Kisore Biyani’s autobiography ‘It Happened in India’ creates

publishing history
April 21st, 2007 ·  13 Comments

Kishore Biyani, who three months ago

was conferred“International Retailer of the Year” Award by the
prestigeous US National Retail Federation (NRF), could truly be
considered as the pioneer of multi-brand modern (organised)
retail in India.
Born in a middle class marwari trading family, Kishore Biyani,
began his career selling stonewash fabric to small shops in
Mumbai. After having a brush with film making and festival
organising, he went on to launch Pantaloons, the biggest listed
retailer of the country, today.

Pantaloons is credited with launching many retail formats in value and lifestyle retailing under some
of the best known retailing brand names in the country, including Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar, Central,
e-zone, and Home Town.

While, most successful men and women write their biographies post their retirement, Kishore Biyani
has gone ahead with writing his biography, “It Happened in India,” if one could say so, at
the beginning of his retailing career.
“It happend in India” is the story of this maverick entrepreneur’s experiments with exploration of
business the Indian way, his uncanny insight into the mind of Indian consumer and his simple
philosophy of – Rewrite Rules, Retain Values.

As expected, the book even before being widely available, has become a success story in its own right.
According to media reports, while 10,000 copies (largest ever for an Indian book) of the book have
already been sold on the day of its launch, the publishers are also confident of selling the initial lot of
30,000 books in a few days. In another first in the history of publishing in India, this is the first
indigenous book which has had a print run of 200,000 copies.

The book in a true Kishore Biyani style has been priced at Rs 99/- only for soft cover, while the hard
cover price has been fixed at Rs. 495/-. The book, which has been co-authored with Dipayan Baishya,
is currently available for sale in a few Big Bazaar and Depot stores in Mumbai and Pune and can also
be ordered online at Futurebazaar.com.
Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd.
(141224:undefined)
141224 On Other Exchanges

Snapshot NewsFinancialsPeopleTransactions

OverviewBoard of DirectorsCommittees

EXECUTIVE PROFILE*

Kishore Biyani     Return to Jagran Prakashan Ltd

Managing Director, Executive Promoter Director and Member of Corporate Governance
46
Committee, Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd.
46

Age Total Annual Compensation This person is connected to 46 board members in 7 different
organizations across 9 different industries.
47 20,968,602 INR
As of Fiscal Year 2009 See Board Relationships

BACKGROUND*
Mr. Kishore Biyani is the Chief Executive Officer at Future Group. He is also the Chairman and Managing Director at
Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited. Mr. Biyani is a Managing Partner and Chairman at Indivision Capital Fund. He is the
Chairman of Future Capital Holdings.

CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS* ANNUAL COMPENSATION*

Knowledge House Shyam Nagar Salary 20,968,602
Mumbai, Maharashtra 400060

Total Annual Compensation 20,968,602

India

Phone: 91 22 3084 1300

Fax: 91 22 6644 2222
STOCK OPTIONS*

All Other Compensation 10,000,000

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEMBERSHIPS*
Managing Director, Executive Promoter Director and
Member of Corporate Governance Committee
TOTAL COMPENSATION*
Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd.
Total Annual Cash Compensation 20,968,602
Director
Total Short Term Compensation 20,968,602
Galaxy Entertainment Corp. Ltd.
Chairman Other Long Term Compensation 10,000,000

Indivision Capital Fund

Total Calculated Compensation 30,968,602
Chairman

Future Media India Ltd.

2005-Present

Independent Director, Member of Audit Committee

and Member of Remuneration Committee

Jagran Prakashan Ltd

2005-Present

Former Director

Pantaloon Industries Limited

2005-Present

Director

Ambit Investment Advisory Company Limited

2006-Present

Chairman of the Board, Member of Audit Committee,

Member of Nomination Committee, Member of
Shareholders/Investors Grievance Committee and
Managing Partner of Indivision Capital Fund

Future Capital Holdings

2007-Present

Former Independent & Non-Executive Director and

Member of Remuneration Committee

UTV Software Communications Ltd.

2010-Present

Independent Director

Fame India Ltd.

