Retail India Business - News, Views and Much More

Retail India: LVMH May Set Office in India

Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton - LVMH maybe planning to set its India Corporate Office shortly with its plans to set Sephora brand in the country. This would be in line to bring its other brands into the country including DFS. 

Retail India: Watson Not To Enter

A.S.Watson Group has said it will not enter India with its ambitious plans till there is clarity in the Government policy and till it allows 51% FDI in Retail. For the moment, Franchisee route has been ruled out internally.

Retail India: Sephora To Open 50 Stores

French based Beauty Store Chain, Sephora, plans to set shop in India shortly. Plans include to open 50 stores over a period of 5 years across major cities. Sephora is a division of Moet Hennessey Louis Vuitton.

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Retail India: Bose India To Go Solo

Bose India plans to open and set shops across India at its own pace and by itself. Bose currently operates 12 stand alone stores across India. There are no plans to tie-up with any retail chains or open franchisees at the moment. 

Retail India: Reliance Enters the Stationary Business with Office Depot?

Reliance Retail, part of Reliance Industries is all set to roll out another category of retail specializing in stationary stores. Company sources have confirmed plans to set up 250 stores by 2010 and has had several rounds of talks with potential global chains like Office Depot. Recently Pantaloon of Future Group had announced its entry with a JV with Staples.

With Office Depot and Staples tying up with Reliances and Future Group, the bitter competition will be no different from the American Shores to the Indian Shores once both set shop.

Retail India: UK's Argos Ties Up with HyperCity / Shoppers Stop

UK's leading home and improvement retail group,  Home Retail Group Plc, has drawn a Joint Venture to develop its Argos retail format with Shoppers Stop and Hypercity Retail India.

Under the agreement, Argos will provide its brand, concept and multi-channel expertise and IT Support to the Joint Venture. The Stores will be named HyperCITY-Argos and will start in Mumbai later this year.

Retail India: Hindustan Lever (HLL) Response to the Big Boys

With growing retail penetration and the sudden influx of major new entrants like Reliance, soon to arrive Bharthi - WalMart, and existing chains like Niligiris, Trinethra, Subhiksha, FoodWorld, Spencers, and Future Group, the other element in the Value Chain to be squeezed is the Suppliers. More than other retailers or competition feeling the pinch of organized retail, the immidiate tremors are first felt with the distributors who are backed and developed by the manufacturers / brands or directly by the brands themselves. Suppliers like HLL in grocery retailing have been long trying to manage such key accounts.

HLL's latest response is to roll out its recent strategy of giving a makeover to existing mom & pop corner stores with a brand facelift and rebranding them as HLL Super Value Stores. This has been in place for over 2 years now and the company plans to extend this further. This will develop a stronger connect to customers to go back to thier old stores in a new retail environment which offers the advantage of the local kirana, friendly and known faces, with the advantages of organized retail and customer service. HLL has already seen some visible growth its current Super Value Stores.

Retail India: Tesco Camps at Business Schools

Whilst Tesco is still in the look out for a Indian partner to team up its much anticipated foray, it is believed that the company is busy scouting for talent in the top Business Schools in the country and also seeking for manpower with retail background. Well the official line is it is scouting for talent for its Tesco Hindustan Service Centre but the unofficial talk is the latest round of manpower scouting is for its retail foray.

Retail India: UK's Kingfisher to Enter India

UK's Home Improvement Chain - Kingfisher PLC is considering setting shop in India with a modest initial investment of US$ 250 million. Kingfisher is currently in its initial phase and is looking for a good partner to team with as a 100% direct entry is not allowed yet.