General Plans and Information:
1. Mandi’s are turning into corporatesThe first terminal market in the country is to being developed in Chandigarh and several companies such as Reliance Retail, Bharat Hotels, NCDEX, DCL Shriram Group, Zoom Developers and RK Foodlabs are in the running to develop it. The central market will work as a hub for assembly and trading of agricultural commodities. Other locations for terminal markets will be Hyderabad, Tirupati, Patna, Nashik, Nagpur, Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur, Ludhiana, Jaipur, Chennai, Howrah and Kharagpur.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Source: The Economic Times
2. Manufactures get upset over discounts given by retailersManufacturers from several sectors including FMCG, consumer durables and others are protesting the widespread use of giving discounts to customers at organized retail stores. According to one retail expert, "Discount offers provided by organised retail chains are increasingly eating into the small retailers' pie. Thus, creating a problem for manufacturers, since it is the smaller players that drive bulk of their sales, in spite of the hype around the retail boom."
FritoLay has even stopped supplies to Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar stores for the past few weeks to make the retailer stop selling its products at lower prices. Manufacturers in other segments such as consumer durables are also putting the pressure on retailers, but organized retailers are not succumbing to the pressure as they are already quite used to it.
1. Mandi’s are turning into corporatesThe first terminal market in the country is to being developed in Chandigarh and several companies such as Reliance Retail, Bharat Hotels, NCDEX, DCL Shriram Group, Zoom Developers and RK Foodlabs are in the running to develop it. The central market will work as a hub for assembly and trading of agricultural commodities. Other locations for terminal markets will be Hyderabad, Tirupati, Patna, Nashik, Nagpur, Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur, Ludhiana, Jaipur, Chennai, Howrah and Kharagpur.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Source: The Economic Times
2. Manufactures get upset over discounts given by retailersManufacturers from several sectors including FMCG, consumer durables and others are protesting the widespread use of giving discounts to customers at organized retail stores. According to one retail expert, "Discount offers provided by organised retail chains are increasingly eating into the small retailers' pie. Thus, creating a problem for manufacturers, since it is the smaller players that drive bulk of their sales, in spite of the hype around the retail boom."
FritoLay has even stopped supplies to Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar stores for the past few weeks to make the retailer stop selling its products at lower prices. Manufacturers in other segments such as consumer durables are also putting the pressure on retailers, but organized retailers are not succumbing to the pressure as they are already quite used to it.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Source: The Hindu Business Line
3. Protests continue against Reliance Fresh storesProtests continued against Reliance Fresh stores in Indore, as local vegetable vendors and middlemen attacked a guard and a vehicle of Reliance Retail. Business at Reliance Fresh stores is brisk, with all six stores have sold products worth more than Rs. 200,000.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Source: The Economic Times
Big players - plans and investments:
1. Birla Group to launch new brand The Aditya Birla Group will be launching its new retail brand, which will be spearheaded by the Trinethra stores, which the company had bought earlier this year. The first store will be opened in Pune in June under the new brand. Trinethra’s stores will be re-branded as well.
The Birla Group is planning to open 20-25 stores in each city that it sets up shop and will start is hypermarket division next year. The company has hired several retail merchandisers from Reliance Retail and some senior executives for its top management.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Source: The Hindu Business Line
2. Reliance Retail’s entry to Bengal might be delayedReliance Retail’s plans for Bengal could be delayed due to political uncertainties as the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB), which controls the Agriculture Ministry is putting up resistance against the plan to procure agri-products directly from farmers. Reliance has already selected several pieces of property for its Reliance Fresh stores.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Source: The Hindu Business Line
3. Spencer’s looking for international brandsRPG Group owned Spencer’s Retail is keen on tying up with an international lifestyle brand and is holding talks with several firms who deal with apparel, footwear, luxury retail and lifestyle products. Spencer’s Retail accounts for 8% of the company’s overall turnover. Other RPG brands are Music World, RPG Cellucom, and Books & Beyond.