EDUCATION*
There is no Education data available.

OTHER AFFILIATIONS*
UTV Software Communications Ltd.
Jagran Prakashan Ltd

Galaxy Entertainment Corp. Ltd.

Fame India Ltd.

Pantaloon Industries Limited

Future Capital Holdings

Indivision Capital Fund

Future Media India Ltd.

Future Group

Ambit Investment Advisory Company Limited

Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd.
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Snapshot NewsFinancialsPeopleTransactions

MARKET CAP TOTAL REVENUE

1.9B 76.7B

EBITDA DILUTED EPS TTM

7.0B 0.51

P/E P/S

-- --

RETURN ON ASSET RETURN ON EQUITY

4.33 0.43

K = Thousands  M = Millions  B = Billions

141224 DETAILS
Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the multi-format retail businesses in India.
The company operates retail stores in various formats, including fashion, food, general merchandise, home
improvement, furnishing solutions, and consumer durables and electronics. It operates Big Bazaar, a hyper market;
Food Bazaar, a super market; Pantaloons, a departmental store; Central, Brand Factory, and Home Town that are
seamless malls; E Zone, a consumer durable and electronics store, as well as other retail formats, such as aLL and
KB Fair Price. The company also offers private labels in various lines of businesses, including John Miller, Lombard,
Bare, DJ&C, Buffalo, and RIG in fashion; Tasty Treat, Premium Harvest, Fresh & Pure, Care Mate, and Clean Mate
in food and home care; Koryo and Sensei in consumer durables and electronics; and Dreamline in general
merchandise and home improvement. In addition, it involves in specialized businesses offering consumer finance,
insurance, logistics, brands, media, knowledge services, online retail service, and training in retail services. The
company operates consumer finance through Future Money; and insurance products through Future Generali. As of
October 31, 2009, it operated approximately 737 stores in 29 formats in 72 cities in India. The company was formerly
known as Pantaloon Fashions (India) Limited and changed its name to Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited in July 1999.
Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Mumbai, India.
Detailed 141224 Company Description...

www.pantaloon.com
33,576 Employees

Founded in 1987

141224 TOP COMPENSATED OFFICERS

Mr. Kishore Biyani

Managing Director, Executive Promoter Directo...

Age: 47

Total Annual Compensation: 21.0M

Mr. Rakesh Biyani

Whole Time Director, Member of Investor Relat...

Age: 37

Total Annual Compensation: 13.8M

Shri. Gopikishan Biyani

Whole Time Director and Member of Investor Re...

Age: 64

Total Annual Compensation: 5.7M

Executives, Board Directors
Compensation as of Fiscal Year 2009.

KEY DEVELOPMENTS FOR PANTALOON RETAIL (INDIA) LTD. (141224)

Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd. Reports Consolidated and Standalone Earnings Results for the Full
Year Ended June 30, 2010

08/31/2010

Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd. reported consolidated and standalone earnings results for the full year ended June 30,
2010. The company reported consolidated net profit of INR 763.5 million against a net loss of INR 74.6 million in the
previous year. During the year, net sales of the company jumped 27.6% to INR 97.86 billion from INR 76.69 billion a
year ago. The company has posted a net profit after minority interest of INR 674.90 million for the year ended June
30, 2010 where as the same was at INR 100.70 million for the year ended June 30, 2009. Total Income is INR
99,130.00 million for the year ended June 30, 2010 where as the same was at INR 77,648.00 million for the year
ended June 30, 2009. The company's standalone net profit for the year rose 27.7% to INR 1,795.6 million from INR
1,405.8 million. On the other hand, net sales have fallen 6% to INR 59.34 billion in 2009-10 fiscal from INR 63.41
billion last year. Total Income is INR 60,190.00 million for the year ended June 30, 2010 where as the same was at
INR 63,477.60 million for the year ended June 30, 2009.

Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd. Recommends Dividend on Convertible Preference Shares and Equity
Shares

08/30/2010
Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd. announced that its board of directors at its meeting held on Aug. 28, 2010 has
recommended a dividend of 0.01% per convertible preference share, INR 0.80 or 40% per equity share of INR 2 each
and INR 0.90 or 45% per class B shares of INR 2 each.

Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd., Annual General Meetings, Oct 25, 2010

08/30/2010

Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd., Annual General Meetings, Oct 25, 2010
The grooming of a Biyani
Like everything else in his business, Kishore Biyani is using an unconventional approach to induct the next
generation family members into the Future Group
M ANAND
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It's dinner time at the Biyanis. The man who built a sprawling retail and CATCHING
THEM
YOUNG: Kis
consumption business with his unique combination of sheer guts and unconventional hore Biyani
with
wisdom, Kishore Biyani, is sitting opposite his daughter Ashni, 23, at their Napean Sea
daughter
Road residence in Mumbai. Beside him at the unusuallylow-height dining table sit his niece Ashni, niece
Vidisha, 26, and nephew Vivek, 24. The words that fly across the meal table, like most other Vidisha and
conversations at the Biyani home, are mostly centred around business. nephew
Vivek (right
Early next morning, the Future Group CEO, the three younger family members, all of whom to left)
joined the business over the past two years, and a bunch of about 20 other key Future
Group executives are to catch a flight to Chennai. They are planning a 'deep dive' into the
popular retail destinations in the city, including the dirty, bustling and prosperous Ranganathan Street in T
Nagar. This is the old-world retail capital of Chennai, and still holds its own against the swanky malls that
have sprung up in other parts of the city. The family is visibly excited about this trip, even though this is
the last in a long series of deep dive programmes Biyani has done with his family and professional team.
Over the past few months, they have hopped across every major city in India.

Such walkabouts are part of Biyani's unique management style. He does it in his stores, he does it in city
high streets, he does it abroad. He could make big, impulsive decisions based on hunches he forms
during such saunters, and he has almost always proven to be right. He has gleaned many pieces of
native wisdom from his many, many visits to traditional markets. And he often uses these to fine-tune
strategies at his many modern retail formats. It is very much part of the unconventional manner in which
he has built his business. But that's not where his unorthodox ways end. Now, he is again using an
unusual route to induct the younger generation of the family into the group business.

Rites of initiation

Two hours before the dinner, Biyani is sitting comfortably cross-legged on the settee. Vivek, dressed in a
T-shirt, is next to him; Vidisha is sitting on the floor by the centre table and Ashni in a couch behind her.
Such scenes are fairly common in the Biyani family; many strategies have been conceived and many
issues have been thrashed out in such relaxed settings. Today, Biyani is spelling out his broad plans for
the new generation. Vivek, Ashni and Vidisha already know it. This discourse is for the benefit of this
writer.

Vidisha Bagri I 26 I Niece  His plan will make most patriarchs of large

business families flinch: shuffle the young
Work profile: Leads the home furnishings Biyanis across several fairly high-level
business 
responsibilities fairly early on; let them fend
The story so far: Has seen the business grow from for themselves without any intervention
Rs 25 crore to Rs 117 crore, and expects to whatsoever and let them earn the respect of
take it to Rs 300 crore this year  managers, or lose it; mentor them, and over
- "When we lost our CEO, we looked at a time, pull them completely out of operations,
few people. We had a good team. So, I and move them into the strategic role of
decided to step up and look at the entire stewardship and preserving family wealth.
business"
Two broad strokes in Biyani's family succession plan, if you can call it that, are very different from the
traditional approach. The classical text-book model in Indian business families, says Biyani, was to have
the new family member start at the lowest level, grind his way to the top and eventually become the
operational CEO of the company. But in reality, there was often hardly any grind in the process, only a
pretext. And the CEO destiny of the family member is a foregone conclusion, whatever be his real
capability. The seth could pretend to be a naukar for as long as he wants, but eventually he would
become the seth.

Biyani hates such pretexts. The younger Biyanis won't start at the bottom. Nor will they make it to the top,
in the sense that they may not become hands-on operational CEOs like Biyani. But they will have a wide
variety of fairly senior roles thrust on them fairly early. The idea is to prepare them for broader
stewardship and a strategic role as soon as possible, and to steer them away from all operational
responsibilities.

