1. 30th MAY - 4th JUNE
Titan Industries to open 250 stores in 2011-2012!
Watch and jewelry maker Titan Industries plans
to open 250 stores across India in 2011-12
(April-March), compared to 150 stores last
financial year. The company’s capital
expenditure for the next financial year is likely to be around Rs.100 crore, part of which, will be used for
expansion and maintenance of the stores it currently owns. The company will continue to open 30-40
stores of Titan in 2011-12, but the aim is now to scale up expansion of newer formats like Helios, Eyeplus
and Fastrack. Titan, for instance, currently only has 3 stores of Helios, a high-end multi-brand watch
chain. But by the end of the next financial year, it plans to have 40 operational stores of Helios. The
company will also open around 60-70 stores of Fastrack, which sells casual range of watches and
accessories, and around 20 stores of its jewelry retail chain Tanishq. Titan will also open 6-7 stores of its
mass-market jewelry brand Goldplus. The company currently has 29 Goldplus retail stores. Titan had
launched the Goldplus brand in 2005 targeting smaller towns, but froze expansion last year, after
opening 30 stores since launch. The company had last year said it wanted to get its business model right
and might have to close or relocate some Goldplus stores. The focus of Goldplus will continue to be on
tier II and III towns mainly in South India. Titan Industries already has 646 stores under operation across
India (as of February-end). Less than 15% of these are company owned, while the rest are franchisees.
McDonald’s signs deal with IOC to open in petrol stations
Mcdonald’s India has joined hands with the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to
increase its presence in petrol stations in the western and the southern
regions and aims to more than double its sales from these areas by 2014.
Under the agreement, IOC will provide space to McDonald's for opening
`Drive Thru' restaurants in western and southern India. IOC has over 8,000
fuel outlets in south and west India, and this agreement will support
McDonald's expansion plans. The company plans to open 30-50 Drive Thru
outlets in five years in tier II destinations in south and west India.

2. Vishal Retail goes under the Hammer of 70 CR
Three years ago, Vishal Retail commanded a market valuation
of about Rs.2,200 crore. Now, the retail chain has sold its retail
and wholesale business at just 3% of its peak valuation. In a
filing to Bombay Stock Exchange, the debt-laden retailer has
declared the sale of its retail business to Chennai-based
Shriram Group and wholesale business to PE firm TPG for 70
crore. The deal makes Vishal the first listed Indian retailer to sell out in the wake of the economic
meltdown in 2008. It completes the Corporate Debt Restructuring (CDR) process started last year after
Vishal Retail failed to pay its dues. The retailer ran up debt of around 730 crore as on September 30,
2010, as it tried to fund an ambitious expansion plan. The transaction on a slump sale basis includes all
the assets, rights, interests, inventories, cash flows, store leases and liabilities of the company. Slump
sale is a mode of selling a business where one or more undertakings are transferred for a lump sum
without fixing values for individual assets and liabilities. Of the 500-crore debt the company owes to
lenders who have participated in the CDR process, about 75 crore has been retained as debt at Vishal
Retail, to be repaid through asset sales. The remainder was converted partially into long-term TPG
Wholesale debt securities and compulsory convertible security. These will be converted into equity at
the time of the eventual public issue. Lenders who did not participate in the CDR include Barclays,
Deutsche Bank and LIC Mutual Fund. The non-CDR lenders were offered an option of either accepting
the same terms that were given to the CDR lenders or a one-time settlement plus a small amount of
equity.
DLF in licensing deal with MANGO
DLF Ltd. has entered a licensing deal with Spanish brand Mango. The Spanish clothing major has been in
partnership with Major Brands through which it opened 15 stores. It is
reported that the existing stores will continue to be operated by Major
Brands, while DLF will be spearheading the new store openings. DLF, which
has already opened Mango's travel retail store at the new terminal of New
Delhi airport, plans to add six more stores in the current year. DLF currently
operates other global fashion names such as Armani, DKNY, and Ferragamo.
The company is now set to launch a multi-brand retail store chain leveraging on its basket of
international fashion brands. These stores will also stock brands that are not part of DLF Brands. The
multi-brand stores will be like a premium discount store stocking high-end fashion labels but at lower
price. The first of the multi-brand stores spread across 10,000 square feet will open in Gurgaon.