According to Sanjay Gupta, vice-president (business development) for Spencer’s Retail, “We are looking at firms with whom we can attain critical mass, but most of the big ones have already concertized plans.” While most retailers are focusing on building their own private labels, RPG is more interested in tying up with established brands.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Source: Business Standard
4. Aditya Birla Retail announce $2 billion investment in retailThe Aditya Birla Group announced that it would be investing approximately $2-2.2 billion (Rs. 80-90 billion) for its retail venture in the next three years. The chairman of the group Kumar Mangalam Birla made the announcement. The company will not be tying up with any international partner and will open their first store in Pune next month.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Source: Reuters
5. Birla’s retail brand to be called MoreThe Aditya Birla Group unveiled its brand which is to be called More. The store will be launched in both the supermarket and hypermarket formats, with the first store opening next month in Pune. Sumant Sinha, CEO of Aditya Birla Retail said that the company chose Pune for its great combination of all elements from the company’s target markets.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Source: The Economic Times
International:
1. Shoppers’ Stop and Macy to tie upDepartment store chain Shopper’s Stop will be tying up with Macy Inc; US based retail chain and owner of the largest department store in the US. The company was known as the Federated Department Stores until January this year when it was renamed as Macy Inc and has 112 Macy stores and 38 Bloomindales stores. Shoppers’ Stop has been in talks with several retail companies from across the world, including unsuccessful talks with the Spanish Inditex group, which owns the Zara brand.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Source: Financial Express
2. Oak Investment to start $200 million retail fundOak Investment Partners, a US based venture fund announced that it will be launching a $200 million retail fund. Jacob Kurien, the former COO of Tanishq and the CEO of a prominent food chain are two of the high profile entrants into the firm. Operations in India will start sometime in the beginning of next year. Jerry Gallagher, general partner of Oak visited the country recently and went to several of the malls in the metros and held several meetings with mall developers and retailers on this venture.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Source: The Economic Times
3. Arvind Mills to bring in DieselArvind Mills and Diesel, an Italian denimwear company, have signed a joint venture to launch the Diesel brand in India. The new joint venture company will be called Diesel India Fashion and will be operated by Arvind Mills who will control 49%. Diesel will hold the majority share of 51%. With the entry of Diesel, the majority of international denim brands will have a presence in India. Other brands are Gas, Guess, Levi Strauss, Lee, and Wrangler.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Source: Business Standard
Support Industries:
Source: The Hindu Business Line
3. Protests continue against Reliance Fresh storesProtests continued against Reliance Fresh stores in Indore, as local vegetable vendors and middlemen attacked a guard and a vehicle of Reliance Retail. Business at Reliance Fresh stores is brisk, with all six stores have sold products worth more than Rs. 200,000.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Source: The Economic Times
Big players - plans and investments:
1. Birla Group to launch new brand The Aditya Birla Group will be launching its new retail brand, which will be spearheaded by the Trinethra stores, which the company had bought earlier this year. The first store will be opened in Pune in June under the new brand. Trinethra’s stores will be re-branded as well.
The Birla Group is planning to open 20-25 stores in each city that it sets up shop and will start is hypermarket division next year. The company has hired several retail merchandisers from Reliance Retail and some senior executives for its top management.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Source: The Hindu Business Line
2. Reliance Retail’s entry to Bengal might be delayedReliance Retail’s plans for Bengal could be delayed due to political uncertainties as the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB), which controls the Agriculture Ministry is putting up resistance against the plan to procure agri-products directly from farmers. Reliance has already selected several pieces of property for its Reliance Fresh stores.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Source: The Hindu Business Line
3. Spencer’s looking for international brandsRPG Group owned Spencer’s Retail is keen on tying up with an international lifestyle brand and is holding talks with several firms who deal with apparel, footwear, luxury retail and lifestyle products. Spencer’s Retail accounts for 8% of the company’s overall turnover. Other RPG brands are Music World, RPG Cellucom, and Books & Beyond.
