Moily says Reebok not cooperating in probe, case referred to SFIO Business Standard Stating that Reebok India Company was not cooperating in the investigation of a commercial irregularities case against it, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs on Tuesday decided to refer the matter to the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO). The case allegedly involves a fraud of Rs 870 crore by two former employees. The employees at the centre of the storm are Subhinder Singh Prem, former Managing Director of Adidas Group India, and Vishnu Bhagat, former Chief Operating Officer. Corporate Affairs Minister Veerappa Moily added the Ministry could not take a soft line on such a case.

Gitanjali plans to invest $75 mn in UAE for expansion Business Standard India's jewellery retailer Gitanjali Group is planning to invest up to $75 million (around Rs 414 crore) in increasing its number of outlets in the UAE to 110 within two years, that is by 2014. "We are opening a series of stores in the UAE... We have 50 shop-in-shop contracts all over the UAE. We want to be in 110 shops in the UAE within one and a half years time," Gitanjali Chairman and Founder Mehul Choksi said. "It is a total investment of up to $50 million to $75 million over the next two years," Choksi said. The company is also planning to expand the brand into Saudi Arabia and is looking at opportunities in Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain, he added.

More of More: Aditya Birla Retail back on track Hindustan Times The 'More' brand stores of Aditya Birla Retail Ltd seems to be getting back on track after losing its way briefly, which led to its closing 200 stores a few years ago. At its peak, ABRL had 656 supermarket stores in 2008-09. The company's new CEO Pranab Barua credits the turnaround to 'doing small things right'. While the company started this financial year with just under 500 More stores, ABRL looks to cross 600 mark this year, that is 2012, and plans to open 80-100 stores per year over the next 3 years. "We are in a much better position than in 2008," said Barua, refusing to put a timeline to profitability. "Adding new stores will continue to be a way of life. "We have a robust network now and hope to grow the same in chosen clusters to strengthen synergies," said Barua. "The stores we have now are well poised to provide the highest standards of products and great service to our customers."

Lifestyle retail chains post weak same-store sales in January-March quarter Economic Times Sluggish demand has led lifestyle retail chains to post weak same-store sales in January-March 2012 and lower growth estimates for this fiscal. Driven by new stores, most retailers clocked 20-30% sales growth in January-March. But same-store sales, or sales from stores that were operational last year, grew in single digits. Same-store sales are an important indicator of consumer demand and the health of the retail industry Retailers don't expect things to improve this fiscal as demand is subdued.

Former Reliance Trends Chief's lifestyle e-store gets funding from Lightspeed, Helion VCCircle Arun Sirdeshmukh, former Chief Executive of Reliance Trends, has teamed up with Darpan Munjal (former CTO of Times Internet Ltd., who had also worked at the e-commerce unit of U.S. retail giant Sears) to launch an online fashion and lifestyle store called Fashionara. For a starter, Fashionara is offering apparel, footwear and accessories for men, women and kids but it will also foray into other related product categories. The Bangalore-based startup has also received an undisclosed amount of funding from Helion Venture Partners and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Refusing to quote the exact amount, Sirdeshmukh said, "We have got a substantial amount of funding, which is required to grow and consolidate a strong e-commerce business. We may look for a fresh round of funding after 18-24 months." The money raised will be used to scale up the supply chain, logistics, technology-building, branding and marketing.

Inditex SA, the owner of Zara pips Telefonica as Spain's biggest company Economic Times Inditex SA, the owner of the Zara and Massimo Dutti clothing chains, overtook Telefonica SA, the phone operator whose debt rating was cut by Standard & Poor's last week, to become Spain's biggest company by market value. Inditex has surged since its initial public offering in 2001, when its shares were priced at 14.70 euros a piece, as profits climbed and the company expanded geographically and added brands to become the world's largest clothing retailer. The stock has gained 9 percent this year, compared with Telefonica's 31 percent drop.

D'ZA seeks expansion via franchising Franchise India D'ZA, a premium brand of diamond jewelry is planning to expand its presence pan India via franchising. Currently, the brand is running one outlet in Chandigarh which is company owned. There are plans to open more outlets in Punjab and NCR. The brand, D'ZA offers an appreciation of eight percent on diamond jewellery.

