By Gouri Shah MINT (Exclusive Partner The Wall Street Journal) Mumbai, Aug 3, 2009 These last few weeks have been hectic for freelance beautician Riddhi Kasurde. Her seven-year old son, Hrishikesh, was getting ready to head back to school—and juggling her work, his classes and a long shopping list had the 30-year-old mother in a tizzy. Kasurde’s shopping list went beyond the usual school supplies: there was a Rs250 school bag that “looks like one that college students use.” Rs2,000 worth of fabric for his school uniform, Rs500 for the tricycle which was his reward for scoring well in his…
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Reuters MUMBAI 27, July 2009 Apparel retailers are poised to chase consumers in small towns, besides lower operating expenses, while aiming for a balanced presence across markets in a challenging economy. Exploring the relatively unexplored markets are S Kumars Nationwide, Arvind Ltd, Alok Industries and Welspun India’s Welspun Retail. As the economic slowdown hurts retailers in large cities, smaller towns are less impacted due to their dependence on agricultural income and independent enterprises. “The rationale is in fact the tier 2, 3 and 4 cities, the amount of money that is available there and the amount of consumer growth happening…
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By Gouri Shah LIVEMINT.com (A Wall Street Journal Partner) Fri, Jul 24 2009 After making their debut on television ads during the Indian Premier League earlier this year, the lovable egg-headed Zoozoos quickly made their way onto comic strips, newspaper mastheads, birthday cakes, wedding cards, shoes, T-shirts, key chains and even rakhis, as clever local and Chinese marketeers cashed in on their popularity with fans. Now, creator Vodafone Essar Ltd is planning to launch official Zoozoo merchandise with retail chain Shopper’s Stop Ltd. “We are in discussions and are very close to signing the deal,” said a senior official from…
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By Sruthijith K K, ET Bureau THE ECONOMIC TIMES New Delhi 23 July, 2009 Wadhawan Retail has decided to shut its Spinach food and grocery stores, multiple people familiar with the development, including one senior executive of the group, said. Most of the 45 Spinach outlets will down shutters by the end of this month and many suppliers have snapped their relationship with the company because of huge outstanding bills, several current and former company executives said. About 600 employees are likely to be affected by the development, they said. Spinach has some 35 stores in Mumbai and about 10…
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By Priya Kapoor MoneyToday July 20, 2009 Convenience and low prices are spurring an increasing number of Indians to purchase goods and services through the Internet. The innovations in securing online transactions are also fuelling the trend . Sandhya Kaushik, a 32- year- old healthcare professional, bought a kitchen appliance online and saved nearly Rs 800. It wasn’t a one- off purchase, or the first time she had done so. Kaushik has been a regular on the online circuit for the past two years. Her purchases range from kitchen items and educational toys for her children to books and flowers.…
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