Red Tape Fashion to add more Exclusive Outlets

Red Tape - India's contemporary Fashion and Designer company is all set to add 16 more Exclusive outlets in Cities where it is already retailing without entering any new cities. Mostly it is concentrated in Delhi/NCR, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and other tier-ii cities in North India.

Red Tape, a Mirza Tanners company currently has 32 Exclusive Stores and will add 16 more by the end of FY2008. This expansion will focus on increasing the brand's reach within the cities in which it is already operational. Red Tape branded goods are also sold through various mega retailers such as Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, Westside etc. They also sell to various unorganized retailers in tier-ii and tier-iii cities across India.

We visited Shoppers Stop in Bangalore and found that their products are slightly expensive. Red Tape Shoes are priced upwards of Rs 2,000 and a Jeans pant is priced upwards of Rs 1,000. Red Tape has roped in Bollywood Actor, Salman Khan as the Brand Ambassador.

For Franchisee and Real Estate inquiries contact,
PHONE:- 91-11-26959553,54,244,537
FAX:- 91-11-26959559
E-Mail:- marketing@redtapeindia.com

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Diageo wines in Reliance Fresh Outlets

Reliance Fresh has sealed a deal with international wine major - Diageo. Diageo will sell its international portfolio of wines through Reliance Fresh outlets in India.

Mr. Adil, Director of Diageo India Ltd said,

We are in talks with three major retailers in India to distribute our wine. We have already tied up with Reliance Fresh and will harness the strength of two major players in the liquor industry and the retail segment.

The other retailers could include - Big Bazaar / Food Bazaar, Hypercity from the Raheja group and More Retail from the Aditya Birla Group.

Reliance Fresh will sell two of Diageo's brands - Blossom Hill and California wine. Hopefully they winn introduce the taste of Napa Valley wine to Indians :-)

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Subhiksha Mobile - Chain of Stores

Subhiksha Retail - India's Largest Chain of neighborhood Supermarkets [760 stores and counting] just a while ago announced the success of Subhiksha Mobile - a retail chain dealing in Mobile Phones and Accessories.

Just last week we reported about Pantaloon consolidating its Mobile Retailing business by tying up with Axiom from UAE.

Subhiksha Mobile has its presence in Chennai, New Delhi/NCR, Punjab, Gujarat and Mumbai with around 125 stores. Subhiksha Mobile sold 60,000 phones in June, i.e roughly 16 phones a day / store which is considered below average when compared to what Nokia Priority Dealers Sell [18-20 Phones a day]

Mr. R Subramanian, CEO of Subhiksha Mobile said,

There had been no organised retail chain in the mobile business. Its a low margin business and we noticed synergy with the rest of our business which is mostly in branded goods and consumers have full knowledge of the products.

The Mobile Phone handset market in India is Rs 20,000 crore of $5 Billion for 2007.

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Fresh Choice Bakery Plans South India Foray

Fresh Choice Bakery, suppliers to Reliance Retail in Vijayawada, Guntu and Vizag have chalked out an ambitious South India Expansion Plan.

First Choice Bakery currently has 14 outlets in the state of Andhra Pradesh apart from being tier-i supplier to Reliance. It now plans to expand its presence in the Retail City of India - Bangalore and other parts of Karnataka and Tamilnadu by establishing 40 bakeries by the end of FY2007.

First Choice Bakery is promoted by Sai Aditya Foods and Retail Pvt Ltd. Mr. K V Raju Director of Sai Aditya said,

We want to supply our products to the popular retail chains and also expand our own outlets. For us every shop is vaible. Our business model is to setup manufacturing units so as to service outlets located in a 50 km radius. Our target is to build a PAN-South India brand.

If you are into bakery and food related business with well established local brands, then Retailers are looking for you. Contact Subhiksha Retail rs@subhiksha.biz or info@subhikshatrdg.com.

Reliance Supplier / Vendor Registration can be done here.

