Sapna Agarwal, MINT (A Wall Street Journal partner) Mumbai, December 18, 2011 Four apparel brands are expected to exceed Rs. 500 crore in revenue in the year to March as they acquire scale rapidly and expand into new territories and categories, signifying the maturing of the organized retail business in India, according to analysts. All this in a slowdown year. The four are kidswear apparel brand Lilliput, United Colors of Benetton, Nalli and FabIndia. “This will be the single largest addition in a year,” said Raghav Gupta, principal, Booz and Co., a consulting firm. Most of the existing Rs. 500…
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Pia Heikkila, The National December 18, 2011 Cricket-mad India has found a new passion - football. Local games and international tournaments alike are attracting a huge following, and young wannabe David Beckhams can be seen kicking balls in parks and streets across the country. This popularity of"the beautiful game" has not gone unnoticed by those overseas, with major English football clubs lining up to cash in by launching merchandise outlets in the country. Manchester United is leading the charge. The club has tied up with the Bangalore company Indus-League Clothing, which is part of the Future Group, to set up…
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Sarah Jacob , The Economic Times Bangalore, December 16, 2011 So what if the Walmarts and Carrefours can't yet sell their wares directly to Indian consumers, the country's retail industry is buzzing with activity as several honchos quit jobs to play entrepreneurs. Former Hidesign CEO Kunal Sachdev and former marketing GM of Page Industries, Nischal Puri, are among the latest in a growing club of retail professionals who have traded in their huge pay packets for their own wall art chains, lingerie brand, beer cafes and so on. Driving them are the new urban consumers, whose everincreasing demands and expectations…
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C. J. Punnathara, The Hindu - BusinessLine December 14, 2011 FDI in retail will usher in changes in the shopping experience, believe experts. But, even without it, Kerala's textile retailers have been dressing up in style. A look at the action. The small like it big. So Kerala — going by its shopping complexes — is going for the maximum. Textile showrooms in God's Own Country have been outdoing one another in setting up extravagant outlets at a time when retailers everywhere else are downsizing. Take the recently opened five-storied five lakh sq ft Emmanuval Silks showroom in Kochi. Its…
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Sharleen D`Souza & Raghavendra Kamath, Business Standard Mumbai, December 13, 2011 After the UPA regime’s move to suspend its decision on foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail, the industry is turning nervous about the prospects of single-brand retail as well. More so, since the government has yet to notify a Cabinet decision raising the foreign investment level to 100 per cent, from the current 51 per cent, for single-brand retail. It was on November 24 that a Cabinet meeting gave its nod to both moves. After that, the Centre, on December 8, formally put on hold its decision to…
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