For the second year in a row, retailers in country found facing highest incidence of shoplifting, employee theft.

India’s fledgling retail industry has topped the ‘Global Retail Theft Barometer’ survey for 2009. The country topped the retail “shrinkage” rate — a term that bunches shoplifting, employee theft and process failures — in 41 countries surveyed across the world, for the second year in a row.

Retailers in the country have the highest ‘shrinkage rate’ at 3.2 per cent of sales. This amounts to a shrinkage loss of $2.6 billion, “equivalent to $156.22 (about Rs 7,350) honest tax per family,” according to the survey conducted by Britain’s Centre for Retail Research, with funding from Checkpoint Systems, a company supplying technology solutions to the retail industry.

The study, based on a survey of over 1,000 retailers, monitored the shrinkage rate — and the cost of shrinkage — in the global retail industry between July 2008 and June 2009. India’s shrinkage went up from 3.1 per cent of sales last year to 3.2 per cent of sales this year, representing an increase of $82 million.

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Reliance Footprint, the footwear store of Reliance Retail, today said it has tied up with kidswear brand Gini & Jony to introduce children's footwear ranges of Levi's and Puma in the country.

Gini & Jony are the exclusive retail collaborators in the country for these two brands. Levi's footwear comprises leather shoes, synthetic sandals and slippers while Puma offers sports and lifestyle footwear for kids between 4 and 14 years of age.

"This is a significant partnership for us since Gini & Jony has chosen us as their initial retail partners for the launch of Levi's and Puma kids footwear in the country," Reliance Footprint Chief Executive Officer Gopalakrishnan Sankar said in a statement.

As part of the arrangement, Levi's and Puma kids footwear are now available at all Reliance Footprint outlets in Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kochi. The company is planning to introduce in other cities as well.

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The country's second largest coffee chain, Barista Lavazza, is planning to invest Rs 12 crore during the second half of the current financial year to open 25 outlets across the country. It is looking at expansion in Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Goa and Assam. The company is looking at increasing its revenues by Rs 100 crore during this financial year, compared to Rs 200 crore during FY09.

"We are looking at a revenue of Rs 300 crore by the end of this financial year," said Sanjay Coutinho, CEO, Barista Coffee Company.

Barista Lavazza is also planning to introduce around 30 varieties of coffee for three months starting this November as part of its winter line

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The Indian government has once again ruled out the possibility of allowing international multi-brand retailers to enter the country, saying it will stick to the current single-brand foreign investor model. At a conference, Anand Sharma, India’s Commerce and Industry Minister, said there were no plans to liberalise the rules, as the current foreign direct investment (FDI) policy was working well.

He explained, “We had gone in consciously for rationalisation by defining ownership and control and that has helped. We keep on evolving but I do not see any further need for liberalisation”.

Sharma added, “Up to the wholesale point it is all right. In back-end chain, it is important to have foreign equity participation. In the single brand retail, they can also do value addition. That’s what we want to encourage. As for the front-end, the country is not ready as yet because it is a vast social security net that we have”.

The announcement will disappoint major global players who have long being pushing for India to open up its retail sector. However, even groups that are looking to enter the country's wholesale sector may be facing a rough ride ahead, after the government announced plans to change a key factor behind such deals.

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The average mall vacancy in the southern cities of Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore dropped to 5.7 per cent in the third quarter (July – September) of 2009 from seven per cent in the second quarter.

However, supply in these three cities increased by one million sft, up 33 per cent from the second quarter, according to Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate services and research firm.

Alongside this development, rents stabilised in these markets in the third quarter as against the corrections they had witnessed in the last six to seven months.

Rents in major cities and markets are expected to remain stable in the coming few months. Over 60 per cent of the anticipated supply during the quarter was delivered, a marked improvement from previous few months, it said.

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India Hospitality Corp, which has made significant investments in hospitality and air catering businesses in India, has acquired the franchise for Pizza Hut brand for central India from its current owner for an undisclosed amount.

The transaction, which is yet to get approval from Pizza Hut's parent company Yum Brands, could translate into a significant slice of business for IHC, since central India is under serviced and the existing franchisee (Entertainment World Developers or EWDPL) managed to open only an outlet each in Bhopal and Indore till now.

In contrast, the franchisee for Pizza Hut in north and east India -- Ravi Jaipuria -- has already managed to open close to 60 outlets and is expanding further.


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DUBAI — India’s apparel maker and retailer Arvind Brands has embarked on an expansion drive within the country and the Gulf, in a move aimed at more than doubling its turnover to Rs15 billion by 2012, the chief executive of the company said.

Central to the expansion strategy is the strengthening of its portfolio of international and homegrown fashion brands besides boosting retail presence across India and the GCC markets, said J. Suresh, Chief executive of Arvind Brands & Retail, a subsidiary of the Rs30 billion garments giant Arvind Mills Limited run by Lalbhai Group.

Arvind Brands, which declared a turnover of Rs 4.4 billion in 2008-09, is expecting a combined turnover of Rs6 billion for its retail and brands operations in the current fiscal year.

“By 2012, we expect to boost our retail revenues from Rs3.5 billion at present to Rs10 billion, and revenues from brands buisness to Rs5 billion from Rs2.5 billion at present,” Suresh told Khaleej Times.

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Second joint venture deal inked in country as expansion plans accelerate.
Nursery retailer Mothercare is continuing its push into India, signing a joint venture deal with DLF Brands.

The chain - which has 23 outlets in India - has increased its target store count from 100 to 200 following the agreement. It already has a deal in place with Indian retailer, Shoppers Stop.
"There are lots of positive growth stories for India," Mothercare's chief executive, Ben Gordon, said. "India and China went nowhere near recession, just slowed down, but growth is picking up."
Mothercare also has growth plans for Australia, while it is also looking to take the Early Learning Centre business into South Africa, according to Retail Week.

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Chennai-based mobile retail chain, UniverCell, will be opening 700 stores across the country in the next two years. Each outlet will entail an investment of Rs 28 lakh.

“The expansion is in line with the increasing mobile subscriber base and the likely entry of six new players into the Indian mobile services market including Datacom, Etihad, Loop, Telenor, Swan and Loop, which are expected to commence operations in the country pretty soon,” Satish Babu, founder of UniverCell, told mediapersons here on Sunday.

The company today roped in Tollywood actor Mahesh Babu as its brand ambassador. UniverCell, which currently has 300 company-owned stores across the four southern states including 70 in Andhra Pradesh, is trying to touch 400 stores by March 2010 through the franchisee mode.

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Tata Tea, the second largest branded tea maker in the world, will exit the beverage retailing business, including Chai Unchai, as part of the group’s strategy to focus on its branded products. Tata Coffee, another group company, which sold its 34.3% equity in retail chain Barista to NRI investor C Sivasankaran five years ago, has also dropped its plan to re-enter the business, according to a report in Business Standard.

In a move to refocus on the growth of brands, the company had decided to exit from café business like Chai Unchai in Bangalore, said Sangeeta Talwar, executive director, marketing, Tata Tea. She also confirmed that Tata Coffee, a listed subsidiary of Tata Tea, would not pursue its plans in the café business. Since margins from the café business is volatile, Tata Tea would be interested to cash in on its core competence in the sale of branded products.

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