Inzio Aqua Fresh + Puma Urban Mobility + Ikian Cameron Brands in Stores now

This week we saw the launch of Essenza Di Wills' Inzio Aqua Fresh dynamic and sparkling fragrance. The top notes are blended with French rosemary, Clary saga & Tonka beans and is priced at Rs 1,800

Puma launched the Urban Mobility accessories collection. The collection is divided into three categories - Out of Office, Out of Town and Out and About. Suggested retail pricing is Rs 750 to Rs 12,999 available at all Puma outlets.

Ikian launched Cameron living, dining and bedroom collection. The range also included sofas, arm chairs, tables etc. The starting price for the range is Rs 35,000.

VNC International footwear and accessories has forayed into Indian retail. Catering to the Trendy women's needs their footwear collection included casual, formal and party wear products ranging from Rs 795 to Rs 2,995.

Peter England People launched in Mumbai

Last April, Peter England announced their venture of Peter England specialty stores [Bringing Mens, Womesn and Kids wear under one roof]. Yesterday, the company opened its first store under the brand name Peter England People at Oberoi Mall, Mumbai. Here is a picture of Kumar Birla and his Wife at the opening of Peter England People store.These stores carry merchandise for Men, Women and Kids marking the launch of first family apparel and lifestyle shopping format under the Aditya Birla Nuvo.

The company will open their next store in Bengaluru followed by Delhi and Hyderabad. Each store is expected to be 10,000 to 15,000 sft in size. In all the company has earmarked Rs 400 crore to open 80 PEP stores across 34 cities in India over the next 3 to 5 years.

Witco - Aiming for the Premium Market

Witco - Handbag, Luggage and Accessories retailer wants to shift itself from being value retailer to lifestyle retailer targeting the upper crest. Unveiling a brand new identity - Travel in Style, Mr. V.Harris, MD of Witco India said,

Luggage has ceased to exist for functionality alone. Aspects like color, design, style and fashion are critical today. We are now positioning ourselves as premium lifestyle brand.

Witco retails popular brands such as American Tourister, Antler, Crumpler, Delsey, VIP and Samsonite across various segments - international travels, short trips, daily commute, handbags, laptop cases etc.

Witco will now foray into Apparel retailing. It has signe up 6 brands - Arrow, Wills Lifestyle, Levis, ColorPlus, Indian Terrain and Zodiac. Apparels will be part of the large flagship stores which are likely to be spread on a carpet area of 9,000 sft. Witco currently has 12 showrooms in Bangalore and Chennai. The company plans to expand to all Tier-I cities and plans to have 50 stores in the next 24 months. Witco is seeking Private Equity investment for the said expansion for a while now.

Brand Bollywood - Future group's new venture

Looks like their is no stopping for Kishore Biyani's retail dreams. Future Group and Percept [Entertainment + Media] company together have formed a 50:50 JV to launch Bollywood Retail.

Percept started Bollywood Corporation Ltd to create and own IPR assets in the Bollywood domain. Bollywood Retail will focus on providing the Bollywood Experience and Bollywood Merchandise within future group's retail network. Bollywood Experience will include Cafes, Hall of Fame, Museums and Theme Parks. The JV will source Bollywood Merchandise from Percept and use retail infrastructure of the future group.

The JV is focused on establishing its footprint in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Delhi, Jaipur, Kanpur, Kolkata and Mumbai. The first Bollywood Experience Centre will be up and running by Q4-2008.

Reebok grows faster in India

We started our coverage on global footwear giant - Reebok's operation in India a year ago. In Sept-2007, Reebok India in an expansion plan had said that the company intends to have 600 outlets by the end of FY2008. However, Reebok has beaten its estimates and has a whopping 675 outlets when all other retailers including Reliance Retail are struggling to scale their presence.

Reebok controls 51% of the Rs 2,000 crore Indian market for sports goods and apparels in the premium segment. The company is now looking at having 800 outlets by the end of Dec-08. Having covered all the big cities across India, Reebok is now looking to penetrate the virgin markets of Tier-III cities.

Mr. S.S.Prem, MD of Reebok India said,

We are very bullish on growth prospects in India. However, the challenge is to position our brand and products appropriately in the smaller towns. In the big cities we shall have large format retail stores, while in smaller towns the showrooms will be smaller.

Reebok is also focused on localizing its products in India yet maintain international standards. It has roped in prominent designers to design lifestyle apparels. Reebok has also associated itself with IPL Cricket and has sponsored 4 of the 8 teams.

Related Reading:
Reebok's new retailing model in India

Opening Day Pics of Central Oberoi Mall - Goregaon, Mumbai

Our Retail Analyst present at the Opening of Pantaloon Retail's Central format at Oberoi Mall, Goregaon (East), Mumbai was able to capture glimpse of Kishore Biyani, at the opening of Central. Apart from Goregaon, Mumbai, Future Group also opened Central in Gurgaon /Delhi NCR and another one in Vashi taking its presence to 7 cities now.





Central is typically spread over an area of c100,000 sq ft spanning 3-4 levels. Cosmetics / ladies apparel are typically on the ground level, with a food bazaar and even restaurants / pubs on the top levels, and gents apparel, home furnishings etc in the middle. Most Centrals are standalone buildings but where space is not available, they may be within malls.

Centrals are generally situated within city centers and capture the highest share of wallet compared to other department store formats.

Diva Cachaca + Oyster+ Monaco Watch Lady brands hit the reatil stores

ASPRI India introduced Diva Cachaca of Brazil in India. Diva Cachaca is the national drink of Brazil. It will retail in India at Rs 1,299 for 700ml bottle.

ARTD'INOX introduced Oyster collection of dinner sets priced upwards of Rs 25,999.

TAG Heuer unveiled Monaco watch lady with a white mother of pearl dial, 13 Wesselton diamonds, a sapphire crystal case and more. Suggested retail pricing is upwards of Rs 235,000. Available only at Tag Heuer boutiques.

If you are looking to gift your girl friend with a fragrance, then you must check out the Miss Boucheron a floral woody fragrance inspired by pink sapphire and turqosie from the South Seas. Miss Boucheron is available in 50ml and 100ml spray bottles and priced upwards of Rs 3,400.

20% of Chennai's Market with Organized Retail Supermarkets

In an exclusive study conducted by Kiranafirst, an NGO in Chennai dedicated to support the survival of neighborhood stores[Kiranas] has found out that Kiranas have become more prosperous while organized retailers are still struggling.
It has been nearly 12 years now that Chennai was first introduced to the concept of Supermarket under the brand name FoodWorld [All the FoodWorld Stores are now known under the Spencer's brand name]. In these 12 years, modern organized supermarkets [Subhiksha, Reliance Fresh, More for You, etc] have more than 250 establishments across Chennai occupying 700,000 sft of retail space and about 500,000 sft of backend logistics and distribution space.
A sample of 304 Kiranas were included for the study.

The research focused mainly on household expenditure - food, groceries, etc. The estimated market size is Rs 250 crore per month. Organized retailers control 20% of the market or their topline share is Rs 50 crore / month. However, the share of supermarket revenues is higher in high street areas and is between 30% to 35%, comparable with other developed markets in the Asian region. Stay tuned for more :-)