Reliance Retail reshapes Centro store format with temporary closures

13 November 2024, Mumbai

Reliance Retail is temporarily shutting down stores in its department chain Centro to revamp the format with a focus on its own brands and labels. The closures affect three stores, with up to 24 more expected by month-end.

The decision follows a shift in strategy after Reliance took over Future Group's Central stores in 2022, rebranding them as Centro.

Executives have confirmed that brand partners were notified to remove inventory and fixtures, as Reliance halts merchandise display, storage, and sales at these locations for renovations.

While the future of global and local brands in the revamped format remains uncertain, the retailer plans to use the space for a shop-in-shop model featuring its own brands, such as Azorte and Yousta, alongside international names like Gap and Superdry.

Centro, which competes with brands like Shoppers Stop and Lifestyle International, currently stocks around 450 brands. This move comes amid a slowdown in India’s retail growth, with a 4 per cent expansion in sales last year after a post-Covid surge.

Reliance Retail's fashion and lifestyle division also saw a decline in revenue for the first time since the pandemic, citing weak demand and efforts to improve margins.

In response to market challenges, Reliance has reduced expansion, closing more stores than it has opened this fiscal year, with a net addition of only 110 stores in the first half, compared to 610 last year.

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