24 February 2023, Mumbai 

The contribution of online retail to the total retail market in India is projected to increase to 10.7 per cent by 2024 when compared to 4.7 per cent in 2019. So say Anarock and Retailers Association of India.

On the other hand, offline retail will hold approximately 89.3 per cent of the total Indian retail market by 2024 as against 95.3 per cent in 2019.

In 2020, category-wise consumer electronics and apparel held the largest share in e-commerce retail at 40 per cent each followed by food and grocery and jewellery at seven per cent and furniture at two per cent.

Despite the rising penetration of online retail in the total organised market, India continues to be a dominant offline retail market. Online retail continues to command a very small pie of the overall business. The organised retail sector is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 25 per cent.

In terms of private equity (PE) investments, while PE investments have recovered, they have not reached pre-pandemic levels. PE investments in retail of the total PE investments in real estate have decreased to six per cent in the year 2022 from 16 per cent in the year 2019.

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22 February 2023, Mumbai 

Cantabil has opened a new store at Gauriganj in Uttar Pradesh.

The store is spread across an area of 1500 sqft and offers a full range of formal wear, casuals, and ultra-casual clothing for men, women, and children.

With this store opening, mid-premium brand Cantabil founded in 1989 has 441 stores across India and plans to continue expanding its retail presence. Cantabil retails through its offline stores and marketplaces like Myntra, Ajio, Flipkart, and Amazon, among others.

Cantabil is focusing heavily on providing the best-in-class shopping experience both in-store and online. The all-new Cantabil stores represent the future of the retail experience for its customers. Revenues from the same stores have played an instrumental role in delivering the desired growth in financial performance.

Apart from this, the addition of new stores has also significantly contributed towards superior performance and provides an expanding platform to support the company’s strategic growth objectives.

The apparel manufacturer and retailer intend to make significant investments in expansion this year with a focus on Tier II and III cities since there is a significant increase in awareness about fashion trends among people in smaller towns and cities.

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07 March 2023, Mumbai 

Garment and textile manufacturers in Ludhiana, Punjab are expressing their frustration over the state government's failure to revive a scrapped textile park project in the city's Mattewara area.

The project was cancelled by the Punjab government in July 2022 and no efforts have been made to find an alternate location for it. Businessmen are urging the state government to make efforts to set up the textile park in Ludhiana, where there is ample land available. The chairman of Apparel Technology and Common Facilitation Centre, Vinod Thapar, stated that the textile park project, which had a budget of thousands of crores already earmarked by the Centre, would have been a game-changer for the textile and garment industry in Ludhiana. Harish Kairpal, finance secretary of Knitwear Club, added that the industry would not accept the project if it were located outside of Ludhiana, and urged the chief minister to immediately form a panel to ensure that the textile park project sees the light of day.

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Flexnest has forayed into athleisure clothing with the launch of its new range of workout clothes.

The initial portfolio of active workout clothing brings to female customers a premium range of leggings, sports bras, capris, and vests. The unique athleisure clothing is made available in all sizes ranging from XS, S, M, and L to XL in three popular colors – black, green, and blue.

The new offerings are aimed at enabling women in their bid to feel more comfortable and at ease during training and workout sessions. The brand’s innovative SuperFlex fabric is not only effective during workouts but equally comfortable to sport as loungewear.The unique fabric, adaptable to all needs, is engineered and specifically tailored to give customers the feeling of a second skin with all the coverage one needs when moving.

Built for the body in motion, Flexnest, which opened two years ago, now wants to focus on growing further with the launch of its active wear.

The athleisure category is one of the fastest-growing categories in India, growing at 15 per cent to 20 percent year on year. Being a millennial-driven trend, athleisure is growing at a phenomenal rate not only in urban cities but also in tier II and tier III regions.The size of the segment is over Rs 54,000 crores and growing rapidly.

22 February 2023, Mumbai 

Shobitam has acquired the House of Blouse.

Shobitam is an ethnic wear sari brand. House of Blouse is an Indian fashion house designing custom and designer blouses. With this, Shobitam would be able to expand its product offering and provide customers with the best-shared experience the world over.

Blouses are a key complement to saris that Shobitam is all about, thus making House of Blouse the right strategic choice. In the future, Shobitam and House of Blouse together aim to expand their presence globally and add more products to their portfolio to create a world-class ethnic brand from India to the world.

Shobitam is dedicated to making Indian ethnic wear affordable, elegant, and available globally. The brand works closely with weavers across India in designing unique collections and making a difference in their lives and popularizing lesser-known and unique weaves.

The brand believes that women deserve to wear fine high quality saris and jewellery without breaking their bank accounts.

House of Blouse’s design app gives the shopper more than 1,00,000 stylish combinations to play with,create and own. It has a range of one-shoulder, corset, and jacket blouses and lacy or sheer fabrics, high neck and Chinese collar designs, and ikat, kalamkari, or cotton fabrics.

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 26 February 2023, Mumbai 

Zudio has opened a new store in Pune. The store is 11,000 sq ft.

Zudio, the fashion brand from the house of Tata Trent, offers a wide variety of apparel, footwear, accessories, and beauty products. Trent Hypermarket is a 50:50 joint venture between Tata and British retailer Tesco.

For the third quarter, Tata group retail firm Trent’s consolidated net profit was Rs 154.81 crores. Revenue from operations was at Rs 2,303.38 crores during the quarter under review. Trent's total expenses were at Rs 2,189.62 crores.

