tesco has opened its new format department store in the Czech Republic city of Liberec. Branded ‘My Liberec’, the newly launched store is spread over 75,350 square feet area across two floors and retails apparels, homewares and beauty products. Further, the company plans to open the second department store 'My Prague' in the city in the third quarter of this year, reports Retail Week. 

“The department store is designed to be a step up from a traditional Czech Tesco branch,” quoted Bohumil Zematy, store director, Tesco in the report. 

My Liberec retails private labels like Florence & Fred and Cherokee, besides retailing over 350 brands including Levi's, Simon Carter and Energie, added the release. 

Wal-Mart Stores relaunches Great Value Brand

Wal-Mart Stores is learnt to have been relaunching its Great Value private brand with more than 80 new products and distinctive packaging in the United States. Aiming to win business from increasingly price-conscious shoppers, the world's largest retailer will also change formulas for 750 products under the brand, which includes thousands of products across more than 100 food, beverage and household product categories, suggest media reports.

In the reports, Wal-Mart has said that its private brands are becoming more important as consumers look for ways to stretch limited budgets amid the recession. As shoppers run out of money in between paychecks, they are trading down to buy cheaper private brand products instead of national brands, Wal-Mart said.

Colgate Palmolive India seeks court approval for merger

Colgate Palmolive India has announced that SS Oral Hygiene Products, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, had applied to the Andhra Pradesh high court for sanctioning of the scheme of amalgamation of SS Oral Hygiene Products with the company.

The company made the announcement in its latest disclosure to Bombay Stock Exchange.

Further the company informed that the high court has sanctioned the said scheme of amalgamation by its order dated February 24, 2009 and a copy of the High Court Order (received on March 26, 2009) has been filed with the registrar of companies at Hyderabad on March 26, 2009. The said scheme of amalgamation will finally become effective the date on which the order is filed with the registrar of companies at Hyderabad.

hoe Tree goes cautious in its expansion plans; shifts focus to private label

Footwear retail venture of Delhi-based Sports Station India Shoe Tree, which recently closed two of its outlets in Mumbai and Ahmedabad on account of being them non profitable, plans to open five more stores by the end of 2009. 

Talking to IndiaRetailing, Puneet Verma, vice president - sales, Sports Station India said, “We have already started the retail corrections. We are closing the non profitable stores and opening more economically viable options. We plan to open atleast five more stores by the end of this year. We recently opened a 4,000-square feet store in Karol Bagh, Delhi which is the market to be for the footwear business."

Currently, Shoe Tree has eight stores operational across north and west India. With one store each in Chandigarh, Mumbai and Pune, the Delhi-based footwear retailer operates five stores in the national capital.

“Looking at the scenario, we shall be expanding but very cautiously. That's what makes sense to sail through these times,” added Verma.

Commenting further on the ongoing slowdown and its impact, Verma opined, “Current scenario is majorly driven by the sentiments more than the actual pinch of it. But yes, there is a downturn. The consumption in these times is ‘requirement related’ rather than being ‘let me pick it up’. To drive this impulsive approach, we are working towards latest and value for money drive for the product."

With all the outlets being company-owned currently, the footwear retail major did not deny adopting to franchisee model. “As of now, we are concentrating only on company owned outlets. However, we may opt for franchisee model in future depending on the scenario,” disclosed Vema.

Adding further, Verma said, “Footwear market in the country is at a very developing stage. Thus, the downturn shall affect the growth percentage but there shall still be some growth.” 

Meanwhile in an attempt to boost sales figures, the company is also shifting focus towards private labels. “Apart from the brands which we sell, we plan to get more focused in to the in-house merchandise which is going to be more international in style, design and colours and will make it more value for money to the consumers,” shared Verma. 

“Instead of steady, long shelf range, we shall look forward to do small spurts to increase more options and variety for the customer to choose from and reducing our dead stocks as well. Plan to get more location specific on the range , rather than one range for all Shoe Tree stores,” concluded Verma. 

Koutons Retail's promoters pledge 11.22 pc stake

Apparel retail major Koutons Retail has said that three of its promoters pledged 11.22 per cent stake in the firm, having over 305 million total outstanding shares. 

According to the latest filing of Koutons Retail with Bombay Stock Exchange, the promoters – Davinder Pal Singh Kohli, Bhupinder Singh Sawhney and Gurmeet Singh Sawhney - collectively pledged over 34.30 lakh equity shares with lenders for an undisclosed amount.

Greg Norman unveils Spring-Summer 2009 collection

Greg Norman Collection, a leading marketer of golf-inspired sportswear for men and women, has unveiled the Global Spring Summer 2009 collection in the Indian market. The collection is launched in three ranges — Ultimate playdry pique pro Polo, Fine Stripe Polo and Classic Polo, according to a company press release. 

Priced in between ranges of Rs 550 and Rs 2700, the collection comprises products including shirts and cap and is available at Greg Norman stores across the country, added the release.

Lifestyle to invest Rs 4.5 bn in India by '11

Dubai-based Landmark group promoted Lifestyle International has planned to open 35 Lifestyle stores and 15 Home Centre showrooms in India by 2011. As part of the plan, the company will invest Rs 4.5 billion over the next two years, informed a top company officials. 

Speaking on the store launch in Mumbai, Kabir Lumba, executive director, Lifestyle International, said, “We will add 35 Lifestyle stores and 15 Home Center showrooms by 2011 in India.” 

While Lifestyle stores retail products including apparels, footwear and health & beauty, Home Centre retails furniture, home décor and soft furnishing. 

Currently the company operates 16 Lifestyle stores and seven Home Centre outlets across the country. 