Reliance Retail - Real Estate Registration can be done Here

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Pantaloon Strengthens Mobile Retailing Backend

Pantaloon Retail India Ltd, has entered into a 50:50 JV with Axiom Telecom of UAE to strengthen its supply chain and back end. Axiom Telecom is a mobile retailer and after-sales support specialist for mobile phones, accessories, wireless gadgets, memory and storage devices.

Pantaloon Retail India Ltd, entered the Mobile Retailing Market in late 2006. This new entity Pantaloon-Axiom will focus on backend sourcing infrastructure to enable it to expand and scale up.

Mr. Kishore Biyani Said,

The current explosion of the telecom retail market that we are seeing is breaking new barriers everyday. This new Joint Venture will help retail and service the Indian telecom market.

ConvergeM and MBazaar are the mobile retailing brands of Pantaloon and are mostly located in Central Mall and other Malls.

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Future Group and Talwalkars to enter GYM Business

Kishore Biyani controlled Future Group has announced that it will invest $25 Million to establish GYM and Fitness centers on a PAN India basis in a 50:50 joint venture with Mumbai based Talwalkars. What is not clear is whether if this business is a part of Pantaloon Retail India Ltd, the listed arm of Future Group.

Future Group plans to locate its GYM in upscale locations such as Malls. Jeez!!! Why do you have to locate them there ? Is it going to be a status symbol that you work out at a GYM in Central Mall ?

Speaking at the announcement, Mr. Prashant Talwalkar said,

With a target of 50 centers in malls owned by Future Group, our hands are full and we will not look to partner any other developer for the present.

Each GYM/fitness center will be spread over an area of 7,000 to 20,000 sft and will house a juice bar and an indoor swimming pool in addition to the gym and spa.

Related Coverage:
Pink Branded GYM for the Indian women.
Kaya Life - Weight Control and Fitness Chain

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Only Vimal relaunch with Italian Designs

Last December, Reliance Insiders had hinted about the possible relaunch of Dhirubhai Ambani's - "Only Vimal" brand. It is now official that the brand will be relaunched within the next 2 months.

Reliance has roped in world famous Italian Designer, Mr. Maurizio Bonas of "Made in Italy" since a year to teach Italian designs for trousers and jackets to Indian tailors sponsored and working closely with Vimal.

Mr Maurizio Bonas said,

Reliance is not a small company and the project was interesting. I enjoyed working with them. We also plan to introduce Bonas Designer label in India through Reliance and Vimal Retail outlets.

Only Vimal Retail Outlets:
The retail outlets will open in Bangalore / Bengaluru, Chennai, Kochi, Hyderabad and Mumbai. Mukesh Ambani will inaugurate a flagship store in Ahmadabad. They also have plans to enter the malls at a later stage.

Mr. Chetan Desai, VP Marketing of Vimal Textiles and Retail said,

We will provide our customers with the best designs and surprise them with prices at our outlets. We also have an aggressive business plan in place.

Kewl. That's a fantastic gift for the Young and the Smart Indian Corporate executives.

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Dairy Pure Milk in Reliance Fresh Outlets

Reliance Fresh, a unit of Reliance Retail India Ltd, today launched "Dairy Pure" brand of milk.

The product is initially launched in Hyderabad and will be rolled out to other cities soon. The pricing of the milk has been competitive to take on other well established players such as "Mother Dairy and "Vijaya".

It will not be an easy cake walk for Reliance Retail to establish its Dairy Pure brand because it will face tough competition from regional brands. Also we already know that Amul is expanding its stores on a war footing and has a fantastic market share with high quality dairy products.

Reliance Retail is building its massive Dairy and Food Processing Hubs in Punjab and Haryana.

Update:
We checked the price and it costs Rs 18 / Litre of Dairy Pure Milk in Reliance Fresh, Hyderabad.

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Peter England Specialty Stores

Aditya Birla Nuvo is under the final stages of opening Specialty Stores under the brand name "Peter England". Currently Peter England is a mid-range Mens Wear brand. It is being sold through franchisees as well as 30 exclusive Peter England company outlets. According to previously announced strategy, MG Lifestyle would have the Peter England brand and existing stores.

