Retail Roundup

India's largest retailer may finally be willing to share equity with a foreign partner. In a major restructuring, Future Group CEO Kishore Biyani, is reliably understood to be working on a plan to slice Big Bazaar, the country’s largest hypermarket format into two entities.While one would be a B2C (business to consumer) front-end consumer facing entity, the other will be a back-end operationsled company. Mr Biyani is believed to be currently working on creating a huge backend entity that may enter into a joint venture with a leading international cash-and-carry retailer, sources said. Ernst & Young is understood to be working on the project.
British billionaire Philip Green is learnt to have finalised Trent a aprt of the Tata Group as partner for the India foray of his high-fashion apparel and accessory retail chains—Topshop and Topman. Topshop and Topman, which cater exclusively to young women and men, respectively, could potentially give retail giant Arcadia Group a toehold in the fastgrowing Indian retail market. Arcadia Group owns several high-street clothing retailers, including Miss Selfridge, Burton, Evans, Dorothy Perkins and Wallis, besides Topshop and Topman.
Reliance Retail is planning to open a chain of specialty stores to retail mobile phone handsets across the country.Reliance Retail stores will compete with similar stores of other major retailers, including Subhiksha, RPG and Essar-Virgin’s The Mobile Store.
Food and grocery discount retail chain, Subhiksha, will invest around Rs 1,200 crore by 2010.They plan to have around 3,000 stores by 2010 and plan to invest around Rs 1,200 crore in the period.The funds would be raised through a mix of equity and debt .At present, the chain has around 1,480 stores. Subhiksha's objective is to become a USD 5 Billion Company by 2011.
Lifestyle, a part of Dubai-based Landmark Group, will invest Rs500 crore in the country for setting up additional 38 exclusive stores in the next four years.At present, the chain has 18 exclusive stores in India.Lifestyle has also launched four new brands, including Acapa and Bossini, under franchisee system and have got exclusive rights over them in India.The new 38 stores will have an area of 40,000-80,000 sq. ft. Besides the four metros, we will also be opening stores in tier I and tier II cities such as Jalandhar and Ludhiana.