Retail is going right, but speed is a major concern: ED, retail services, C&W

A couple of things have gone wrong with respect to modern retailing in India. We have gone wrong in estimating the market size, we have gone wrong in understanding the consumer mindset and preferences, and specially the curve on which consumer will grow,” commented Rajneesh Mahajan, executive director, retail services, Cushman & Wakefield. Mahajan shared his views when IndiaRetailing asked him to comment on the current scenario of modern retailing in India.

Taking the discussion further, he adds “It resulted in creating infrastructure which is not right. It resulted in creating stores which are not right. This has ultimately affected the expansion and development strategy.”

When asked whether there was any other way to do it right, Mahajan said, “Might not be. Unless you do a store, open it for consumers and they come in, you can never say where you are going wrong or what is it that is going wrong. So, yes, all we know today is that we have gone wrong. But was there any other way to get it right, is a million dollar question for almost all of us.”

“Retail is not going wrong. Retail is going on its own right path. But its more a problem of speed. I do believe that we were on an overdrive. The speed did not give us flexibility to do things in a right manner. Had we retarded the speed at the right time, we could have easily escaped surgical correction which is happening today,” he further said.

“Retailing has two parts – buying and selling. Retailing in an organised way is a channel of selling. Retailers will have to understand the preference of a consumer for five years, because their buying behaviour changes in every 2-3 years. The journey itself will teach many things to developers and retailers. Indian retail and modern retail is going to grow only. But the channels will have to improvise themselves” disclosed Mahajan. 

Commenting further on the retailers and developers blaming consultancy firms for (wrong) advices. Mahajan said, “What matters is not the advice, but the execution that makes the real difference.”

Replying on a question about the possibilities of repeating the same mistake in terms of speed and formats in tier II and III cities by developers and retailers, Mahajan appeared optimistic enough in his words. "Retailing in tier II and III cities is much simpler and complex altogether. They are going to get more disposable income, thanks to 6th pay commission. And despite being considerable amount of development in terms of inflow of foreign banks, educational institutes, restaurants, flats and all, you will not see their ethnic values and shopping habits changed drastically in last decade. And as a retailer and developer, you must thank to FMCG companies who have been present there from decades to support you in terms of brand recognition and availability." 

“A consultant's job is to consult based on certain data. When you open a store, you analyse what consumers are buying. But when you don't open a store, you don't know what consumers are not buying. So I can't say that retailers went wrong or developers went wrong or consultants went wrong. I think, we all went wrong in analysing the data which we had. Our role is restricted. We are a real estate consultancy firm and our experience has been till recently that we are required for very specific data on a specific area. We have never been involved in overall emergence of a shopping centre,” concluded Mahajan. 

Brandhouse Retails goes public

Fashion retailer Brandhouse Retails (BHRL), part of S Kumars Nationwide Group, has received permission to list its shares in Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE). The shares of the company will be traded from March 27, 2009, according to a company press release. 

As per the audited accounts as on March 31, 2008, the turnover of the company is Rs 3.14 billion with a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 1311 million. For the period April 1, 2008 to September 30 2008, the company recorded a turnover of Rs 2.58 billion with PAT at Rs 748 million. 

The company has 5, 19,94,195 equity shares of the face value of Rs 10 each. Of the total equity share capital of the company, 56 per cent is held by the promoters including Nitin S Kasliwal and associates with FIIs’ holding 24 per cent, and the balance is held by the public.

The company runs exclusive brand outlets for the brands including Reid & Taylor, Belmonte, Stephens Brothers, Carmichael House, Escada and Alfred Dunhill.

Recently, the company has signed a JV with Italy’s fashion retailer Oviesse to launch the brand in India.

Grand Galleria opens at High Street Phoenix, Mumbai

Mumbai’s premier shopping destination High Street Phoenix has added a new shopping centre in its vicinity. Branded Grand Galleria, the centre spreads over 60,000 square feet in two floors and houses a variety of fashion apparel and accessories, home décor and furnishings, bath and body, leisure, travel and outdoor merchandise. Further, the company plans to launch two of its upcoming projects in Mumbai and Lucknow soon, informed a top company official.

Speaking to IndiaRetailing, Vinay Menon, centre director, High Street Phoenix, said, “High Street Phoenix has already established itself as one of the best retail destinations in south Mumbai. With Grand Galleria, we look forward to ensure that both retailers and shoppers have the most satisfying and sterling retail experience ever.” 

“Grand Galleria has 32 stores in addition to a seven-screen PVR multiplex. The opening of PVR Cinemas and Croma store has added value to it and the footfalls have been increasing tremendously beyond our expectations,” added Menon. 

Speaking about the upcoming projects, Menon further disclosed, “We have planned to roll out Mumbai's first luxury destination — Palladium by the end of May this year. Further, Phoenix United, which is being developed in Lucknow, is scheduled to be opened in September this year." 

DKNY ties up with DLF Brands; plans 28 stores by ’14

Donna Karan New York (DKNY), label of the fashion designer Donna Karan and part of the world's leading luxury group LVMH (Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton) is entering India through a tie-up with DLF Brands, DLF's wholly-owned subsidiary, reports The Economic Times. 

According to the report, DKNY and DLF Brands have entered into a sole franchise agreement under which the latter company will retail the premium brand's apparel and accessories. 

The luxury retailer's entry into India is part of its global expansion strategy, having recently forayed into South Korea and China, the report further added. 

"We plan to open five DKNY stores over the next five months, and 28 stores over the next five years. Luxury retail is growing at 6-10 per cent year-on-year, and we are meeting our targets set last year,” quoted Kelvin Coyle, MD, DLF Brands in the report.