The primary customer propositions of Trent include Westside, one of India's leading chains of fashion retail stores, and Zudio, a one-stop destination for great fashion at a great value.

Currently, Trent operates 211 Westside stores, 326 Zudio stores, and 21 stores across other lifestyle concepts. Trent has chosen to be in just a few cities because it feels building a customer brand is easier if it is present in a small number of cities.

Trent has recently entered into a joint venture (JV) with MAS Holding of Sri Lanka for the design, development, and manufacture of intimate wear, activewear, and related apparel products.

This collaboration is expected to deepen Trent’s strategic commitment to offer fully owned brands at its retail stores and enable MAS to expand its international presence further.

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21 February 2023, Mumbai

Free Sparrow has launched ethnic wear.

This range is the perfect embodiment of comfort and style. The new launch of its latest collection introduces an exciting range of ethnic wear, having elegant designs, vivid colours, and spirited silhouettes to celebrate the notorious sparrow-like nature of children everywhere.

From lehengas, shararas and palazzos to kurta pyjamas and everything ethnic, Free Sparrow has a lot to offer. The idea behind the collection is to empower children to express themselves through their clothing choices. Traditional designs and materials, including cotton, silk, and satin, are offered in the ethnic children’s wear collection which has been created by reputed weavers.

Children’s wear brand Free Sparrow was launched in 2015. The sparrow stands for children’s inquisitive and wandering nature. Free Sparrow is inspired by childhood memories of a joyful sparrow that would hop around quickly in its strong undulating flight. A young girl's energetic, erratic, chirpy, and unrestrained spirit are embodied by Free Sparrow.

The brand curates apparel based on the measurements provided by customers, resulting in a customer-friendly and memorable experience. The clothing prevents uncomfortable rashes and skin irritations. The fitted clothes allow children to move around freely and comfortably, enabling them to confidently engage in daily activities.

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01 March February 2023, Mumbai 

Russian Kyzyl, a direct-to-consumer (D2C) activewear and lingerie brand, is preparing to launch in India, aiming to revolutionize the industry with its unique designs, high-quality materials, and innovative features.

The brand, founded by Sumita Singh Shekhawat, Sakshi Singh, and Ladli Singh, is female-founded and bootstrap, and it intends to offer the technologically-savvy next-generation women in India a one-of-a-kind experience with its extensive range of seamless products.

The clothing produced by Russian Kyzyl is designed to stand out from the crowd, made from high-quality and durable materials that use knitting technology to provide extra comfort and performance benefits. The brand has invested significant effort to incorporate unique features into their products and is confident that it will set a new benchmark for other brands in the market.

Russian Kyzyl wants to fill the gap in the Indian market to be the first in India to offer a complete range of seamless lingerie and activewear products under one roof.

The female innerwear market in India has undergone a transformational change in recent years and is expected to reach $12 billion by 2025, according to a report by consulting firm RedSeer. The online female innerwear market is expected to touch $1 billion by 2025, and digital-first omni-channel players focused on innerwear, such as Russian Kyzyl find scope to be successful.

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23 February 2023, Mumbai

Balenzia has opened a franchise in Mumbai.

This is the brand’s fifth store in Mumbai, the brand’s first-ever franchise, and the plan is to use franchising as a model to scale up its physical store presence while continuing to operate its own outlets.

With the opening of this franchise, Balenzia has positioned itself to take advantage of the growing demand for fashion statement socks in India. As a result, the company sees continued growth and success in the coming years. Being associated with an iconic and expanding brand like Balenzia is expected to provide many benefits for franchisees like leveraging the brand's established reputation and customer base, along with its proven business model, to create a successful and profitable business.

Balenzia’s strong marketing and branding support, along with its extensive product line, makes it an attractive opportunity for entrepreneurs looking to get into the business of a rapidly growing brand.

As part of its physical strategy, Balenzia aims to make the direct-to-consumer brand available at even more locations, making it easier for customers to shop for the latest and greatest in socks and licensed merchandise.

At one time socks were available only in nylon/cotton with no options of colors, designs, style, etc. Now socks are presented on the bases of hygiene and wellness, fitness and comfort, and fashion and style.

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20 February 2023, Mumbai

Kitex Garments’ net sales in December 2022 were down 66 per cent from December 2021.

Ebitda in December 2022 was down 95 per cent from what it was in December 2021. Kitex Garments is engaged in the manufacture of fabric and readymade garments. The company operates through two business segments: garments and fabrics. The firm also exports cotton garments, principally infants’ wear. Kitex is a vertical set-up with knitting and processing of fabrics. The facility in Kerala covers an area of 1,80,768 sq ft, one of the largest in the world under one roof. The garmenting unit uses the latest machinery for pattern Computer-Aided-Design, plotting and grading. It has automatic spreader machines which enhance the speed of spreading and automated cutting machines for faster and precision cutting. Kitex employs nearly 4,372 people with a daily capacity to manufacture 3,60,000 units of infant garments. Kitex Garments has incorporated a new subsidiary company under the name of Kitex Apparel Parks. The subsidiary company is engaged in the business of textile items, such as yarns, fabrics, garments, apparels made from natural or synthetic fibers or from blends of both including children’s garments, babywear, infants’ wear, menswear, women’s wear, irrespective of age limit and the like and also in procuring all the raw materials and other auxiliary material services required for the same.

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