"I am playing a little bit of an operating role. But that's not what I want to play and that's not what the next
generation should do," says Biyani. He believes that the family members ought not to be accountable for
the business numbers, but should instead take on roles in value protection, culture dissemination,
managing stakeholder relationships and formulating long-term strategy.

That is why he doesn't want the next generation to waste valuable years muddling through the lower
levels of the organisation. He constantly pushes Vivek, Ashni and Vidisha to move to higher and wider
roles in the group. "Power has to be taken," he declares. "But they will not be in operational roles.
Therefore, there is no problem in them moving up fast," says Biyani.

Hard on the kids

But that's not the gentlest way to introduce the new generation into the family business, especially since
Biyani is clear that he will not intervene to help them in any way. "In most other business families, the new
generation is totally hidden," he says. "But we expose them completely. We do not let them hide." This
story is proof of that. Biyani agreed to allow all three young family members to be interviewed (in his
absence) without batting an eyelid. No elaborate corporate communication protocol. No request for
quotes to be verified. No subtle hints that the writer be gentle as these are their earliest interviews to the
media.

"One of our biggest challenges," says Vivek, "is that people have a certain level of expectation from us.
How do we manage it?" Ashni chips in: "We can't impose ourselves as family members. Respect has to
be earned; not inherited."

Biyani has no hesitation in saying that Vivek Biyani I 24 I Nephew 

any family member who doesn't make Work profile: Leads the Home Solutions Business 
the
The story so far: Home Solutions is one of the fastest growing
segments for the group, with revenues of Rs 355 crore last year.
cut will be told as much. An hour later Has the potential to grow as big as any of the other retail
when the interview is winding up and businesses 
when 
everyone has let their guard down, Ashni - "One of the things I would like to do is to
becomes visibly agitated that one of her build an ecosystem of entrepreneurs. There
are so many opportunities out there"
suggestions in a marketing plan has
been disregarded. No solace is offered,
not even a perfunctory 'I'll look into it' is forthcoming. Biyani merely grunts. "It doesn't help going to him,"
says Ashni, eyes flaring. "I'd rather talk to them than talk to him."
Biyani doesn't shy away from discussing some of the problems the next generation is facing. "Vidisha lost
the CEO of the home furnishings business (that she handles) and came to me. We haven't appointed
anyone for three months." They will face such struggles, Biyani says matter-of-factly, over dinner.

It is not just Biyani who dares to tell. Even the younger Biyanis are unafraid to talk about their failures.
Ashni recounts a particularly humbling experience on Republic Day. She was at Top10, an apparel store
for the young that she helped create. The store was overflowing with stock, and that irked her. "I went into
the system, had a quick glance and decided we had to liquidate the stock today." She changed the
discount offers and pushed up sales. But next Monday, when she walked into the office of Damodar Mall,
CEO, Incubation and Innovation, Future Group, (she works as a part of his team), he bluntly told her that
there was a negative margin of 3%. "I was responsible for that loss," she owns up.

But since then, her business analysis skills have improved considerably. Top10 is in 12 locations, and is
scaling up to be present in all Central (a mall format) and Pantaloon (a department store format) outlets.
Store revenues are about Rs 12,000-15,000 a day, and it offers innovations like a design studio where
young customers can design their own T-Shirts and jeans. "Now I can look at a Big Bazaar spreadsheet
and understand why the throughput of this store is only so much. Often I sit with dad at meetings and I
can tell them that this store can do 20% more."

Vidisha recounts a similar experience. She was launching Dreamline, a home furnishing brand. She took
out space from an existing store and started a separate section, for which she invited a celebrity to cut the
ribbon. A day before the event, she realised she hadn't got the logistics right and the section hardly had
any merchandise. "I had to get special trucks organised to get the stuff in time," she says, with
embarrassment. But since then, she too has recovered. Revenues of the home furnishing segment grew
to Rs 117 crore last year (up from Rs 25 crore the previous year) "We are looking at Rs 300 crore this
year."

The family office

"Sometimes the person who creates wealth also destroys it," Biyani says with disarming candour. "The
family needs to protect the creator from destroying it."