Fusionwear brand Global Desi launches new store at Mumbai Fibre2fashion.com Global Desi announced the launch of its new store at Neptune Magnet Mall in Lower Powai, Mumbai. Following the success of its existing stores across the city, the new store offers a complete range of indo-western apparels. At this new store, Global Desi brings in another extremely colourful and pulsating spring summer range of tops, tunics and kurtis which could be teamed with denim pants, shorts or even chuddidars. Commenting on the launch, Mr. Mukesh Sawlani, Managing Director, And Designs IndiaLtd., says, "We are very happy to launch yet another store in Mumbai. It has been our endeavour to enhance customer experience at Global Desi with the superior merchandise, service and the overall shopping experience that Global Desi offers."

News - Food, QSR

Burger Girl now in India Franchise India The fast food concept Burger Girl, originated in the United States, has entered India via master franchise route. The brand presently has two restaurants in India, one in New Delhi and another in Chandigarh. The USP of the brand is its service, pleasant and warm environment and non-conventional flavours, a wide ranging menu, and WiFi facility in its outlets.

Dunkin Donuts set to launch 3rd outlet Franchiseindia.com Dunkin Donuts, the baked goods and coffee chain of Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd (JFL) in India is set to open its third outlet in Saket, Delhi, on May 30, 2012. The inaugural ceremony will mark the presence of Shyam S Bhartia, Chairman, Jubilant FoodWorks Limited, Hari S Bhartia, Chairman, Jubilant FoodWorks Limited, Ajay Kaul, CEO, Jubilant FoodWorks Limited and Dev Amritesh, COO and President, Dunkin Donuts India. As a part of its expansion plan, Dunkin' Donuts will design its menu to complement the tastes of the Indian consumers. Dunkin' Donuts signed a master franchise agreement with JFL a year ago.

Hindustan Unilever integrates foods services business with out-of-home arm Economic Times Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) is taking another shot at correcting the anomaly of its foods portfolio of the Indian subsidiary accounting for less than a fifth of its top line. It is doing this by integrating its food services business, Unilever Food Solutions (UFS), with the Out of Home (OOH) arm. This, the company feels, will help drive the foods portfolio by creating new opportunities to push packaged food brands like Knorr and Kissan. "The integration will enable us scale up with speed and have an aligned portfolio and innovation-driven pipeline across theretail and institutional business," says an HUL spokesperson said.

As competition hots up, ice cream maker heads North Business Standard Vadilal Industries has pumped Rs 120 crore into its operations to scale up the manufacturing capacity of its plant in Ahmedabad, as well as as the one in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. Competition is getting fierce, with regional brands like Nagpur's Dinshaws and Bhopal's Top n Town trying to eat into their business. More worrisome for Vadilal are the significant expansion plans chalked out by national chains Amul and Mother Dairy, as well as fellow Ahmedabad-based ice-cream maker Havmor. India's ice-cream market, estimated at Rs 2,500 crore, is growing at an annual rate of 18 per cent. Of this, about Rs 1500 crore is controlled by organised players. Amul, with annual ice cream sales of close to Rs 400 crore, is the market leader; while Vadilal is second with Rs 300 crore of revenues.

Trends

Traditional retail stores go for a modern makeover to woo customers Livemint Kankariya is the owner of Navjeevan Super Shop, which started as a grocery store 48 years ago in Jalgaon, Maharashtra, about 400km from Mumbai. He says, "I am in retail by birth, by education just a commerce graduate. We are competing with corporates who run their retailbusinesses with MBAs..." Kankariya's confidence about growing bigger also comes from being part of a network of 17 like-minded traditional retail store owners. The network was formed two years ago, in 2010, when Kankariya came across Chetan Sangoi, owner of Sarvodaya Super Market, a 40-year-old store in Dadar West, Mumbai. The need to upgrade was also driven by changing demographics, as about three-fourths of shoppers are below the age of 35. "These people did not want to shop at the general trade store and we did not want to lose our consumers and wanted to grow. The latest trend is modern trade and freedom of choice," said Sangoi. Within six months of the change, Sarvodaya's revenue grew from Rs 35 lakh per month to cross Rs 1 crore, said Sangoi. Navjeevan's revenue grew six-fold in the first year of a similar transformation.

Insight

War For The Mart: A Study BMR Advisors Experts say the government move to allow foreign retailgiants to enter India will in the end turn out to be a good bargain for all. The consumer will buy good stuff cheap. The farmer will get remunerative prices and infrastructure will develop. It was billed as one big-ticket reform the government had rolled out in years. But even before foreignretail giants could walk down the aisle, a bitter political debate erupted between the government and Opposition.