New Strategy:
Each Peter England specialty store will be approximately 12,000 to 15,000 sft in size and will stock apparels and accessories for Men, Women and the Kids. The first store is likely to come up for pilot project in Bangalore / Bengaluru or Hyderabad.

The company recently pouched Mr. Alok Malik from Reliance Retail to appoint as the president of Peter England Specialty store chain.

Related Reading:
More Retail Chain of Supermarket from Birla Group

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25 more Lee Jeans Outlets by end of year

Lee Jeans the denim fashion brand from Arvind Brands Pvt Ltd will open 25 exclusive Lee Jeans Outlets in India by end of 2007.

Lee opened its first "World-Class" outlet in Ahmadabad, India. Lee already has 35 exclusive outlets and will open 25 more by the end of this year. The total number of Lee outlets in all categories will reach 125 by the end of this year.

Lee India is open to setting up franchisee based exclusive outlets as well as share the shelf with other brands in a partnership.

Also read - Arvind will relaunch Flying Machine Brand of Jeans.

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Women + Kids Rule Retail Indian Market

Guess who are the big spenders in the Retail Boom ? Its your wife/gal friend and your kids. The trend is in accordance with Western markets and has to catch up on this front.

According to United Colors of Benetton, the company garners 31% from Womens wear and 28% from Kids wear. The womens apparel market in India is currently estimated at Rs 30,000 crore [$7.5 billion] and that of children is Rs 15,000 crore [$3.75 billion] Another Rs 5,000 crore is spent by the women on cosmetics.

Levis India is planning an exclusive Women and Kids showrooms across the country starting from Bangalore. Levis is also planning to enhance its product portfolio for women by including accessories and footwear to attract more women customers.

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Cafe Coffee Day goes Global

Bangalore based Cafe Coffee Day has set its ambitions to compete Starbucks on global turf. Cafe Coffee Day is the largest coffee chain in India with 435 outlets covering 82 cities.

Just a while ago, they have announced that they will expand their presence in Pakistan and Austria. Yes!!! That's right, they will open 50 outlets in Pakistan and Austria within the next 12 months involving a cost of Rs 15 crore [$3.5 Million]. In another significant development, Cafe Coffee Day CEO, Naresh Malhotra has resigned. Naresh was with the company for 6 years.

In India Cafe Coffee Day will take the store count to 1,000 and cover 100 cities by March-2008. Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi / NCR will take the bulk of the stores while tier-II and tier-III cities like Amravati and Agartala will also get their first retail Coffee outlet.

Cafe Coffee Day also has around 40 outlets in the posh campuses of Infosys, Wipro and Accenture. The company had a turnover of Rs 400 crore [$100 Million] last year and is expected to grow 50% this year.

Related Reading:
Barista Coffee Chain sold to Italian Lavazza
Starbucks in Joint Venture with Pantaloon Retail

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Pantaloon to introduce - Small Bazaar

Pantaloon Retail India Ltd, just a while ago has announced the introduction of a new format stores - Small Bazaar to compete with Subhiksha, Spinach, Reliance Fresh, Fresh @ and Spinach.

Kishore Biyani plans to set up 1,500 stores over 18 months across top cities. Small Bazaar stores will be non-AC, basic format stores which will offer limited stock keeping units with massive discounts.

What is the Motivation in setting up - Small Bazaar chain?
Internal Consumer Marketing Research @ Pantaloon revealed that Indians prefer fresh supplies and proximity of stores in residential areas to make frequent purchases. More often than not, Indian consumers do not have access to good roads, cheap fuel or have large storage space to stock up the big volume purchases. The research further reveals that most consumers visited Big Bazaar and Malls for entertainment rather than making purchases. The footfall conversion is very low when you compare it with the Western World.

How is Small Bazaar different from Food Bazaar ?
Food Bazaar, Pantaloon’s large food format did not get the kind of volumes needed to be successful in the low-margin foods business since consumers visit the store for their monthly purchases and not for daily requirements.