According to Sanjay Gupta, vice-president (business development) for Spencer’s Retail, “We are looking at firms with whom we can attain critical mass, but most of the big ones have already concertized plans.” While most retailers are focusing on building their own private labels, RPG is more interested in tying up with established brands.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Source: Business Standard
4. Aditya Birla Retail announce $2 billion investment in retailThe Aditya Birla Group announced that it would be investing approximately $2-2.2 billion (Rs. 80-90 billion) for its retail venture in the next three years. The chairman of the group Kumar Mangalam Birla made the announcement. The company will not be tying up with any international partner and will open their first store in Pune next month.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Source: Reuters
5. Birla’s retail brand to be called MoreThe Aditya Birla Group unveiled its brand which is to be called More. The store will be launched in both the supermarket and hypermarket formats, with the first store opening next month in Pune. Sumant Sinha, CEO of Aditya Birla Retail said that the company chose Pune for its great combination of all elements from the company’s target markets.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Source: The Economic Times
International:
1. Shoppers’ Stop and Macy to tie upDepartment store chain Shopper’s Stop will be tying up with Macy Inc; US based retail chain and owner of the largest department store in the US. The company was known as the Federated Department Stores until January this year when it was renamed as Macy Inc and has 112 Macy stores and 38 Bloomindales stores. Shoppers’ Stop has been in talks with several retail companies from across the world, including unsuccessful talks with the Spanish Inditex group, which owns the Zara brand.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Source: Financial Express
2. Oak Investment to start $200 million retail fundOak Investment Partners, a US based venture fund announced that it will be launching a $200 million retail fund. Jacob Kurien, the former COO of Tanishq and the CEO of a prominent food chain are two of the high profile entrants into the firm. Operations in India will start sometime in the beginning of next year. Jerry Gallagher, general partner of Oak visited the country recently and went to several of the malls in the metros and held several meetings with mall developers and retailers on this venture.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Source: The Economic Times
3. Arvind Mills to bring in DieselArvind Mills and Diesel, an Italian denimwear company, have signed a joint venture to launch the Diesel brand in India. The new joint venture company will be called Diesel India Fashion and will be operated by Arvind Mills who will control 49%. Diesel will hold the majority share of 51%. With the entry of Diesel, the majority of international denim brands will have a presence in India. Other brands are Gas, Guess, Levi Strauss, Lee, and Wrangler.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Source: Business Standard
Support Industries:
1. Retail design firm WD Partners to open office in IndiaUS based WD Partners, an architectural and retail design firm has opened an office in Mumbai with a team of 25 architects and engineers. The operations in India will be increased to 105 professionals in two years. On the company’s entry to India, Chris Doerschlag, CEO of WD Partners, said "It made sense to expand into a city where retail is expected to grow very quickly over the next decade."
WD Partners has been in this business for 39 years and its client list includes high profile companies such as BP, The Home Depot, ExxonMobil, Gap, D’Angelo, Abercrombie & Fitch, Safeway, Wendy’s and Starbucks. It’s Mumbai operations will be headed by Rajesh Chhablani, an architect who has worked on international projects for retailers such as Gap and Victoria’s Secret.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Source: The Economic Times
HR News:
1. Times Business launches retail courseTimes Business Solutions announced that it will be launched a specialized retail management course in collaboration with Lady Irwin College. The course will be for 80 hours and will cover four modules of retail space, facilities, customer relationship and brand management.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Source: The Economic Times
Government Policy:
1. George Fernandes takes up the cause of vegetable vendorsThe attacks on Reliance Fresh stores last week in Ranchi have led to JD (U) leader George Fernandes taking up their cause. Consumers however are thrilled with the option of being able to choose where to shop and still visited the three Reliance Fresh stores in Ranchi that are now being guarded by the Jharkhand Armed Police.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Source: The Economic Times
Sector specific
Apparel & Footwear:
1. Raymond to launch line of lower-priced apparelRaymond will be coming up with a line of lower priced apparel, by creating a new brand. The company has several brands such as Raymond, Color Plus, Park Avenue and Parx at present. The fact that the growth in the apparel market is at 34% compared to the growth of the premium segment at 24% is an important reason for this expansion.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Source: Business Standard
2. Arvind Mills to focus on retailArvind Mills will be shifting its focus onto domestic retail rather than denim exports after it received a 75% decline in profit in the last quarter due to reducing margins in the global denimwear market. Arvind is one of the largest denim manufacturers in the world. Sanjay Lalbhai, the managing director of Arvind said that he expects the Arvind brands to contribute to 50% of the company’s entire business by 2010, while at present it stands at 35%.