Ashni Biyani I 23 I Daughter  Biyani has been studying Hong

Kong's Li & Fung family since
Work profile: Works as part of the incubation and new ideas team. But is 1992. The $14 billion group with
keenly interested and involved in every aspect of the Future Group business
interests in sourcing, distribution
The story so far: Played a
key role in creating Top10, an and retailing has grown
apparel store for the young. Has all of her Dad's verve  consistently under three
generations of stewardship. One
- "We can't impose ourselves as family members. big lesson Biyani gleaned from
Respect has to be earned; not inherited. And I can't the Li & Fung story is the
deny, dad puts us under pressure to grow"
importance of a 'family office'. He
has set one up now.

The family office, which also has a team of professional managers to offer advice to the members,
manages the family expenses, accounts, philanthropy and investments. "The first vision of the family
office is to preserve wealth for the next generation," says Biyani. "Management of the company and
management of the family wealth have to be demarcated."

Next, the Biyanis have put together a family constitution. It spells out guidelines and a code of conduct for
members to work with. It addresses all issues, including that of family members not inclined to the Future
Group business but interested in other avenues. "We have written out the family constitution...now we are
moving to the next step of operationalising it," says Biyani.
The family office provides a forum for the members to meet together, discuss and debate issues, and
thrash out differences (and there have been a few) and improve overall communication among members.
Over the last two years or so, there have been over half a dozen full-fledged family office meetings. Says
Biyani: "I don't think communication was great in my parents' generation. It was worse in my generation.
But we have to make it better now."

"Is it necessary that a Biyani should succeed you as CEO?" That's a tricky question to answer in the
presence of three members of the next generation, all of who could have lofty aspirations. But Biyani
answers: "We should no longer behave like entrepreneurs. We should be investors and 'mentor
capitalists'. If we move in that direction, the succession issue will not arise at all 10-15 years down the
line." Over time, the next generation will move out of the specific business roles they are in and into
advisory capacities in the family office. All of them would then function as board members, not
management. A family member need not necessarily be the CEO, but all family members interested and
trained in the business could be the wise men advising the management.

So does that make succession a non-issue? "It's very simply said," sighs Biyani. "But everything has to
fall in place at the right time."

Learn Leadrship from India’s Retails Czar: Kishore  Biyani

November 11, 2007 by Mahesh M Piddshetti

Born into a small trading family, India’s retail czar, Kishore Biyani, replaced

conventional wisdom with “guts and instincts” to create Future Group, a $1

billion company that includes Pantaloon Retail, a department store group; Big

Bazaar, the company’s name for hypermarkets; Food Bazaar supermarkets, and

Central Mall, a more upscale aggregation of merchandise. Known for his insights

into Indian consumer behavior, Biyani also represents an enigma to the

country’s emerging retail players, both domestic and foreign. He offers some

glimpses into what makes him tick in his recent biography titled, It Happened in India: The Story of
Pantaloons, Big Bazaar, Central and the Great Indian Consumer, co-authored with Dipayan Baishya.

The book has sold some 100,000 copies, more than any other business book published in India so far.

In an interview with India Knowledge@Wharton, Biyani, who has often been called “the Sam Walton of

India,” talked about leadership, the Indian retail market and why he would never consider

collaborating with Wal-Mart, among other topics. Excerpts from the interview follow.

India Knowledge@Wharton: What does leadership mean to you?

Biyani: In the last six months, I have read many articles on leadership and met a couple of experts

on that subject. But I still could not find an answer to what, exactly, leadership means.

There are two types of leadership. The first is all about thought leadership, which is original thought,

believing in it and making things happen based on those thoughts. The second type is skills

leadership, which refers to doing things consistently and in your own style.

India Knowledge@Wharton: What part of leadership is inborn and what can be developed?

Biyani:For me, leadership is all about thought leadership, not skills leadership.Skills leadership can be

developed even after the age of 24 or 25,but thought leadership cannot be developed after a

certain age.

India Knowledge@Wharton: How do you define thought leadership?