“Our strategic intent is to introduce 12-15 global premium brands to the discerning Indian consumer over a period of five years by opening 500 stores across top two metros and six cities which account for over 55 per cent of our consumer base," he further added.

DLF Brands has luxury lifestyle labels like Armani and Ferragamo under its stable, and introduced premium brands like Alcott and Sia Home Fashion through similar franchise agreements last year. 

Armani, Ferragamo and Boggi are separate joint ventures where the foreign company holds a majority shareholding of 51per cent, with DLF Brands holding the balance stake.

Indians prefer shopping luxury items from abroad: Experts

Indian consumers who avidly shop for luxury goods when travelling abroad turn into guilt-ridden window shoppers back home when they look at the poverty here, fashion experts said at a luxury summit held in the national capital.

“There is a great degree of guilt in the minds of Indian consumer if he or she spends a lot of money on a luxury product because of the depressing conditions around like acute poverty,” said Charu Sachdev, chief executive of TSG International, a company that markets and distributes high-end luxury brands like Moschino and Jean Paul Gaultier in India. 

“They feel as if it is wrong to spend so much. This tendency of the Indian consumer is one reason why luxury brands have not really taken off in the Indian market,” added Sachdev. 

He further went on saying: “The same consumer when go for shopping on the high-streets of London or Dubai doesn't even ask for a discount.” 

"The typical mindset of the Indian consumer, coupled with high rental prices, import duties and low margins have dampened the plans of a number of luxury brand owners in India," concluded Sachdev. 

Stop pulls out of gourmet business

Just over two years after it announced a big-bang foray into food and beverage retailing with three brands, retail major Shoppers Stop, promoted by the K Raheja Corp, appears to be exiting them one by one.

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Fresh Basket, Desi Caf頡nd Caf頂rio, the three brands started by the department store chain in 2006 to enhance shopping experience, build guest loyalty and eventually increase revenues, may well exemplify a business diversification gone wrong.
Back in May 2006, Shoppers Stop CEO Govind Shrikhande had told DNA they were keen to push up the share of customer spend on food items at its stores to over 5% from 2% at that time. To achieve this, the retailer planned to open around 100 food outlets over the next 30 months.
Over 30 months later, the number of food outlets is barely a fourth of that -- 19 Caf頂rio and 3 Desi Caf頯utlets.
According to B S Nagesh, customer care associate and managing director, Shoppers Stop, the management is working on the way forward for Desi Caf鮼/p>
The Caf頂rio outlets, meanwhile, would be replaced with Caf頃offee Day (CCD) outlets over the next couple of months. As per the memorandum of understanding signed by Shoppers Stop with Amalgamated Coffee Bean Trading Co (ABCTCL) recently, the CCD outlets will be run under a revenue sharing agreement.
Fresh Basket has become a private label of Hypercity Retail, serving a whole range from fruits and vegetables to staples.
"We have in a way moved out of the food business," Nagesh said in response to a DNA Money questionnaire.
According to Nagesh, the group had set a target of 50 departmental stores and 100 Crossword Bookstores by 2010-11. At least two-thirds of these were to have Caf頂rio outlets.
As of today, it has 26 Shopper's Stop outlets 54 Crossword stores.
Nagesh said the company has not expanded the food business aggressively as it required certain scale.
But more importantly, while initiatives such as Crossword, Mac and Mothercare have become profitable, the F&B business has not.
"In future, our F&B business will be operated in concession, association or alliance with third party operators," said Nagesh.
In fact, K Raheja Corp might be looking to extend the CCD alliance to its Hypercity Retail and Crossword stores.
Alok Gupta, director of ABCTCL, while refusing to make a specific comment, said they planned to have CCD cafes in all their retail outlets.
The Shopper's Stop management is also learnt to have toggled with a bunch of food and beverage entrepreneurs who were invited to make business plan presentations. The entrepreneurs may either be recruited to head a business or be allowed to run it as third-party management entity.
"The company seems to have gone through the whole learning curve, getting operational insight and starting out on its own, and then deciding it's better to leave the business to experts than burn cash on its own," said one of those invited.

