There was time when there were two choices for the middle-class Indian male of all ages—(usually) Bata or (occasionally) the Chinese guy who made shoes to order. Over the years, other brands also entered the market. Things have changed. While it may not reach the scale of an all-consuming obsession, there’s now a strong enough market in India for several upscale overseas and local brands to think it worth their while to vie for custom here, as Paromita Banerjee of Mint discusses in this video. The article from Mint by Sapna Agarwal & Byravee Iyer is available here.
Sapna Agarwal & Byravee Iyer, MINT Mumbai, 26 June 2012 Women love their shoes. The attachment defines leading ladies as varied as Imelda Marcos—widow of former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos and star of her own soap opera—and Carrie Bradshaw, the narrative lead in Sex and the City, who famously has a thing for her Manolo Blahniks. Countless devotees of Jimmy Choo and Christian Louboutin are also testament to the passion. As for men, time was when there were two choices for the middle-class Indian male of all ages—(usually) Bata or (occasionally) the Chinese guy who made shoes to order. Over…
Nandita Bose and Matthias Williams, Reuters Mumbai/New Delhi, 22 June 2012 Swedish retailer IKEA , the world's largest furniture maker, is opening up in India, marking a crucial step for the Indian government whose policy flip flops related to foreign investment have damaged market confidence. The company, known for huge stores selling flatpack furniture and accessories, said it would invest 1.5 billion euros ($1.9 billion) to open 25 stores in Asia's third-largest economy after initially balking at India's sourcing requirements. IKEA's plans, announced by the Indian government after a meeting between the company's CEO and India's trade minister in Russia,…
Asit Ranjan Mishra, Vidhi Choudhary & Sapna Agarwal, MINT New Delhi, 22 June 2012 Swedish furniture retailer Ikea will invest as much as €1.5 billion (around Rs. 10,740 crore today) in India, chief executive Mikael Ohlsson told trade minister Anand Sharma, signalling an endorsement of the country by a high-profile investor, something that’s been rare of late. Sharma said in a government press release on Friday that Ikea will initially invest €600 million and subsequently an additional estimated €900 million “for initial establishment of 25 retail stores in a wholly owned subsidiary”. Ohlsson and Sharma met in St Petersburg, Russia…
Sarah Jacob, The Economic Times Bangalore, 14 June 2012 Japanese conglomerate Suntory, known for its whiskies and beers, has picked up majority stake in a subsidiary of Mumbai-based Narang Group to enter India's non-alcoholic beverage market. Suntory Beverage and Food Asia, which manages the M&A strategy and administration of group companies of the ¥1,802.8-billion (approx Rs 1.3 lakh crore) Suntory Holdings in Southeast Asia, has bought 51% stake in Narang Connect. "The joint venture (Narang Connect is rechristened Suntory Narang) is focused on premium, healthy, coffee-based and carbonated beverages," Rahul Narang, founder and chairman of Narang Group, said. This is…
Geopolitical friction has again sparked renewed concerns over inflation and rising input costs for FMCG companies as @itmeansjustice @whysnavi write. @devangshu commented.
