Month: February 2009

Today we are presenting to you some of the unwritten Business Strategies at Koutons Retail which is helping the company beat the slowdown blues. Koutons Retail India Ltd (KRIL) is a domestic apparel retailer in the “value segment” with a franchise retailer model in the organized market. The company has two main brands – Koutons ( menswear age between 23-45) and Charlie Outlaw (youngsters between (more…)

Gloria Jean’s Coffee Chain is operating in India through a master Franchisee – Landmark Group company, CityMax. In order to help CityMax expand Gloria Jean’s presence, the latter is setting up a Bean Roasting unit near Bangalore to avoid the 112% import duty on coffee beans and thus able to help its franchisee compete with (more…)

HiDesign the affordable Luxury Brand with its state of the art Leather Line from Accessories to Corporate Gifts has decided to join hands with Pioneer of Indian Retail Mr. Kishore Biyani’s Future Group. HiDesign is an Indian brand with global (more…)

After the rejig in Aditya Birla Nuvo / Madura Garments, Peter England People was positioned as a mid-priced family department store catering to the fashion needs of the entire family. The chain has five large format stores, around 15,000-20,000 sq (more…)

This is our findings on the Strength and Weakness of Running a Traditional Kirana or similar Mom-Pop store.

Strengths of Running a Traditional Store over a Retail Chain:

• Capital requirement is low due to smaller scale of operations, resulting
  in low rents and overheads
• Traditional stores are incumbents in prime residential areas and may already own the premises in high-cost locations
• In some cases, they cater (more…)

The organized / modern retail is beneficial for consumers and farmers and has no impact on overall employment in the organized sector. The only players impacted negatively are the middlemen, who are the biggest opponents of organised retail. However, the benefits to consumers and farmers should help (more…)

This is the second and the last part of our coverage on Grocery Chains Retailing in India. Read Part -1 Introduction and Scope here.

Supply Chain/Logistics:
With the large players like Reliance, Bharti – Wal-Mart, Tatas entering into in retail market, there will be enhanced focus on improvements in logistics and supply chain infrastructure. Retailers as well as third party logistics providers will increase their investment in logistics infrastructure. To gain cost leadership in the market, big players have to minimize costs by developing supply chain infrastructure. Warehouses, distribution centres and transportation will see modernization in the form of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Just in Time (JIT) and IT automation.

Cash and carry operation will shorten the supply chain. A cash and carry retailer buys directly from producers and manufacturers and sells to business customers (more…)

S Kumar Group’s Brandhouse Retail and Italian Fashion Major, Oviesse have announced a Joint Venture in India. S Kumars will hold 62.5% stake in the venture which will involve a total investment of Rs 160 crore. They plan to setup over 150 stores and have set a target of Rs (more…)