Coca-Cola: A journey over 120 years old

Little drops of joy’ as they call it, soft drink and beverages brand Coca-Cola came into existence in 1886 in Atlanta, New York, USA. From selling only nine glasses of drinks a day initially, after a successful stint of operation for over 120 years, the company currently produces more than 10 billion gallons of drink a day and sells its products across 200 countries worldwide. With more than 450 brands, the company is one of the largest beverage companies in the world keeping the language of refreshment universal across the globe. The product comes into existence:It was1886 in New York Harbor when the construction of the Statue of Liberty was in progress, John Pemberton, a pharmacist in Atlanta, was intrigued by a fragrant caramel-coloured liquid. He carried it a few doors down to Jacobs' Pharmacy where the mixture was combined with carbonated water and sampled by customers who all agreed — that this new drink was something special. Jacobs' Pharmacy then put it on sale for five cents a glass. Later, Pemberton's bookkeeper, Frank Robinson, named the mixture Coca-Cola and wrote it out in a distinct script, the same way it is in use these days. According to the company: “Quality is more than what we taste or see or measure. It shows in our every action. We relentlessly strive to exceed the world's ever-changing expectations because keeping our quality promise in the marketplace is our highest business objective and our enduring obligation.”Coca-Cola comes to India:In sync with the company’s global expansion plan, Coca-Cola entered India eventually and led the soft-drink market till 1977 when government policies necessitated its departure. The corporation re-entered India in 1993 after a 16 year hiatus, giving a new thumbs up to the Indian soft drink market. Following this move, the company made significant investments in the Indian market to ensure that the beverage was available to more and more people, even in the remotest and inaccessible parts of the country. In the same year, the company took over ownership of the nation’s top soft-drink brand and bottling network of Ramesh Chauhan's Parle. The brand earns loyality:More often than not, the company has enthralled consumers in India by connecting itself with their passions including cricket, movies, music and food. Sponsoring the World Cup in 1996 and various other tournaments including the Coca-Cola Cup in Sharjah in the late nineties, the brand became popular and famous among urban Indian population. Further, the company, through its advertising campaigns like Jo Chaho Ho Jaye and Life ho to Aisi entered youth vocabulary. In 2002, Coca-Cola launched it's iconic campaign ‘Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola’ which helped the brand to make it India's favourite soft-drink brand ever. Celebrities including Karishma Kapoor, Srinath and Sourav Ganguly also helped the brand to reach the masses. The trend further continued with the associations of brand ambassadors like Aamir Khan and Hrithik Roshan.Brands in its portfolio:Coca-Cola is the most popular and biggest-selling soft drink brand with over 700 beverage products in its kitty. The products are categorised largely under seven heads including energy drinks, juices, soft drinks, sports drinks, tea and coffee and water. But the brand Coca-Cola is popular in and around for its soft drink ranges that include Coca-Cola, Thumbs Up, Sprite, Fanta, Limca and Maaza. While Kinley is the bottled water range of Coca-Cola, Georgia serves as a ready-to-drink canned coffee in over seven variants.Growth trajectory in India:Coca-Cola India is among the country’s top international investors. Since its inception, the company has been making significant investments to build and continually consolidate its business in the country, including new production facilities, waste water treatment plants, distribution systems and marketing channels. During the first decade of operation, the company invested over USD 1 billion in India and further pledged another USD100 million in 2003 for its operations. Not only that, Coca-Cola has entered the rural untapped market giving an impression to the industry that if an MNC does its homework well and gets its distribution mix right, it need not restrict itself to India's urban middle class. Coke now claims that 80 per cent of its new drinkers come from rural India, where per capita consumption has nearly doubled during the last few years. Currently, the company is operational with over 65 manufacturing locations across 18 states in India. Products launched in 2008:In the last year, the company has added eight new variants in its portfolio. Starting with espresso-based coffee Ilko in March 2008, the new products launched in the year include an antioxidant brand Nestea with green tea flavours, juice range Simply Orange, energy drink Full Throttle, chilled tea variety Gold Peak, NESTEA with red tea pomegranate passion fruit flavour, Sprite green and thirst quencher Odwalla. Products on the anvil:With the roll out of Sprite variant Sprite Apple nationwide recently which was earlier available only in southern market, the company is further ready with an extensive range of products to roll out across the country including low-priced powder drink Vitingo and energy drink Burn in this year. Atul Singh, president and CEO, Coca-Cola India, said, “Timing for us is very important. We are always evaluating different categories of products and as we believe is the right time, we will bring these products in the market.” Further, Singh informed that the company is on it’s way to go ahead with earlier announced USD 250 million investment plans. The company is also working on introducing a lemonade later in the year that would be its third lime-based drink, besides the existing Sprite and Limca brands. Meanwhile, the company has also tied up with cricketer Gautam Gambhir for the summer campaign targeting huge cash amidst the forthcoming IPL tournament. Though Singh does not want to speculate about the returns from the proposed campaign, he is very excited with the signage and said: “Let the IPL start and let's see what happens.” CSR initiatives: Keeping its business plans rolling, Coca-Cola always stands apart thanks to its corporate social responsibility initiatives. Globally, the company is consistently working hard to find out mechanisms to minimise the use of water in its production plants. Further, the company is aggressively working with NGOs for water conservation across the world. As part of the plan, recently, Coca-Cola India signed an agreement with country’s leading NGO SOS Children’s Village to develop rain water harvesting plants across 39 SOS locations in India. For the proposed project, the company will invest USD 585,000 of which USD 391,920 has been granted by the Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Foundation. Atul Singh, president and CEO, Coca-Cola India, said, “Our sustainability as a business demands a relentless focus on efficiency and prudence in our use of natural resources. Water is fundamental to all communities and water stewardship remains a priority for Coca-Cola India. At our end, we pursue a 3R programme of water conservation that includes reduced use of water, recycling of water and replenishing the water.” Also, the company has signed an agreement with Bharat Integrated Social Welfare Agency (BISWA) to reach to around one million women and children to provide affordable alternatives to alleviate ‘Hidden Hunger’ by 2010. Speaking about the same, Shourov Mukherjee, director — strategic initiatives, Coca-Cola India, said, “At Coca-Cola India, it has always been our effort to ensure sustainability of our communities and make a difference to their lives. This is a one of its kind NGO-Corporate collaboration to reach to the pockets identified as under-serviced. We intend to cover 500 self help groups by June, 2009.” These success stories notwithstanding, the company has had to face several controversies, especially the much discussed pesticide controversy in 2003. But, true to its professed commitment of delivering quality at all costs, Coca-Cola continues to delight existing customers while adding new ones every minute.