Arvind’s brands include Arrow, Lee, Wrangler, Kipling, Nautica and Jansport from the international arena and Excalibur, Flying Machine, Ruf & Tuf and Newport from its domestic kitty of brands. The company will be launching its Flying Machine brand in the US and Europe after six months.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Source: Business Standard
Food & Grocery:
1. Big Apple to set up 100 storesExpress Retail Services announced that it will be expanding its convenience store chain Big Apple, and will be opening 100 stores by August this year. The company has 25 Big Apple stores at present and work on a similar principle as the US based 7-Eleven stores. Average stores are in the range of 1,500 to 1,800 sq ft and stock more than 2,500 products.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Source: The Economic Times
2. Reliance Fresh opens in IndoreReliance opened six fruit and vegetable Reliance Fresh stores in Indore this past week. At the opening, Raghu Pillai, President and CEO of the company said that the company would continue to expand aggressively as they have been doing in the past. Reliance has opened 151 Reliance Fresh stores in the last six months, covering a total of 419,000 sq ft of space.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Source: The Economic Times
3. Subhiksha to source bulk of vegetables from NashikChennai based food and grocery retailer, Subhiksha will be sourcing half of its fruits and vegetables from its Centralized Processing Unit (CPU) in Nashik. The company has 750 retail stores, with 105 located in the state of Maharashtra, 75 in Mumbai, 15 in Pune, 6 in Nashik and 6 in Aurangabad.
Subhiksha sells an average of 5-6 tones of fruit and vegetable per day. The company will be adding 250 stores in the next few months, with each store stocking around 4,000 items. Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Source: Business Standard
4. Spencer’s Retail opens hypermarket in JaipurRPG Group owned Spencer’s Retail announced that it would be opening 15 large format stores in Jaipur by the end of the year. The company opened its first hypermarket in the city, which covers 20,000 sq ft of space and sells 25,000 products.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Source: The Economic Times
5. Café Coffee Day and Ginger Hotels form agreementIndia’s largest coffee chain Café Coffee Day has tied up with Ginger Hotels, which is owned by Indian Hotels Corporation Ltd. According to the agreement, Café Coffee Day will open an outlet in the hotel. Ginger Hotels are located in seven cities and another 25 are to be added by the end of the year. Thursday, May 17, 2007
Source: The Hindu Business Line
Jewelry & Watches:
1. Neighborhood jewelers getting left out in organized retailYour neighborhood jeweler is likely fighting for survival amongst the big branded jewelry chains in malls. Most consumers are placing convenience of these new locations and are doing the bulk of their shopping there. Consumers are also becoming aware of the higher standards of branded showrooms and want value for money as the gold prices increase. Many jewelers are switching to manufacturing and supply instead of retailing.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Source: The Economic Times
Luxury and Lifestyle:
1. Christian Dior to invest in retailFrench luxury brand Christian Dior will be converting its franchisee to a subsidiary so that it can invest in retail, manpower, training and operations. Till now it was the franchisees who were doing the investment. Christian Dior Couture’s interest in India has increased due to the government’s decision to partially lift the ban on foreign investment and allow up to 51% of investment in single brand companies.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Source: The Economic Times
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