3. Pantaloon Retail faces growth challenge
After a disappointing Calendar Year 2009, when the same-
store sales growth across segments grew 6-12 %, in
Calendar Year 10 it has been in the 12-21 % range. While
the value and lifestyle segments are doing well, the company is struggling to make profits for the home
division. The company had Ebdita margins of 9.2 % in 2009-10 and is likely to end 2010-11 at about 8.8
%. According to analysts, margins are likely to drop to 8-8.5% due to higher contribution from the value
retail business. Unlike lifestyle business (Pantaloon, Central), which fetches Ebidta margins upwards of
15 %, the value segment (Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar) earns single-digit margins. With food being the fastest
growing business for the company, analysts believe margin expansion in the short-to-medium term is
unlikely. In fact, its margins for the December quarter last year fell 150 bps year-on-years to 8.6 % due to
inadequate price rises, losses in the electronics business and higher sales of food retailing in the overall
mix. In addition to the product mix, the company has to contend with cost inflation both in food as well
as other product categories. Fears that rising interest rates and inflation could impact its margins and
sales have driven the stock of India’s largest listed retailer are down 24 % since the start of the year.
Tommy Hilfiger to focus on children’s wear
In the next 2 years, Tommy Hilfiger is eyeing 12-15 % revenue through the sale of
children’s apparel. To achieve this, the company would be looking at setting up
100 retail points including exclusive stores and shop-in-shops. Presently the brand
has 20 children’s wear retail points with two exclusive stores. The second
exclusive store was opened in Chandigarh recently. Children’s wear is a new push
area for the brand which has so far focused primarily on menswear, women’s
wear.
Delhi Duty Free adds fashion brands
Delhi Duty Free, which until now focused on liquor, tobacco and toiletries, is adding fashion and luxury
brands to its retail offer. The company claims brands like Hugo Boss, Samsonite Black and Swarovski will
be up to 35 % cheaper at duty free stores than on the retail shelves across the city. The average store
size for each of the brands is 800 sq ft and the total space dedicated to fashion retail under duty free is
3,200 sq. ft.

4. US POLO clocks `75 crore in India
US Polo, the mid-tier American brand, brought to India by Arvind
Brands and Retail, expects to clock a turnover of Rs.75 crore this year
(2 years after launching the brand in India). The brand currently has
150 points of sales and 20 EBO’s (Exclusive Brand Outlets). Besides
investing in the exclusive boutiques, the brand has also invested heavily
in shop-in-shops in department stores by creating special islands with
superior visual merchandising, incorporating elements such as saddles,
mallets and photos of polo players. Today, US Polo claims to have the highest productivity among
apparel brands in India in terms of sales per sq. ft. While the average brand is said to deliver `30 a sq ft
per day, US Polo delivers `50. The brand launched with men’s wear and extended into footwear. This
year, it is looking at getting into kids wear, women's wear and luggage.
Globally, in 2010, US Polo clocked a retail turnover of $850 million. Its top markets today are the US and
West Asia. Currently, the Indian market accounts for just 5% of business globally, while China represents
15%. Recognized by its double horsemen logo, which represents one horseman playing another, the
company has been in litigation with Ralph Lauren over the logo for long. They claim that Ralph took their
logo and made it popular. US Polo was founded in 1890 — long before Ralph Lauren was started in 1967.
Britannia to expand its chain of café’s
Out-of-home consumer spend is being seen as the next big opportunity. In an
effort to tap into this segment, Britannia Industries plans to scale up its cafe
business which is currently lead by Daily Bread Gourmet Foods, a wholly
owned subsidiary of Britannia. The company currently has 22 company-owned
and eight franchisee stores in Bangalore, it has five stores in Hyderabad and
three in Goa. The company plans to open 75 more stores across India with a focus on cities such as Bangalore,
Hyderabad and Goa. The company has also tied with large-format retailers such as Spencer's to set up shop-in-
shop formats.

5. Versace Home opens in Delhi
Versace Home, the home-furnishing line from the Italian design house has
opened its first standalone furnishing boutique. Internationally, Versace
Home was launched in 1992 with a collection of bed sheets, pillows and
cushions. This was soon followed by porcelain dinner sets and high-end
furniture with the trademark Versace logo. Located in The Gallery Mall at
MG Road, the store is spread over 300 square meters. Versace already has a
prêt store at the DLF Emporio mall, Vasant Kunj where it had introduced a
small section of the Versace Home line on a trial basis. Encouraged by the
response the company decided to set up a full store. At the store a designer Versace vase can cost you
`8,000 and the other products can range from Rs.10,000 to Rs.100,000 and above. Versace is being
retailed in India through Blues Clothing Company.
Raymond to re-launch Park Avenue with a new logo
Raymond is re-launching its largest selling Rs.500 crore Park Avenue and investing in the
25-year apparel brand with a new logo and extending it to areas like business casuals and eyewear. It has
appointed an UK-based company to design a new logo. It would also increase the number of Park Avenue and
Raymond stores, adding another 100 new stores this fiscal.
Tanishq inaugurates its 6th store in Chennai
Tanishq has launched its 6th showroom in Chennai, at Chromepet and will be setting
up 15 new showrooms in the next fiscal year. With the store at Chrompet, Tanishq
retail chain now has 123 exclusive boutiques in 76 cities. The area of proposed
showrooms would range from 3,000 sq.ft. to 20,000 sq.ft., including four to five large
showrooms spanning total area of more than 8,000 sq.ft. each. The largest of the
upcoming outlets would be a 20,000-sft showroom in Mumbai. At Tanishq gold jewelry accounts for 70 % of all
jewelry sales.