Koutons Retail to open 80 more outlets by March ‘09

With the view to strengthen its retail presence in India, apparel retailer Koutons Retail plans to increase the number of its stores from 1.420 to about 1,500 by March 2009. Speaking to IndiaRetailing, Balwinder Singh Ahluwalia, president, Koutons Retail said, “As a part of our expansion plan, we plan to open to launch 80 more stores by the end of FY ’09.”However, the company plans to keep 90 per cent these stores on franchised model and the remaining 10 per cent as company-owned showrooms, informed Ahluwalia.Further, the company plans to expand its retail space by taking basements and first floors of the buildings on lease. "Rentals drop by 30 to 50 per cent if we open our stores in basements or first floors", added Ahluwalia. The average space of the retail stores would extend from 900 to 3,000 square feet. Meanwhile Ahluwalia accepted that the Rs 7.93 billion Koutons retail may fall short of its revenue target for current fiscal. “Economic slump effect is on the entire country. It has affected the retail sectors as well,” concluded Aluwalia.

Trent to bring in Topshop; signs Zara

Retail operations company of Tata Group, Trent is learnt to be in talks with London-based Arcadia Group, to bring latter’s chain of clothing stores Topshop in India. According to sources close to the development, the talks are already at the final stages.Meanwhile, the much awaited brand – Zara now be available in India as a result of a joint venture signed between Trent Ltd and Inditex Group. As a part of the deal, Zara stores would be launched in India in 2010 with initial stores in New Delhi, Mumbai and other major cities in India.Commenting on the JV tie-up Inditex’s first deputy chairman and chief executive Pablo Isla said, “We view our entry into the Indian market to be of significant strategic importance. We are extremely delighted to be associating with Trent from the Tata Group one of India’s largest and most respected business houses. “Our retail offering has been very well received by shoppers in Asian markets, and we have rapidly expanded there. And now India will be one of our top priorities in the region,” added Isla.Inditex is one of the world’s biggest fashion retailers from Spain and Trent Limited is the retail arm of the Tata Group.

Levis’ bags IFA’s Most Admired Jeanswear Brand

At the scintillating finale of the 9th Annual Images Fashion Awards (IFA) in Mumbai, San Francisco’s lifestyle apparel and jeanswear brand Levi’s has been awarded with the Most Admired Jeanswear Brand of 2009.The nominees in the category were Pepe, Spykar, Lee and Numero uno.Levi’s has 24 flagship stores in India and over 160 multi-branded stores across India. Further, the company plans to open 1050 stores across India in the next three years.

Pantaloon Retail triumphs as Images Fashion Awards

Kishore Biyani-led Future Group’s flagship enterprise Pantaloon Retail has bagged the Most Admired Private Label Retailer of 2009 at Images Fashion Award 2009, held in Mumbai.Leading groups including Reliance Retail, Shoppers' Stop, Trent, Lifestyle and Globus were the other nominees in the category.Pantaloon Retail operates multiple retail formats in both the value and lifestyle segment of the Indian consumer marker. It operates over 1000 stores across 61 cities in India. Its principal formats include Pantaloons, a chain of fashion outlets; Big Bazaar, an Indian hypermarket chain and Food Bazaar, a supermarket chain.

Pantaloon Retail triumphs as Images Fashion Awards

Kishore Biyani-led Future Group’s flagship enterprise Pantaloon Retail has bagged the Most Admired Private Label Retailer of 2009 at Images Fashion Award 2009, held in Mumbai.Leading groups including Reliance Retail, Shoppers' Stop, Trent, Lifestyle and Globus were the other nominees in the category.Pantaloon Retail operates multiple retail formats in both the value and lifestyle segment of the Indian consumer marker. It operates over 1000 stores across 61 cities in India. Its principal formats include Pantaloons, a chain of fashion outlets; Big Bazaar, an Indian hypermarket chain and Food Bazaar, a supermarket chain.

Reebok sweeps IFA’s Most Admired Active Sportswear Brand

Sports apparel and footwear major Reebok has swept away the award for the 'Most Admired Active Sportswear Brand 2009' of the 9th Annual Images Fashion Awards (IFA) in Mumbai.The nominees in this category included Bata, Liberty, Metro, Khadims, Sreeleathers and Lakhani.Reebok is an American-inspired, global brand that creates and markets sports and lifestyle products for sports, fitness and women’s categories. Started its operations in India in 1995, Reebok has grown six times in the last four years. Presently, it has more than 675 stores across the country, which it plans to increase to 800 by next year.

Shoppers Stop’s BRIO, Desi Café to turn into CCD

Pioneer in the departmental format of Indian retail Shoppers Stop, promoted by K Raheja Group, has entered into an memorandum of understanding (MoU) with India's leading fine coffee cafe chain and a division of coffee conglomerate Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Company (ABCTCL) Café Coffee Day (CCD). The MoU will allow ABCTCL to run Shoppers Stop to run its BRIO and Desi Cafe outlets. As per this understanding, the existing cafes operated by Shoppers Stop shall be converted into the Cafe Coffee Day formats, over the next few months, said a joint press release. Further, ABCTCL shall also operate cafes in upcoming Shoppers Stop stores to provide an enhanced customer shopping experience.“We are delighted to announce our association with Cafe Coffee Day. This association between Shoppers Stop and Cafe Coffee Day will bring together the leading brands in their respective segments, and to further provide our customers a delightful experience while shopping in our stores,” said BS Nagesh, customer care associate & MD, Shoppers Stop, in the release. This will be a revenue-sharing model between both the parties, where all existing outlets will be converted into CCD formats. The day-to-day activities like managing the logistics and the supply chain of individual stores would also be taken care of by CCD. “It is part of our strategy to be present in various lifestyle formats which consumers desire and we are looking forward to serving Shoppers Stop customers across the country,” added CCD director Alok Gupta. With 718 Coffee Day outlets, CCD enjoys strong presence in 103 cities across India. It is also present in overseas market of Karanchi, Pakistan and Vienna, Austria with 6 franchisee outlets.

