Foreign retailers, big and small, are scrambling to make a mark in the big Indian bazaar It’s the company that’s showing foreign entrants how to succeed in the Indian retail maze. Swedish fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz has been on the fast track from when it opened in September 2015. This month, it’s moving further into India’s second-tier cities and launching in different corners of the country — Indore, Coimbatore, Amritsar and Kolkata. In just two years, H&M has opened 17 stores and expects to end 2017 with 25. In the Indian market, that pace represents lightning speed. When they…
Raghavendra Kamath, Business Standard Mumbai, 16 February 2017 Indian fashion chains are betting big on the consumption story here as American chains shut stores, amid competition from online retailers. Macy’s, the largest department store chain in the US, said it was closing 68 stores. Sears will also close 42 stores. Kmart is closing 108 stores and and discount chain Kohl’s has closed 18 stores, according to reports. Indian chains are scripting a different story, despite a strong online retail presence. Future Group-owned Central plans to add 15 new Central HD stores. Central HD has upgraded their décor and has minimalistic…
Rasul Bailay & Shambhavi Anand, The Economic Times New Delhi, 14 February 2017 Global marquee fashion and lifestyle brands such as Gap, Zara and The Body Shop are resorting to price cuts to stay competitive and increase their market share in the price-sensitive Indian market. UK’s cosmetic brand The Body Shop slashed prices across categories in India by 20-30% on Friday while US fashion brand Gap is looking to bring down prices of certain products by 10-15% by allowing its India franchisee Arvind Lifestyle Brands to manufacture them locally. Arvind will produce 30-40% Gap merchandise in India to be sold…
Sharleen Dsouza, Bloomberg Quint Mumbai, 10 February 2017 Less than seven years after launching the Vivanta brand and four years after inaugurating its first Gateway property, Indian Hotels Co Ltd. has decided to re-brand the two verticals and bring them back under the Taj Group brand.All existing properties run by the Taj Group will now be classified under four categories -- Taj Hotels, Taj Palaces, Taj Resorts and Taj Safari. Only its budget chain, Ginger Hotels, will continue to be operated under the existing brand.Analysts and brand consultants maintain that this entire exercise will have no impact on the company’s…
This is a recording of a short, candid talk by Devangshu Dutta (chief executive, Third Eyesight) at the ASSOCHAM's 8th Global Food Processing Summit in New Delhi, India. He touched upon the inherent conflicts in the food supply chain we need to be aware of before formulating policies and practices, and strongly urged everyone to look at food security from the point of view of sustainability and risk-management. (Transcript below.) TRANSCRIPT: I'll just take just few minutes to share a few thoughts with you on the sector. The session was titled "Make in India: Platform for investment opportunity in food…
Geopolitical friction has again sparked renewed concerns over inflation and rising input costs for FMCG companies as @itmeansjustice @whysnavi write. @devangshu commented.
