Sharleen D'Souza, Business Standard Mumbai, August 7, 2013 The influx of apparel brands has taken the count to 200 for consumers to choose from. ColorPlus was one of the earliest entrants, 20 years back. Raymonds bought it out from a Chennai-based company in 2002. It is now Raymond's casual wear brand for men but analysts worry that it might have lost its appeal without anything new to offer over the years. Raymonds has now put in place a plan for overhauling the brand. An analyst in the know but who did not want to be quoted says, "When it launched…
CONTINUE READING
Abhilasha Ojha, Business Standard (The Strategist) New Delhi, August 5, 2013 There is a rule in business that if you are not growing, you may be dying. But grow too rapidly and you may still find yourself on the fast track to the business graveyard. That will happen if you are not alert or constantly looking out for the speed bumps that will come your way when you are riding on a highway at top speed. Typically, the growth challenges relate to outgrowing the infrastructure, losing talented people, stretching the human capital resources too thin, attracting new competitors and flagging…
CONTINUE READING
Nigam Prusty and Nandita Bose, Reuters New Delhi, August 2, 2013 India relaxed sourcing and investment rules for the retail sector on Thursday in a renewed attempt to attract foreign supermarket chains such as Wal-Mart Stores and Tesco. Foreign companies have been keen to enter India's $500 billion retail market since the country allowed foreign investment in its supermarket sector in September 2012 but ambiguity around entry rules has kept them away. The issue remains politically controversial because of worries that millions of small shopkeepers could go out of business and India has so far not received a single application…
CONTINUE READING
Raghavendra Kamath, Business Standard Mumbai, July 28, 2013 Reliance Digital, the consumer durables and infotech (CDIT) retail chain of Reliance Industries, is becoming a challenger to Croma, run by Tata Sons-owned Infinity Retail. Though Croma is the "first large specialist retail chain for electronics and durables" (as it calls itself) for electronics and durables with its Croma mega stores, small version Zip stores, kiosks and online vertical www.cromaretail.com, Reliance Digital seems to be doing everything to catch up with the pioneer. While Croma, which set up its first store in 2006 in Mumbai, has 90 stores, Reliance Digital, which debuted…
CONTINUE READING
Anshul Dhamija, The Times of India Bangalore, July 22, 2013 International retail brands will increase prices in the upcoming Autumn-Winter season, with the rupee depreciation having raised costs for them. The rupee has depreciated by 12% against the dollar since February. The new season for shoppers, which would begin in the second week of August, is expected to see most international brands raise prices by at least 10%. German sports lifestyle brand Puma has seen costs escalate by 30% since January this year. "So far, we haven't passed on the burden to consumers, but this Autumn-Winter season we will increase…
CONTINUE READING