Reliance ADAG launches separate movie marketing division

Media conglomerate of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) Reliance BIG Entertainment has announced the launch BIG Boom. The new division has been setup for movie and entertainment marketing.BIG Boom will be one-stop-shop for all marketing solutions for films, ranging from associative marketing to publicity design, PR, promotions and merchandise. Further, it will also assist brands in leveraging the film and entertainment platforms to achieve their business objectives, said a company press release.Rajesh Bhushan, who has been entrusted the responsibility as business head of BIG Boom, said “Movie marketing has come of age in India. With breakthrough marketing strategies seen for films like Ghajini, Rock On, Om Shanti Om etc, film producers are now realising the importance of a strategic and cost effective method to promote their films. ““These are times where every penny counts and Bollywood producers need marketing professionals to generate more bang for every buck while ensuring minimum excess,” added Bhushan.

Guardian launches X-tra Vital

India’s leading retail chain of health, wellness and beauty stores Guardian Lifecare has announced the launch of Guardian X-tra Vital for men and women under its private labels health care range. The new product is multivitamin and mineral capsules, a daily food supplement and is fortified with extra ginseng. Speaking about the products, Ashutosh Garg, CMD, Guardian Pharmacy, said, “Guardian X-tra Vital for men has extra ginseng for improved energy levels. Guardian X-tra Vital for Women has extra ginseng, calcium and iron to meet their nutritional deficiencies.”Priced at Rs 70, the product is available in a blister pack of ten capsules at all the retail stores of the company.

Cartridge World bags award in retail excellence

Australian speciality cartridge refilling and retailing chain Cartridge World also conferred with ‘Reid & Taylor Jury’s special award for retail excellence. On the occasion Naveen Rakhecha, CEO, South Asia, Cartridge World, said “This is significant achievement by itself. We have received five Awards in last two years of our operations in India.” “First it was the idea and now the implementation that has been recognised. The award will encourage all of us to scale greater heights and do better in times to come as customer expectations rise,” he added.Cartridge World stores spread across 22 cities across India. According to Rakhecha, more stores will be launched across Pondicherry, Jammu and Nasik soon.

Taranco Group acquires golf apparel brand Greg Norman

MacGregor Golf-owned global golf apparel brand Greg Norman has been acquired by New York-based Tharanco Group. Announcing the development, Michael Setola, president and CEO, MacGregor Golf, said, "Tharanco gives Greg Norman Collection the opportunity to accelerate the building of lifestyle brand with Tharanco that has a strong and resourceful operations platform.”Setola will remain CEO and is a partner in the new company, Tharanco Lifestyle, LLC. Meanwhile, the amount of the deal remains undisclosed.“The company will continue to place its apparel emphasis on being a leading authentic golf lifestyle brand that combines performance, luxury and style through innovative product development. Additional emphasis for growth will be placed on international licensing and other related product licensing opportunities," added Setola.Adding further, Haresh Tharani, CEO, Tharanco Group, said, "I am particularly excited about future efforts to expand lifestyle sportswear opportunities beyond true golf in an effort to capture the consumer reach inherent in the Greg Norman brand."Greg Norman is available in India through a distribution tie-up with domestic company BTB Marketing. The new agreement is effective immediately and Greg Norman Collection will continue to be managed and sold by its existing sales team.

Subhiksha stores vandalised

Hundreds of Subhiksha stores were looted or vandalised after the Chennai-based India's leading discount retailer Subhiksha Trading Services failed to pay security agents and staff because of liquidity problems, the Financial Times reported. About 600 of Subhiksha’s food stores and warehouses were vandalised, the newspaper said, citing the company. Subhiksha, which has revenue of USD 470 million from 1,655 stores, is struggling to pay suppliers and employees after banks refused to lend it money, the FT reported. The company is unable to protect its properties, the report cited managing director R Subramanian as saying.

Coca-Cola India partners SOS Children’s Village

Coca-Cola India has entered into a partnership deal with country’s leading NGO SOS Children’s Village to develop rain water harvesting plants across 39 SOS locations across the country. The proposed collaborative project, a part of company's corporate social responsibility (CSR), will witness an outlay of USD 585,000 of which USD 391,920 has been granted by the Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Foundation. The project will be completed in the next one year and will facilitate the lives of around 6,000 children growing up in SOS villages.

Atul Singh, president and CEO, Coca-Cola India, said, “Our sustainability as a business demands a relentless focus on efficiency and prudence in our use of natural resources. Water is fundamental to all communities and water stewardship remains a priority for Coca-Cola India. At our end, we pursue a 3R programme of water conservation that include reduced use of water, recycling of water and replenish the water. This partnership will not only create sustainable water resources for children but will also raise awareness among them and play a leading role for water conservation .”

“Business must not play a constructive role alone, but a leading role for development. We have also established a Coca-Cola India foundation, which will take a lot of such initiatives in future in and around our bottling plants and office complexes. We have already developed 320 rainwater harvesting centres in different parts of the country and some more projects will be operational soon,” added Singh.

He further said, all the industries put together uses only around 7 per cent of water resources where as agriculture alone consumes 35 per cent water. “We at Coca-Cola have also been working on projects to come up with new technology so that our farmers can get better yield using less water,” concluded Singh.

Other CSR activities of the company include organising awareness campaign for the use of bio fuels and providing educational scholarships, besides funding schemes for making available potable drinking water to 20 schools in Chennai and 150 schools in various parts of West Bengal.