We have reliably learnt that the first set of stores will open in Delhi / NCR for which they have already made Real Estate arrangements. In another development, Subhiksha has told that they will add 200 more stores.

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Tata's Landmark to add 15 stores

Tata's controlled Landmark chain of concept stores retailing in Music CDs, Books and Movies is planning to add 15 more stores this year.

Ms Hemu Ramaiah, Landmark, CEO said

Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi/NCR and Mumbai feature among the cities where more stores will be added. Mumbai store will be located in a heritage location.

Landmark's distribution arm, Westland will get into publishing as well. The company plans to re-publish Chicken Soup for the Soul series. The company has also unveiled a promotion for the Lagaan CDs & DVDs where Landmark 11 customers will play a cricket match with original Lagaan cricket team.

Landmark also has presence in Pune and Lucknow.

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Benetton planning sportswear launch in India

United Colors of Benetton [UCB] is planning to launch Sports Wear in India. UCB has a strong presence in Indian Men,Women and Children's apparels market with 130 stores.

Mr. Sanjeev Mohanty, Benetton India said,

UCB is in talks to introduce its sportswear brand PlayLife in India for which the talks are still in nascent stage.

UCB very recently launched its range of perfumes in India.

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Food Processing Hub in Punjab Haryana

Reliance Retail has acquired 20 acres of land from Haryana Government at Saha and Rai. They plan to build two food processing units at an investment of Rs 100 crore. The plants would be engaged in processing, packaging and distribution of fruits vegetables and milk products.

Reliance Retail is also planning to acquire at least 300,000 acres of land from the Punjab government for cultivation of fruits, vegetables and food grains. Holy!!! 300,000 acres ? Looks like a Massive Land Bank Scam.

Reliance has also tapped 1.5 lakh milk farmers across 3,000 villages in Punjab to procure 7 lakh litres of milk which would be converted into dairy based products - Butter, Ghee, Cheese etc. The strategy of Reliance is to use these private labels across all Reliance Fresh outlets and excess to be dumped to other retailers or exported whichever is lucrative depending on the market dynamics.

Looks like a very ambitious business plan for Reliance and this may not go well as it will be crippled with Logistics problems.

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Tata Croma - Infiniti Retail to Add 34 Stores

On October-15th, 2006, we were the first one to cover about Tata Croma's Infiniti Retail opening in Mumbai.

Croma Retail has said that it will add 34 more stores at in investment of Rs 300 crore by March-2008. Cost of setting up each Infiniti Retail store including the merchandise it stocks is around Rs 9 crore. Croma will expand in the cities of Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Kolkatta. Currently Infiniti's Croma Retail has 2 stores each in Mumbai and Ahmadabad. Details of the store can be seen after the Store Pictures.

Ajit Joshi of Croma Retail said,

We would be coming up with a store in Surat and Vadodra very soon and are looking at more stores in and around Mumbai like one more in Vashi, Navi Mumbai and around four at Thane. Their are no more tier-I and tier-II cities in India. A housewife in Surat is no different from the one in Mumbai because she also wants a front loading washing machine. The consumers all across are very brand conscious and there is a huge potential for us.

Infinit's Croma Retail houses 6,000 products spanning across 180 local and global brands across eight categories such as home entertainment, small appliances, white goods, computers, communications and mobiles, music, gaming and software. Croma retail is in talks with Bajaj Finance to start consumer financing for expensive items such as 60" Flat Screen TV. [See below, Tata Croma Juhu Outlet]

Tata Infiniti Croma Retail Store Address and Phone:
Juhu, Near Chandan Cinema, JVPD Scheme - 022-67103333
Link Road, Malad(West) - 022 - 67254411
Memnagar, Ahmedabad - 079- 66095000
SG Road, Next to Fun Republic - 079 - 66096000

Reliance is competing with Tata's with their Reliance Digital stores in Delhi NCR.

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