08 February 2023, Mumbai

Trends has opened a store at Bandipura in Jammu and Kashmir.

The store boasts a modern aesthetic with a similar ambience and features an affordable range suited to local consumers. The store will be showcasing a selection of various apparel and accessories including women’swear, men’swear, children’s wear and fashion accessories.

Trends is Reliance Retail’s apparel and accessories specialty chain. Trends aims at democratising Indian fashion by strengthening its reach and its connection with Indian consumers. Its aim is to connect with consumers in metros, mini-metros, as well as in Tier II and Tier III cities.

India’s consumption structure has been skewed in the past over a narrow base of richer consumers accounting for a large chunk of the overall market. However, as the economy is broadening across many more cities and the impact is reaching further down the income ladder, the opportunity for value formats and value brands is expanding. In the next few months, multiple stores are expected to come up in this segment as big brands want to tap this segment. After the consumption has increased in metro cities as well as Tier II cities, retailers are eyeing growth in 2023.

Reliance Retail opened 789 new stores, totaling an area of six million sqft in the third quarter of fiscal year 2023.

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 24 January 2023, Mumbai

Reliance Retail has acquired V Retail which operates a retail chain under the brand name Centro Style.

Started in April 2009 as a distribution house VRetail is now one of the largest retail, distribution and franchising companies in South India.

V Retail, a footwear and apparel retailer, operates 32 Centro stores in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka. It is promoted by the distributors of several national and international brands operating in footwear and garments in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

About 15 Centro stores are in Hyderabad and the plan is to set up nine more stores in the next six months in the southern and central region of India with a focus on Tier II and III cities.

Reliance Retail is on an expansion spree and in the last few months has acquired several brands, including Sosyo, Lotus Chocolate and Campa Cola as part of its FMCG ambition. Earlier in December 2022, it launched its consumer-packaged goods brand Independence. Under this brand, the company will offer a range of products in several categories, including staples, processed foods and other daily essentials.

In 2022 Reliance Retail acquired German firm Metro’s wholesale operations in India to strengthen its position in India's retail sector.

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 19 January 2023, Mumbai

American Eagle has opened a store in Calicut. The company is expanding its retail presence in the country through franchisees, with plans to add another 50 stores in India over the next three years.

American Eaglehas entered India through an agreement with Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail. The company made its debut in the Indian market in June 2018 with its first store launched in Noida.

Based in the United States, American Eagle Outfitters is a global specialty retailer offering clothing, accessories, and personal care products. The company was founded in 1977. Currently, American Eagle operates over 1,000 stores in the US, Canada, Mexico, China, and Hong Kong, and ships to more than 85 countries worldwide. American Eagle Outfitters and Aerie merchandise (an intimate apparel and lifestyle retailer and sub-brand owned by American Eagle Outfitters) are also available at more than 200 international locations operated by licensees in 24 countries. For the second quarter of fiscal year 2022, the retailer had total net revenue of $1.2 billion, and the Aerie business recorded $372 million in revenue, up by 11 per cent from last year.

Founded in 1997, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail is an Indian fashion retail company based in Mumbai with a network of more than 3031 stores with a presence across 25,000 multi-brand outlets.

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24 January 2023, Mumbai

For the third quarter Reliance Retail’s net profit grew by six per cent.

The company’s revenue from operations surged by 18 per cent. Gross revenue, which includes the value of sales and services, rose 17 per cent. This increase in the revenue was led by well-rounded growth across all baskets and channels. Reliance Retail's ebitda (pre-tax profit) surged 24 per cent.

Reliance Retail continued the expansion of its physical store network and added 789 new stores during the taking the total number of stores to 17,225. Now the total retail area operated by Reliance Retail is 50 per cent higher than in the third quarter. The company has been able to operate all stores, distribution and fulfillment centers, offices and facilities at pretty much at the pre-Covid level of efficiency. This was also the first festive period post the impact of Covid and the company has witnessed a sharp rise in footfalls at its stores. The quarter recorded highest ever footfalls across formats and geographies.

Reliance Retail’s registered customer base has grown 30 per cent during the quarter. The total number of transactions increased by 29 per cent. During the quarter, the digital commerce and new commerce businesses grew 38 per cent year on year and contributed to 18 per cent of the revenue.

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 18 January 2023, Mumbai

Marks & Spencer has opened a 13,000 sqft store in Indore. This is the fashion brand’s second store in Indore and the third in Madhya Pradesh.

Marks & Spencer plans to open more stores and modernize existing stores. The omnichannel retailer has a presence in over 35 cities of India with over 96 outlets. Marks & Spencer is planning large format stores in Tier I cities across India.