Return of the MBO (Premium) - View Free Sample WITH RISING RENTALS AND FALLING CONSUMPTION, MBOS ARE EMERGING AS THE MOST VIABLE OPTION FOR BRANDS THAT ARE LOOKING AT GAINING A VITAL PRESENCE ACROSS VARIOUS MARKETS. IMAGES BUSINESS OF FASHION HAS BEEN FOLLOWING THE GROWTH TRAJECTORY OF THIS RESURGENT FORMAT FOR THE PAST FEW MONTHS. MORE AND MORE BRANDS ARE REALISING THAT THE NEED OF THE HOUR IS TO PARTNER WITH THOUSANDS OF TRADITIONAL RETAILERS ACROSSINDIA AND WORK ON TRANSFORMING THE EXISTING MODERN MULTIBRAND OUTLETS TO OFFER CONSUMERS THE VERY BEST IN TERMS OF CHOICE, PRICE, VALUE AND SHOPPING EXPERIENCE. AT THE RECENTLY HELD INDIA FASHION FORUM 2012, INDUSTRY GIANTS DEBATE THE WAY FORWARD FOR MODERN FASHION RETAILING. IN THE FOLLOWING PAGES IMAGES BOF WEIGHS THE ADVANTAGES OF THE MULTIBRAND OUTLETS OVER EXCLUSIVE BRAND STORES IN THE PRESENT SCENARIO.

Retail Watch_Pakiza_May12 (Premium) - View Free Sample RETAILERS WHO START FROM SCRATCH HAVE MUCH TO IMPART TO THE INDUSTRY IN TERMS OF LEARNINGS. IMAGES BOF SPEAKS TO MEHBOOB HUSSAIN GORI, CEO, PAKIZA RETAIL, ABOUT HIS UNIQUE STRATEGIES. Pakiza Retail Pvt. Ltd., a part of Pakiza Group, was established in the year 1975 and interestingly the brand was named after the movie Pakeezah, released in 1972, which means pure. Before 1975 the founder brothers - Maqsood Hussain Gori and Manjoor Hussain Gori used to have a bicycle repair shop in the middle of an apparel trade market. Drawn towards the apparel retail business, the Gori brothers decided to start their very own apparel business. They borrowed Rs.3,000 from a friend and started selling clothes on a trolley. The business kicked off and they bought an otla of the size 3x2 ft. and thereafter there was no looking back for the Gori brothers. Currently, Pakiza Textile Pvt. Ltd. has more than 1, 50,000 sq. ft. of retail space including seven stores across Indore and Madhya Pradesh. "In Indore, we currently cater to the customers with value added products and service through our seven businessretail units.

Regional MBOs the Key to Success- Shahnawaz Sheikh (Premium) - View Free Sample WITH MARKET SATURATION IN METROS, BRANDS ARE AIMING TO VENTURE VIRGIN MARKETS AND MBOS OFFER A BETTER PROPOSITION. SHAHNAWAZ SHEIKH, CMD, SHORTY CAPONE, PROVIDES AN INSIGHT ON HOW TO CAPTURE THESE REGIONS. Fashion in India is evolving rapidly and awareness among the people is at its peak. Although at a nascent stage, the Indian fashion sense is fast catching up with the rest of the world, there is an increasing recognition of brands along with growth in the number of players throughout the peninsula. With FDI coming into the picture, India will experience a whole lot of influx of many more international brands looking for a bite off the Indian market. Awareness, however, has been restricted because in our country there are regions that are simply deprived of the latest fashion. Even now, in some parts of India, people travel huge distances just to get their favourite brands in contrast to most countries abroad, where brands have their presence even in interior markets. China, for example, has the availability of a variety of brands even in remote markets.

Online Retailing- The Channel Forward (Premium) - View Free Sample WITH E-TAILING GROWING AT A FAST PACE IN INDIA, IT HAS BECOME IMPERATIVE FOR BRICK-AND-MORTAR RETAILERS TO INTEGRATE THIS CHANNEL. PRAGYA SINGH, PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT, RETAILAND CONSUMER PRODUCTS, TECHNOPAK,TALKS ABOUT THIS EVOLVING MEDIUM. Retail e-commerce is perhaps the most written about retail topic in recent days. But this has not been an overnight phenomenon. During the mid-nineties VSNL introduced internet to India and it was during the noughties when internet penetration increased steadily and technological advancements enabled better online interfaces with safer transactions; and e-commerce inched into common man's life through travel retail, financial services and e-tailing; and the decade of 2010 is taking this phenomenon to the next level where it no longer can be ignored. The market size of e-commerce in India is estimated to be $14 billion in 2012 and is projected to reach $74 billion by 2017. E-tailing is essentially the selling of retail products and services through internet.