Sagar Malviya & Richa Maheshwari, The Economic Times Mumbai/Bengaluru, 22 June 2016 Apparel brand US Polo crossed the Rs 1,000-crore sales mark in India in the fiscal ending March 31, less than five years after it entered the country, according to a top executive of the company. US Polo's fastpaced sales puts it in the same league as Zara, which became the biggest apparel brand in India within four years of setting up shop. Zara now clocks over Rs 1,000 crore in retail sales here. In comparison, brands such as Louis Phillipe, Van Heusen and Benetton had taken nearly a decade…
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AFP/The Hindustan Times New Delhi, 22 June 2016 The gleaming glass atriums and blue-clad “geniuses” that herald the arrival of an Apple store could soon be landing in India, after the government cleared the way for it to open in the rapidly growing smartphone market. Before now, the Silicon Valley giant has been just a bit-player in the country of 1.2 billion, selling through local shops with none of its own. It applied to open stores in January, but was reportedly rebuffed because of a diktat that states foreign retailers must source 30 percent of their products locally. But on Monday…
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Sapna Agarwal, Mint Mumbai, 20 June 2016 Swedish fashion retailer Hennes and Mauritz (H&M) on Monday said it will double the number of its stores in the country from six to 12 by year-end. The Indian unit of Hennes & Mauritz AB, which entered India in October and currently operates stores in Delhi, Punjab and Bengaluru, will expand to Mumbai, Pune and Chennai.Two new stores in Mumbai will come up at Phoenix Mills in Lower Parel and Phoenix Market City in Kurla. Chennai will have its first H&M Store of over 34,500 sq.ft at Express Avenue Mall. Additionally, two locations have…
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Saritha Rai, Bloomberg Bengaluru, 20 June 2016 Apple Inc. may be closer to opening stores in India after the government eased onerous local sourcing requirements on retailers. The world’s second-most populous country on Monday announced the easing as part of a raft of measures intended to boost foreign direct investment and expand the leeway afforded multinational corporations. It loosened policies that require retailers to source at least 30 percent of their components locally before they can set up shop. Apple is pushing to increase its share of the world’s fastest-growing major smartphone market as device sales slow elsewhere. Chief Executive…
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Raghavendra Kamath, Business Standard Mumbai, 17 June 2016 To drive footfalls and attract brand value, mall developers across the country are rolling out the red carpet for prominent chains. Recently, H&M signed a lease agreement with a Hyderabad mall developer, wherein the latter gave the Swedish retailer six months rent-free, promised an investment of Rs 2.5 crore on fit-outs (a term used to describe the process of making interior spaces suitable for occupation) and a 30-year lease, according to a source. This was over and above the fit period of three to four months. According to sector experts, department stores…
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