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Vol. 2 Issue 6 - June 2007
In this Issue
Featured Product
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International
While global supermarket brands are rushing to India, speciality stores are walking in a tad hesitantly. Starbucks, though, has reapplied after the FIPB rejected its first application, and is doing all it can to reassure the government that it is playing by the rulebook.
Chillibreeze Research Team
 Starbucks reassures govt that it is following the rules
Specialty retailers not so keen on India as yet
Arvind Mills to bring in Diesel
Marks & Spencer makes ambitious plans for India, China
Office Depot to open stores in India via franchises
Wal-Mart advised small retailers to “learn to change”
Landmark Group to bring in foreign brands
Italian leather brand, Blue & Blues on expansion spree
Gulf firms keen on Indian retail
HR News
Nearly everyone predicted that the retail boom would spell trouble in HR terms for other sectors, which would likely see attrition climb on account of the resulting churn. But the relief it’s brought students who double up as temp staff during peak load weekends is welcome – not to mention the hand-on experience they garner in the bargain!
Chillibreeze Research Team
Bharti and Global Retail School tie up
Retailers opt for temp workers
Retail sector to pull talent from other sectors
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Editorial
While much of our newsletter often focuses on the retail players and their plans, given their sheer bulk, we felt we should also celebrate the reason for their success – the consumer.
A study titled ‘YouSoumerism-Youth in India: Opportunity Knocks’ conducted by Ernst & Young indicates that a sizable chunk of buyers in India are less than 25 years of age. Armed with mint-fresh purchasing power and a yen for buying, they drive the retail boom, from apparel to accessories and gizmos, from ready-to-eat foods to health drinks. Another consumer segment that demands mention is children and teens – they may not wield the wallet directly, but there is no doubting their power over the powers that be.
Track those advertisements aired on the telly, and you will agree – Gen-X rules, OK! Our take on it – retailers would do well to catch them young and watch the loyalty grow!
 Chillibreeze Research Team
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Big players – Plans and Investments |
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After the success of its small store format, Reliance Retail is working on its hypermarket format, which is to come up in July. WalMart meanwhile is at pains to explain that they are coming in at the wholesale level, and aim to work with small retailers, bringing them up to speed!
Chillibreeze Research Team |
Big Players...
 Reliance to launch Rs. 30 billion home solutions chain
Birla’s keen on buying out Piramyd
Street vegetable vendors up in arms against Reliance
Birla Group to launch new brand
Reliance Retail’s entry to Bengal might be delayed
RPG looking for international brands
Birla’s retail brand to be called More
Bharti denies any problems in JV with Wal-Mart
Reliance Retail’s first hypermarket to open by July
Wal-Mart insists that its entry will benefit India
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Unique Formats |
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Traditional retail and its opportunities notwithstanding, retail majors are always on the lookout for working with different formats – rural markets, non-store formats and stores in airports are just a few of them in the news this month.
Chillibreeze Research Team
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Unique Formats...
Retail majors target Mumbai’s new airport for retail opportunities
Wadhwan Foods offers non-store format with Sangam Direct Godrej to focus on rural market
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Apparel & Footwear |
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Apparel makers realise they have merely scratched the surface in terms of market expansion. Latent demand is finally finding expression as consumers able and willing to pay find products they want to buy – the retailers, for their part, are more than happy to open more stores!
Chillibreeze Research Team
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Apparel & Footwear...
Provogue to launch 20 Promart stores
Levi Strauss Signature keen to be a hypermarket brand
Arvind Mills to focus on retail
Reliance Retail interested in tying up with Bata
Hidesign plans to consolidate international operations
Future Group focusing on Brand Factory
Feedback
We continue inching forward; always learning more about the sector that has India interested and excited. Our Retail Newsletter, is being downloaded nearly through the month…more importantly, we have an increasing number of readers posting a query on our site India Reports (www.india-reports.com). This is feedback of another kind; it keeps us on the roll, thinking and analyzing as we answer these queries, and prepares us to move on to the next level with new reports and analysis.
You can help us by sending your suggestions … how do we become the preferred newsletter in the Retail space?
Write to us:
epublishing@chillibreeze.com
In an effort to build our retail bouquet of information on India Reports, we have initiated a Consumer Reports section, where you can put up your views of and experiences at retail outlets…the good and the bad (http://www.india-reports.com/biz-buz.aspx.). We plan to feature some of these contributions in our future issues.
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General Trends & Information |
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Consumers are smiling all the way to organized retailers to benefit from their dramatic price-offs. But manufacturers are crying foul, saying that its taking business away from the small retailers who, in fact, drive the bulk of their business. And then there is some more news of yet another retail major working with small players and training them to take on competition – this time its Metro Cash & Carry.
Chillibreeze Research Team |
General Trends & Information...
Mom-&-Pop retailers becoming brand managers
Metro plans training centers for kirana store owners
Manufactures get upset over discounts given by retailers
Large retailers pull in mom-&-pop retailers
New CII chief Sunil Mittal defends organized retail
Revenue sharing deals aplenty
Communist party toughens stance on Wal-Mart entry
Industry not in favor of allowing foreign equity in retail
Birla CEO: ‘Foreign partners don’t really add value in retail’
Gen-X is fueling the retail drive
 Buy our Omnibus edition featuring 4 Retail Reports covering the fast growing retail scene in India. >> updated March 2007
Buy our just published reports on the Cheese and Wine Industry in India.
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Support Industries |
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We have always been very interested in the development of retail support industries, seeing huge opportunities for professionals with niche interests in the near future. This month, we saw a venture fund being planned and a retail design firm setting up shop in India.
Chillibreeze Research Team |
Support Industries...
Oak Investment to start $200 million retail fund
Retail design firm WD Partners to open office in India
Wal-Mart likely to use Mumbai based company for logistics
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Regional Trends |
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Tier 1, 2 and 3 cities are all witnessing groundbreaking changes in retail – changes that will direct other changes in culture and lifestyle. Who would have thought possible the changes that Bangalore has witnessed post the IT boom and now the retail race.
Chillibreeze Research Team |
Regional Trends...
Convenience store boom in Delhi
Commissariat Road, Bangalore is the next retail hotspot
Heritage Foods to set up two retail outlets in Chennai
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Food & Grocery |
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Food and Grocery stores prefer to link up with the farmers directly. How this will change the equations in the sector for the hitherto prosperous middlemen remains to be seen.
Chillibreeze Research Team |
Food & Grocery...
Food retailers prefer to link directly to farmers
Big Apple to set up 100 stores
Subhiksha to source bulk of vegetables from Nashik
Food Bazaar interested in dealing with farmers directly
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