Biyani: Thought leadership is about building scenarios and making them happen. I believe everybody

is a victim of systemic thinking and has their own mental syntax. First things come first, and

everything else is a reflection of where you started on that first thing. If you change that syntax,

things change. If you have a business school orientation, your syntax of thinking will be in a particular

direction. I am a businessman and entrepreneur, so my syntax of thinking will be in a different

direction. Each has a unique method of sequencing to arrive at answers.

One would have to change everything to look at things differently. That is a very difficult thing to do

as we have our own mental maps. We are not trained to change mental models. Business schools also

have not been trained to do that. Business schools work on creating efficiencies, creating productivity

and managing consistency. But life is not like that. Life is chaotic.

….

India Knowledge@Wharton: How have you developed leadership in your organization?

Biyani: We have developed a very different style of leadership. We run a seamless organization. We

don’t have structures; it is a non-hierarchical organization that works with people coming together to

do things.
It is also a very design-driven organization. We believe the structure has to be broken up to change;

the design has to be altered to change things. A design-driven organization has flexibility and

maneuverability. It is an amorphous organization that can be given any shape and any direction

anytime.

India Knowledge@Wharton: Can you give an example of how that works?

Biyani: We can chop and change anything we do, anytime. Nothing is constant for us. Nothing is

constant here. We believe in destroying what we have created.

India Knowledge@Wharton: In your book, you have described three types of entrepreneurs. You

say your father and uncles were “preservers” and you call yourself a “creator” and a “destroyer.”

Biyani: Most people are trained to be preservers. It is great to be a preserver. But for us,

whoever has to create has to destroy. Without destroying, you cannot create anything new.

That is also the law of nature. Look at the seasons. Everything gets destroyed to create something

new. But unfortunately, business does not take any cues from nature. None of the business schools

takes anything from nature. One cannot go against the flow of nature. In our group, we don’t follow

business principles. We follow the principles of nature.

One of the biggest principles we follow, as I have said in the book, is to go with the flow. We never do

anything against the flow of nature. And when you follow the principles of nature, ideas will get

destroyed and recreated.

If you look at nature, human beings have not changed over a period of so many years. Love, hate and

all the other emotions are still the same. But we all complicate things. We create segments,

psychographics and other indices. It is a simple world, but we break it up and start looking at it

through lenses that are very different. You will find all the answers in nature.

Kishore Biyani's Profile :
 
Kishore Biyani is the Managing Director of Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited
and the Group Chief Executive Officer of Future Group. He was born in August
1961.

Kishore is married to Sangita and has two daughters.

Kishore has won following awards and honors:

• 2006 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award.
• 2006 Lakshmipat Singhania - IIM Lucknow Young Business Leader award.
 • 2006 CNBC First Generation Entrepreneur of the Year award.

More details will be added soon!

Pantaloon Retail
Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited is India's leading retailer that operates multiple retail formats in both the value and
lifestyle segment. Pantaloon has ushered a retail revolution in India and its founder Kishore Biyani is known as India's
"King of Retail". Pantaloon's headquarter is in Mumbai. The company currently operates over 5 million square feet of
retail space and has plans to increase it to 30 million sq. ft by 2011. Pantaloon has plans to open over 3000 new
stores by 2010. 

Pantaloon's origin can be traced to 1987 when

the company was incorporated as Manz Wear Private Limited. The company launched Pantaloons trouser, India's
first formal trouser brand. In 1992, Pantaloon launched its IPO. In 1994, The Pantaloon Shoppe - exclusive
menswear store in franchisee format was launched across the country. Pantaloon started distribution of distribution of
branded garments through multi-brand retail outlets across the nation. In 2001, Big Bazaar, India's first hypermarket
chain was launched. In 2002, Food Bazaar, the supermarket chain was launched. In 2006, Future Capital Holdings,
the company's financial arm launched real estate funds, "Kshitij" and "Horizon" and private equity fund "Indivision".
The company is also planning forays into insurance and consumer credit. 

Pantaloon Retail is the flagship company of Future Group. The lines of business of Future Group are:

E-commerce: Pantaloon's website Futurebazaar.com has revolutionized the e-commerce business in India. It offers
a wide range of products at affordable prices. It has been named as Best Indian Website 2007 in the Shopping
category by PC World.