Tata Motors enters used car biz

In an initiative to extend exchange offer of used cars, India’s leading auto major Tata Motors has launched its certified programme Tata Motors Assured. The programme facilitates exchange of any company’s cars under certain conditions, besides Tata labels, according to a company press release.

S Krishnan, vice-president — commercial and passenger car business unit, Tata Motors, said, “Tata Motors Assured pre-owned car programme has been conceived to provide convenience of a one-stop solution to customers willing to exchange their existing cars for new Tata cars. Any company’s car can be exchanged, as long as the owner buys either a new Tata car or a pre-owned Tata car.”

Initially, the pilot project has been launched through 15 dealers in 10 major cities that include Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Vapi. The programme will be subsequently offered across the country through the Tata Motors dealer network in a phased manner, added the release.

Titan to add 20 franchise stores by FY '09

Titan Industries, a joint venture between Tata group and Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO), plans to roll out 20 more franchise stores across India by the end of FY’09, said a senior company official.

Commenting on the development, Ajoy Chawla, vice president—global business head, Titan Retail said, "We have added 35 stores in the current fiscal. We plan to add 20 more in the remaining months of this fiscal." 

The company currently has 260 franchise stores across 130 towns pan-India, apart from an overseas presence in the Middle-East, south-east Asia and SAARC countries. The company is currently clocking a 14 to 15 per cent growth as against an expected 22 to 25 per cent growth” concluded Chawla.

Food retail to grow by 400 pc: Govt

Food retail business in India is expected to grow by over four hundred per cent in next five years. Consequently, the share of global trade in the sector has been projected to double by 2015, according Ajit Kumar, joint secretary, ministry of food processing, India. 

"Food in grocery sector is about USD 154 billion which is 77 per cent of total retail sales. two-third of the food is in retail grocery, and the organised Indian food retail is just three per cent at USD 7 billion which is expected to grow by 400 per cent in next five years," said Kumar. 

Kumar was speaking at the 5th annual Agri Business Summit organised at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad. 

Highlighting the estimated growth projection targets set by the Union Government, Kumar said the retail food industry is going to be at USD 20 billion by 2010 against the present USD 7 billion. 

"We will have tremendous growth in food processing sector by 2015, increasing the level of processing of perishable from six per cent to 20 per cent, value addition which is only 20 per cent now to 35 per cent and share of our global food trade of 1.5 per cent to double by 3 per cent by 2015," Kumar said. 

According to Kumar, government has taken several steps for promotion of food processing industry, including tax holidays and permission for repatriation of profits.

Now Paratha, Idli, Omelets and more at CCD

India's leading fine coffee cafe chain and a division of coffee conglomerate Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Company Café Coffee Day (CCD) has added more products in its offering. The chain has started to offer north Indian Paratha, south Indian Idli, Omlette and many such products in its coffee retail chain besides serving coffee and other ready-to-eat products. According to S Jayaraman, senior general manager-business development, CCD, the new offerings in the basket are currently operational on trial basis at few of its stores on highway petrol pumps.

“We have tie-ups with almost all the oil marketing companies in the country and a large sum of our 718 operational stores is present at petrol pumps. CCD outlets at petrol pumps consist of stores within the city petrol pumps as well as at highways. On the highway, a customer needs more than just coffee. He needs food as well. This prompted us to come up with this plan,” elaborated Jayaraman to IndiaRetailing.

Further, the company also prefers store expansion at highway petrol pumps because of adequate parking space. “Now the roads in India are good with lot more people going on highways. Business travelers, now a days, too choose highways. Parking space is the biggest advantage at such places besides having 24x7 security,” clarifies Jayaraman.

However, for Jayaraman the biggest challenge at highway stores is electricity. “Round the clock availability of power is the biggest issue. We cannot operate the stores most of the time on generators. Further, getting manpower is also a problem as the staff is needed to stay somewhere near the outlet,” he adds.

With 718 Coffee Day outlets, the company enjoys strong presence in NCR with 114 outlets. The company which operates in India through company-owned outlets is also present in overseas market of Karachi, Pakistan and Vienna, Austria with 18 franchisee outlets. Coffee Days's different divisions include Coffee Day Fresh n Ground (which runs 354 Coffee bean and powder retail outlets), Coffee Day Xpress (with 341 Coffee Day Kiosks), Coffee Day Take away (operating 7000 Vending Machines), Coffee Day Exports and Coffee Day Perfect (FMCG Packaged Coffee) division. 

TVS-E rolls out retail IT hardware range; plans to open demo zones

IT peripheral major and a manufacturer of dot matrix printers, TVS Electronics (TVS-E) has extended with an introduction of retail IT hardware products in the market. The range includes point-of-sale (POS) printers, integrated touch screen, barcode scanner, electronic cash register and cash counting machines, customer pole displays and much more. Further, the company also aims at building a network of TVS-E owned demo zones across India targeting the retailers to facilitate a better access to these technology products, according to a top company official.

“India has a number of retail outlets in the world. Though the market has been dominated by unorganised players, the entry of domestic and international organised players is set to change the scenario,” said V Shankar, senior vice president, POS and solutions business group, TVS Electronics.

TVS-E has currently has over 200 channel partners and 150 retail solution providers in the POS category across India.

"With an improved scenario in the Indian retail market, there is a need for sustaining the momentum with sharp technology and greater focus on customer convenience. Hence as an effort to modernise the Indian retail scenario we have devised a customer friendly hardware technology sought by a small kirana shop owner down the street to a large retailer operating chain of stores in malls and shopping centers," added Shankar. 

