Switch to Weekly Summary newsletter Previous Issues

 
  From the Editor's Desk 

The Reckitt vs Retailer story: Unified response a good thing

The fact that most of the large retailers are united in their response against Reckitt's move of decreasing margin
to the modern trade, is encouraging. Modern retail has begun to exert itself as a unit. Industry bodies like the RA
should be used aggressively to do this as well. However, in this case, the fact remains that Dettol will not be
replaced significantly by any private brands in the shoppers basket. That's just wishful thinking on the part of
retailers. That's the scenario today, but will not remain so in some years. Certain private brands of Wal-mart in
the US sell more than those of P&G or Unilever every year. If modern retail in India continues its steady growth,
we will see similar things happen in India.

Read more / Join the discussion: Use the 'Forgot password?' link to retrieve your password

  At a Glance 

Headline, Apparel, Accessories, Specialty, ..

 Future Ventures' IPO likely in March

 Biyani to raise apparel prices by 18% to improve margins
 Koutons Retail appoints SBI Capital to draft debt recast plan
 Phillips-Van Heusen Licenses IZOD in India, Middle East
 Timex ramps up retail strategy in India
 DLF Brands to open 30 stores, invest Rs 200 cr
 Kurl-on sees home range as growth driver

Food, QSR, ..

 Cocoberry plans major expansion, eyes listing on borses

 Nature's basket refreshes itself

Trends and Insight

 'Inflation is a friend of modern retail'

 Q&A: Bhaskar Bhat, MD, Titan Industries
 Retailers to use private labels to counter Reckitt's cut
 Indian fashion retail poised for big times
  A New Reality for Mobile

  News: Headline, Apparel, Specialty, CDIT ... 

Future Ventures' IPO likely in March

Business Standard
Kishore Biyani's Future Ventures is looking at tapping the primary market with a Rs 750-crore
initial public offer (IPO) next month, according to two persons with direct knowledge of the
matter. This could end the lull, since December last year, in big private sector IPOs. Future
Ventures, the venture capital arm of Future Group, had first applied with the Securities and
Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for an IPO in 2008, but did not proceed with it due to adverse
market conditions. At that time, the company aimed to raise Rs 3,730 crore from the IPO. It again
filed the draft prospectus for the issue in August last year and has approval from the market
regulator.

Biyani to raise apparel prices by 18% to improve margins

Business Standard
Pantaloon Retail, the country's largest retailer, is looking at increasing the prices of its apparel products up to 18
percent, to improve margins in the coming quarters, said a top group executive. Gross margins have come down
by 220 basis points in the second quarter of the financial year 2011, due to increase in input costs of apparel and
general merchandise. "There is an increase of 80 to 90 percent in raw material prices. Almost all brands have
increased prices by 30 percent to offset the increase in costs," said Kishore Biyani, Managing Director,
Pantaloon Retail.

Koutons Retail appoints SBI Capital to draft debt recast plan

Economic Times
Apparel retailer Koutons Retail India Ltd. on Wednesday said it has appointed SBI Capital Markets to draft a
debt recast scheme as it was unable to repay short-term debt. "The continuous downfall in the stock price has led
to an inordinate delay in raising equity for the company. Because of this, we are being unable to meet the
repayment obligations of short term loans," the company said in a statement.

Phillips-Van Heusen Licenses IZOD in India, Middle East

Business Wire
Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation [NYSE: PVH] has licensed Arvind Mills Ltd. to manufacture and market
men's, women's and boys' apparel and accessories under the IZOD brand in India, as well as in the United Arab
Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bhutan, Madagascar, Seychelles, Oman, Yemen, Bangladesh,
Nepal, Sri Lanka and Maldives. Under the agreement, Arvind, based in Bangalore, India, will have the right to
produce and market a wide range of products, including tops, casual pants and shorts, jeans, sweaters and
unconstructed blazers, outerwear, and accessories, such as women's handbags and men's and boys' small leather
goods. The initial term of the license agreement is through 2019, with renewal options that would extend the
term through 2029.