Food: In food business, the group offers a host of options. Food Bazaar - a chain of large supermarkets; Brew Bar - a
beer bar; café Bollywood - a national chain of eateries; Chamosa - a pan-Indian chain of snack counters, and Sports
Bar - a bistro focused on the world of sports. 

Fashion: The group offers a variety of options in fashion. Its brands include aLL, Blue Sky, Central, Etam, Fashion
Station, Gini & Jony, Navaras, Pantaloons, and Top 10.

Home & Electronics: Options include: Collection i - a lifestyle furniture store; Electronics Bazaar - offers branded
electronic goods and appliances; e-zone - trendiest electronics items; Furniture Bazaar - entire range of Home
Furniture; Home Town - one stop destination for all the home needs.

Leisure & Entertainment: Options are: Bowling Co. - state-of-the-art premium family entertainment centre, offering
multiple, novel and unique leisure and entertainment options; F 123 - offers a wide range of gaming options ranging
from bowling and pool to redemption and interactive video games to bumper cars.

Wellness & Beauty: Options are: Health Village - a state-of-the art spa and yoga centre; Star & Sitara: Beauty salon
for men and women; Tulsi - provides access to the best allopathic, ayurvedic and homeopathic medicinal products;
Turmeric - offers beauty products like colour cosmetics, fragrances, herbal and specialty skin items, hair products and
bath accessories.

Books & Music: Future Group's brand - "Depot" offers Books, CDs, and stationery items. 

Major Achievements of Pantaloon Retail

 Chosen as International Retailer for the Year 2007

 Chosen as Emerging Market Retailer of the Year 2007
 Best Employers in India (Rank 14th) in the Hewitt Best Employers 2007 survey.
 Best Managed Company in India (Mid-cap) for the year 2006.
 Won Images Retail Awards 2006 for Best Value Retail Store, Best Retail Destination, and Best Food &
Grocery Store.
 How Kishore Biyani hooks India Inc's top talent
 Story
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MUMBAI: When V Vaidyanathan decided to leave ICICI after 10 years to build the financial services
business of the Future Group, he became another addition to the list of top managers who couldn’t refuse
what Kishore Biyani was offering them. In 2010, seven managers of high standing have joined the $2-
billion retail group in some corner office or the other. 

Expect more big signings, says Mr Biyani, CEO, Future Group. “We have identified another five to seven
top people in the country, and we are working on getting them,” he says. If Reliance Industries is the
second life for senior government employees, if ICICI is the talent farmhouse, the Future Group is fast
emerging as the landing point for accomplished private-sector managers. 

Mr Biyani likes to invoke Hindu mythology to explain how he manages to constantly convince the best
managers to come work for him. “You take care of Lakshmi (wealth), Saraswati (intellectual growth) and
Durga (emotional well-being) for them,” he says. “The rest, like productivity and commitment, is sure to
follow.” What he doesn’t say in so many words is the Biyani touch he adds to ‘take care’ of those
essentials. 

The Biyani touch was visible right through his negotiations with his latest managerial coup, Mr
Vaidyanathan, former head of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance. On a flight to Hyderabad, in what was a
chance meeting, they talked business for the first time. Mr Vaidyanathan was intrigued, but not convinced.
Mr Biyani persisted. Over the next three months, they met thrice at both their homes. Mr Biyani met Mr
Vaidyanathan’s father, wife and children. Mr Vaidyanathan met Mr Biyani’s family. 

Eventually, what clinched Mr Vaidyanathan’s signature was one word from Mr Biyani, one word that
imbibed Lakshmi, Saraswati and Durga together: ‘intra-preneurship’, or making employees co-owners. 

Mr Vaidyanathan is likely to pick up a stake in the financial services business he will be spearheading. “I
feel like a promoter,” says Mr Vaidyanathan. “This is different from the career path I’ve enjoyed so far.” 

