27/10/2009 Mr Bruce E Bergstrom VP, Vendor Compliance,Li & Fung "Sustainability is a great concept like liberty. We are in a world with many problems and sustainability is the solution. This is the answer given by Bruce Bergstrom, VP vendor compliance of sourcing giant Li & Fung, who tackled the difficult question of What is Sustainable Fashion? at the first-ever Sustainable Fashion Forum held earlier this month. "It is of utmost importance that we meet the needs of the present without compromising the needs of the future. Sustainability needs to be aligned and be woven into the corporate fabric,"…
By Ranju Sarkar New Delhi October 24, 2009 With retailers downsizing operations, many senior executives from fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and telecom who had jumped on the retail bandwagon a couple of years ago are making a quiet comeback. These include some high-profile names who were in the limelight when the going was good. Former banker Murlidhara Kadaba, who was head of financial services at Reliance Retail, has moved back to his old industry as senior managing director, Altamount Capital Management, a Mumbai-based wealth management firm. Kadaba, who has worked with Citibank and American Express, continues to be associated with Reliance…
Trade, of course, has been global for millennia, so it seemed hardly unusual for retailers in the US, and in Europe to begin sourcing from distant countries in Asia where certain items were more readily available or significantly cheaper. Imports have also been encouraged as a political and developmental vehicle to aid friendly countries. So, on the sourcing-end, large retailers have been comfortably operating beyond international borders for several decades even while the stores-end of their business was entirely domestic. For most large modern retailers however, after the post-Second World War economic boom their core markets have grown relatively slowly…
By Vishal Krishna BusinessWorld 10 October 2009 Indian shopping hotspots are sporting more and more golden arches these days. If McDonald’s is expanding like never before, not far away is KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken), though on a lesser scale. Their guests are young, their menus glocalised, their branding established, and their menus are no longer over-priced. After more than a decade in the highly fragmented quick service restaurant (QSR) segment — only 20 per cent of the Rs 10,000-crore segment is organised — McDonald’s and KFC are growing at a nippy 20-25 per cent, despite the slowdown. “In a recession,…
A few thoughts that I shared at the Sustainable Fashion Forum (Hong Kong, October 7, 2009): Most people want to fit in rather than stand apart from their peers, so pushing sustainable or responsible fashion will need time – just like the typical fashion cycle, the first thrust needs to be on the innovators and early adopters (both consumers and companies), before the majority of the market picks up the trend. We typically talk about the “triple-bottom line” – referring to the benefit to the business (profit), benefit to the environment and benefit to the community. However, I think most…
Brands are ready to roll the red carpet for consumers this festive season. But for #India's #jewellery brands this #Diwali will likely be a tad different from previous ones.
Reliance Retail & 7-Eleven ending 5-year franchise deal in India @SagarMalviya_ET
@devangshu:"convenience stores pressured by q-comm; family-kiranas survive with lower overheads & different margin expectations than corps"
Speciality Restaurants expanding into high-margin QSR and cloud kitchen spaces - @devangshu shared his perspective on the opportunities and realities of managing a diverse "house of brands" in the food service sector #India #strategy #diversification