Timex ramps up retail strategy in India

Indiantelevision.com
Timex announced the opening of the 12th Timex Factory store in Bangalore. It currently has 75
Timex Factory stores in 33 cities in India. The company plans to up the number of these stores
in India to 100 in the next 12 months. It plans to strengthen its retail footprint in tier II and tier
III markets also.

DLF Brands to open 30 stores, invest Rs 200 cr

mydigitalfc.com
DLF Brands, part of real estate company DLF, is venturing into the home
furnishing segment. It aims to launch 30 home solution stores under the brand
name 'Pure Home + Living' in the next three years, at an investment of Rs 200
crore. Pure Home+Living is the first in-house brand of DLF Brands. So far, most
of the company's retail operations have been either through franchisee or joint
ventures.

Kurl-on sees home range as growth driver

mydigitalfc.com
Kurl-on looks at growing up into a complete home solutions company. The company believes
that furniture and other home improvement products offer better business. It aims at opening
250 exclusive franchisee-run showrooms called Kurl-on Nest, in the next two years. It also plans
to set up shop-in-shop format stores in alliance with major retail players in the next three years.
Kurl-on at present has 14 exclusive outlets across the country.

  News: Food & Grocery,

QSR ... 

Cocoberry plans major expansion, eyes listing on borses

Moneycontrol.com
Cocoberry, a chain of premium frozen yogurt, has planned major expansion over
the next couple of years. It is also planning to get its shares listed on a stock
exchange, the company said. "We have 25 outlets in the country, which will
reach 80 by the end of financial year 2011-12," Cocoberry Assistant Vice
President, Deepa Negi said.

Nature's basket refreshes itself

Business Standard
Six-year old retailer Godrej Nature's Basket is donning a new image. A new logo unveiled at the
brand's latest store in Mumbai's Juhu will be the most visible change, and will appear in in-store
promotions, shopping bags, newsletters and everything else the brand touches. The revamp is
part of an orchestrated plan to bring to fore Godrej Nature's Basket's evolved proposition from a
fresh fruit and vegetable retailer, to a fine food (gourmet) purveyor.

  Retail
Trends 
Inflation is a friend of modern retail: Retail czar Biyani
Times of India
Kishore Biyani, CEO of Future Group, has kicked off a massive restructuring drive to reduce the
cost of operations. He is also planning to hive off some of the group's non-retail assets. In an
interview, the retail czar talks about his strategies. Excerpts:

Q&A: Bhaskar Bhat, MD, Titan Industries

Business Standard
Titan Industries, the market leader in the watches segment, posted a strong 47
percent growth in net profit in the third quarter. The Tata Group company, among
the top five in market capitalisation, is set to further strengthen its presence in the
gold retailing and watches segment. In an interview, Managing Director, Bhaskar
Bhat shares his optimism for the year head. Excerpts:

Retailers to use private labels to counter Reckitt's cut

Business Standard
Big retail chains are planning to counter multinational consumer goods giant
Reckitt Benckiser's decision to cut sale margins on its products. Their plan is to
substitute RB's products - Lysol, Harpic, Dettol, etc - with their own private
labels. Said Thomas Varghese, Chief Executive Officer, Aditya Birla Retail,
which runs stores under the More brand. "All big retailers have private labels in
those categories and can replace these products.''

Indian fashion retail poised for big times

FashionUnited India
With organized retail developing rapidly in India, the fashion apparel industry is booming with
international and domestic brands making their presence felt not only in the metros but also
smaller towns. With a dominant presence in malls, markets, stand-alone stores and other retail
outlets, the apparel and textiles industry is one of the largest selling segments in the retailing
sector.

  Retail Insight 

A New Reality for Mobile

Juniper Research

It is fair to say that AR (Augmented Reality) applications and services on the mobile remain in
their infancy. Given that the first AR mobile browsers did not become available until June 2009,
this is hardly surprising. Public awareness of AR remains low; even within key areas of the
mobile sector, such as mobile advertising, a number of senior executives are either unaware of
the concept or have a very limited (or confused) appreciation of what it involves and what its
capabilities are.