That was the idea, says Mr Biyani. “We want to promote the idea of ‘intra-preneurship’ in the group,” he
says. “It removes insecurities and fears from the minds of people and the commitment levels go up
sharply. People then begin to enjoy what they do.” Mr Biyani says co-ownership is not always possible in
the older companies. “But we are trying it out through several other programmes in new companies such
as Future Agrovet, Future Farm Fresh and Future Capital Holdings (FCH).” 

Another who was pulled in by Mr Biyani’s ‘intra-preneur’ pitch was R Radhakrishnan, the ex-CEO of
Reliance Retail’s hypermarket business, who was involved in setting up the Reliance Fresh format and
had earlier worked with Foodworld Supermarkets and Hindustan Unilever. After quitting Reliance Retail in
2009, Mr Radhakrishnan set up a supply chain and logistics consultancy. 

When he made a pitch to manage the Future Group’s supply chain, Mr Biyani asked him why he quit
Reliance. Mr Radhakrishnan said he wanted to be an entrepreneur. On the spot, Mr Biyani asked him to
handle the group’s fresh foods (fruit & vegetable) business as an entrepreneur. Mr Radhakrishnan now
heads Future Fresh Foods, where he has a stake, the exact amount of which is being worked out. He
says: “I think he (Mr Biyani) knew that, in my heart, I did not want to be an employee, but an entrepreneur.
He immediately offered to set up a separate company.” 
Kishore Biyani: New face of Indian retail  

Biyani, 45, is CEO, Future Group, which is designed to cater to the entire
Indian consumption space. 

After graduating in commerce, Biyani joined the family textiles business.

Five years later he launched the first branded 
ready-made trouser, called Pantaloon, marketed through The Pantaloon
Shoppe.
  Founded in 1987, as a garment
manufacturing company, Pantaloon
entered modern retail in 1997 with the
opening of a chain of department stores,
Pantaloons. In 2001, Biyani evolved a
pan-Indian, class-less model — Big
Bazaar, a hypermarket chain, leading to
the democratisation of shopping in India.
With Food Bazaar, a supermarket chain,
he blended the look, touch and feel of
Indian bazaars with western hygiene and
it has now evolved into the favoured
destination for Indian homemakers. 

The Future Group operates through six

verticals: Future Retail (encompassing
all lines of retail business), Future
Capital (financial products and services),
Future Brands (all brands owned or
managed by group companies), Future
Space (management of retail real
estate), Future Logistics (management
of supply chain and distribution) and
Future Media (development and
management of retail media spaces).

The group's flagship enterprise,

Pantaloon Retail, is India's leading retail
company with presence in food, fashion
and footwear, home solutions and
consumer electronics, books and music,
health, wellness and beauty, general
merchandise, communication products,
e-tailing and leisure, and entertainment.

The company owns and manages

multiple retail formats catering to a wide
cross-section of the Indian society and
its width and depth of merchandise helps
it capture almost the entire consumption
basket of the Indian consumer.
Headquartered in Mumbai, the company
operates through 3.5-million square feet
of retail space, has over 100 stores
across 25 cities in India and employs
over 12,000 people.

The company has also launched Central,

a first of its kind, seamless mall located
in the heart of major Indian cities. Some
of it's other formats include, Collection I
(home improvement products), E-Zone
(consumer electronics), Depot (books,
music, gifts and stationaries), aLL
(fashion apparel for plus-size individuals)
and Blue Sky (fashion accessories).

Some of the group's subsidiaries include

Home Solutions Retail India Ltd, Future
Bazaar India Ltd and ConvergeM Retail
India Ltd, which leads the group's foray
into home improvement, e-tailing and
communication products, respectively.
Other group companies include,
Pantaloon Industries Ltd, Galaxy
Entertainment and Indus League
Clothing. It has also entered joint venture
agreements with a number of companies
including ETAM group, Gini & Jony,
Liberty Shoes and Planet Sports, a
company that owns the franchisee of
international brands like Marks &
Spencer, Debenhams, Guess and The
Body Shop in India.

Future Capital Holdings, the group's

financial arm, recently raised $1.1 billion
in private equity funds for investment in
retail real estate and consumer-related
industries. Apart from asset managment,
it also plans to get into insurance,
consumer credit and offer other financial
products and services.