The POS products by TVS-E caters to suit the needs of sectors as varied as textiles, food and grocery, restaurants, hospitals, educational institutions, beauty parlours, pharmaceutical stores, jewellery stores, book stores, electronic showrooms, logistics on a pan India level. Being on the cutting edge of technology these sectors have gained a huge leverage in optimizing their time and business while servicing the multitudes of customers visiting the store daily.

25 Big Bazaar stores in 2008; a stimulus for retail industry

What he thinks turns visionary, what he does becomes innovative and what he develops becomes an enterprise in itself. No prizes for guessing. IndiaRetailing is referring to India’s retail tycoon Kishore Biyani and his venture Future Group.

The retail arm of Future Group — Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd is India’s leading retailer that operates multiple retail formats in both the value and lifestyle segment. The Mumbai-based company has diversified its operation over 18 categories and operates a nationwide chain of stores that include Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar, Pantaloons, Central, HomeTown, eZone, Depot, LootMart, Brand Factory, Scullers, Urbana, Indigo Nation, One Mobile, Staples, Etam, Lee Cooper Sports Bar, Copper Chimney and F123.

Starting the year 2008 with six million square feet of retail space with stores in 51 cities across the country, the retailer ended the year with over 11 million square feet of retail space and over 1,000 operational stores across 63 cities and towns and 65 rural locations in India. The retailer opened 25 Big Bazaar stores in 2008 besides opening stores simultaneously across all the formats and carried the total store count of Big Bazaar to 104. Even more, the company had seen a 52 per cent increase in its total income from Rs 33.29 billion in FY 2006-07 to Rs 50.53 billion in FY 2007-08.

Looking back in excitement: 

In an initiative to asses the growth of the company in the last year, IndiaRetailing found that the company was not only aggressive in store openings but also ran some innovative marketing initiatives across its formats to attract footfalls and cash in huge revenues therein.

Opening the season’s first Big Bazaar store in Kolkata on January 19, 2008, which was spread over an area of 62,000 square feet, Sandeep Marwaha, head operation — east zone, Pantaloon Retail, said, "We are a consumer-driven company and we ensure that all our Big Bazaar stores fulfill the needs of the entire household under one roof. We are confident of our offerings both in quality and competitive pricing, which has earned us the trust of millions of families across the country." 

And yes the confidence kept rolling throughout the year as the company was found opening stores after stores across formats. In January itself, Pantaloon Retail opened another Big Bazaar store at Lee Road in Kolkata, which was spread across 40,000 square feet. The month also witnessed the launch of ‘Cosmos: The Siliguri Megamall’ in the city. Spread across six floors with a retail area of around 3.5 lakh square feet, Cosmos Megamall houses over 75 retail stores including all popular national chains of the Future Group. Ardhendu Bose, GM, Cosmos, said: “It will indeed be a landmark and pride of the city, and even for the entire north eastern India region.” Pantaloon Retail also posted 62.9 per cent increase in income for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 in this month. 


February 2008 started with company’s signing up of USD 50 million business deal with leading IT solution provider Wipro Infotech for developing streamlined IT operations for its stores. Speaking on the occasion, Kishore Biyani, CEO, Future Group, said, “Pantaloon is driving innovation and thought leadership in India’s retail industry. This partnership is valuable to all our stakeholders including customers and employees.” The group also launched a new retail format in the home segment branded ‘Home Bazaar’ — a satellite version of its national home making and improvement retail brand Home Town at M Square Mall, Aurangabad. It further announced its plan to expand the format throughout the country, mainly in tier II and III cities. 

In March 2008, the group opened an exclusive store of its French lingerie brand Etam in Mumbai. It also opened lifestyle apparel and accessories retail format store Pantaloons in Guwahati and one Big Bazaar in Ranchi, which claimed to be the largest in the east zone with 80,000 square feet retail area.

FY 2008-09 started with the opening of its luxury furniture and furnishings format store Collection i in Surat and electronics specialty store eZone in Pune. In May, the group opened the seamless mall Central at Oberoi Mall in Mumbai and eZone in Bengaluru. Besides the store launch, the group signed a 50-50 JV with entertainment, media and communications company — Percept Ltd to enhance its reach in Bollywood retail. The concept was developed to provide a complete ‘Bollywood Experience’ including Bollywood Cafes, Walk Throughs, Hall of Fame, Bollywood Museums, Bollywood Theme Park, Merchandising and a host of other experiential offerings for the visitors.

In June 2008, the group's activities were concentrated mostly on brand building and partnership. In this month, the group’s home making and home improvement store HomeTown entered into a distribution deal with Italy’s modular kitchen maker — ARAN Cucine and launched its exclusive brand Denovo for the first time in India. Denovo ranges include designer collections like Tiziano, Leonardo, Giotto and Raffaelo. HomeTown also entered into an exclusive tie up with Italy’s luxury bath range manufacturer and supplier AQUAlife and brought it to India.

In July 2008, Pantaloon Retail opened its flagship brand Big Bazaar at the Deendayal Mall in Gwalior, which was the 91st store of the chain. It also opened the 41st store of its lifestyle format Pantaloons in Nagpur and its fashion value retail format store Brand Factory in Bengaluru in this month. 

In August 2008 when the whole country was celebrating the 61st Independence Day, Future Group was celebrating total sales of worth Rs 1.05 billion on single day across its outlets earned from one of its promotional and special offer programmes.

After continuous effort throughout the quarter, in September 2008, Pantaloon Retail presented its audited financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2008, wherein the total income of the company had seen a 52 per cent increase from Rs 33.29 billion in FY 2006-07 to Rs 50.53 billion in FY 2007-08. In October that year, Pantaloon Retail posted 39 per cent increase in net sales for the quarter ended September 30, 2008.