Mayu Saini, WWD New Delhi, February 14, 2013 The Indian government on Wednesday approved foreign direct investment, or FDI, in single-brand retail by four retailers - French brands Promod, Decathlon and Le Creuset and U.S. firm Fossil Inc. The four companies will invest a total of 7.5 billion rupees, or about $140 million, in India, according to an official of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board. According to officials, Fossil Inc. and Decathlon, both of which already are present in India, applied for 100 percent FDI. Promod, which first entered India with a franchise agreement that was changed to a joint…
By Tarang Gautam Saxena & Devangshu Dutta Since the onset of reopening of India’s economy in the late 1980s, fashion is one consumer sector that has drawn the largest number of global brands and retailers. Notwithstanding the country’s own rich heritage in textiles the market has looked up to the West for inspiration. This may be partly attributable to colonial linkages from earlier times, as well as to the pre-liberalisation years when it was fashionable to have friends and relatives overseas bring back desirable international brands when there were no equivalent Indian counterparts. Even today international fashion brands, particularly those…
Vishal Krishna, Business World Bangalore, January 17, 2013 In February 2010, Future Group founder and group CEO Kishore Biyani delivered a lecture at Coimbatore’s Bharathiar School of Management and Entrepreneur Development. He said his business ideals were driven by LSD (Lakshmi, Saraswati and Durga). Unless we create wealth for all strata of society, learn from experiences and create a strong identity, we will never become an economic superpower, he told the audience. That lecture echoed in May 2011, at a meeting to discuss a new initiative with select senior executives at the group headquarters in the SOBO Central Mall, Mumbai.…
Nupur Anand, DNA (Daily News & Analysis) Mumbai, January 10, 2013 It’s not even mid-January yet, but a "flat 50% off" sale is already on at an apparel brand outlet at Mumbai's poshest mall. This unseemly break with tradition – the two-week-long ‘sale’ season used to start in the third week of January, offer nominal discounts initially but jack them up later towards half price is not a case in isolation. Sale, that four-letter word with the power to smoke out even the tight-fisted shopper from self-imposed shopping exile, is now plastered across all kinds of retail outlets at malls.…
R Krishna,DNA (Daily News & Analysis) Mumbai, January 6, 2013 Unity in diversity is one of those maxims that makes no sense in India, except in the rarest of contexts. Chai, a colonial import, is one such factor that Indians can identify with regardless of class and religion. That’s why it’s surprising that there are few places that serve good tea outside of our homes. Tea from vending machines tastes artificial. At hotels, the decoction is rarely fresh. And though tapris do serve good tea, they are over boiled and sickly sweet. “If I ask you to recommend one place…
Geopolitical friction has again sparked renewed concerns over inflation and rising input costs for FMCG companies as @itmeansjustice @whysnavi write. @devangshu commented.