These will be 15,000 sqft and will showcase the entire M&S catalogue ranging from apparel to beauty and home. The plan is to set up at least one store every month across the country. The company is also undertaking a digital expansion drive as it expects to generate nearly one-third of its business from online channels. Marks & Spencer generates a quarter of its revenues from online including its own website, app and markets like Ajio, Myntra, Amazon and Zivame.

Besides retail store expansion, the retailer would further push its digital presence and upscale product categories to suit the taste of local Indian customers. The target is to achieve up to one-third of business through online means. Marks & Spencer, one of UK's leading retailers, entered India in 2001.

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Reliance Retail is planning to launch a value apparel format.

The company plans to lease a 6,000 sqft to 9,000 sqft space across malls and high street for the new brand, which will sell clothing within the Rs1000 range.

India’s consumption structure has been skewed in the past over a narrow base of richer consumers accounting for a large chunk of the overall market. However, as the economy is broadening across many more cities and the impact is reaching further down the income ladder, the opportunity for value formats and value brands is expanding.

In the next few months, multiple stores are expected to come up in this segment as big brands want to tap this segment. After the consumption has increased in metro cities as well as Tier II cities, retailers are eyeing growth in 2023.

Reliance Retail opened 789 new stores, totaling an area of six million sqft in the third quarter of fiscal year 2023. The company has been able to operate all stores, distribution and fulfillment centers, offices and facilities at pretty much at the pre-Covid level of efficiency. As consumers returned to stores, it also recorded the highest ever footfalls at 201 million across formats and geographies, a growth of 25 per cent during the same period.

 17 January 2023, Mumbai

Amazon is having a Great Republic Day Sale, January 15 to 20, 2023.

Customers can shop from millions of products offered by sellers including artisans and weavers, women entrepreneurs, start-ups, brands, and local neighborhood stores across categories including smartphones, consumer electronics, grocery, fashion andbeauty, home andkitchen, large appliances, TVs and more. Customers can look forward to saving more with great offers from brands likeXiaomi, Orion, Pampers, Techno, Ariel, Gillette, LG Appliances, Samsung TV, Intel and more across categories. Customers can get a chance to win up to Rs 5,000 as rewards during the Pay and Shop Rewards Festival by making daily payments like sending money, paying bills and more to unlock exciting shopping rewards that can be redeemed during the Great Republic Day Sale.

Customers can also use their voice to navigate and discover the best deals using Alexa on the Amazon shopping app. They have to tap the mic icon on the app and say Alexa, go to trending deals or say Alexa, go to Great Republic Day Sale games. Amazon Business customers can save up to 28 per cent extra with GST invoice and 40 per cent more with bulk purchase discounts, coupled with exciting deals on 10,000 plus products across categories.

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 30 January 2023, Mumbai

Kishore Biyani has stepped down as chairman and director of Future Retail.

The company is currently facing insolvency proceedings. Biyani was associated with Future Retail since 2007. Biyani, who was also known as a retail tsar in India, is known as the pioneer of modern retail in India, who took the modern brick and mortar format among the masses.

Future Retail operated multiple retail formats in both the hypermarket supermarket and home segments under brands such as Big Bazaar, Easyday, Foodhall. At its peak, Future Retail was operating over 1,500 outlets in nearly 430 cities. Future Retail was dragged into insolvency proceedings by its lender Bank of India after it defaulted on loans. The Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal had in July 2022 directed to initiate insolvency against the company.

It was part of the 19 Future group companies operating in the retail, wholesale, logistic and warehousing segments, which were supposed to be transferred to Reliance Retail as part of a deal announced in August 2020. However, lenders rejected the takeover of the 19 Future group companies, including Future Retail, by Reliance amid a legal challenge by Amazon. Last year in August, stock market regulator Sebi ordered a forensic audit of the accounts of Future Retail for the financial years 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22.

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23 January 2023, Mumbai

Retailers in India leased nearly 4.7 million square feet of space across top cities in 2022. So says CBRE.

Leasing in 2023 is expected to outpace even the 2019 level when retailers cumulatively took up a record 6.8 million sqft of new space. Bangalore and Delhi-NCR had a major share (61 per cent) in leasing activity in 2022, while Chennai, Hyderabad, and Pune had a nine per cent share each.

Given the robust supply pipeline planned for 2023, and strong domestic consumption, leasing activity is anticipated to remain steady. More international brands, especially in the food and beverage space, are expected to enter the country. On a pan-India basis, Bangalore recorded the highest share of mall completionsin the fourth quarter followed by Pune.

Key sectors that drove the leasing activity in the fourth quarter were fashion and apparel, homeware and department stores, hypermarkets, food and beverage and luxury. Going forward, retail leasing is expected to gain traction in Tier II, III, and even IV cities as retailers and landlords are looking to leverage the purchasing power of these towns and cities. Activity in these cities is expected to remain strong from domestic retailers, with international retailers expected to be more active in the apparel and QSR segments.

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09 January 2023, Mumbai

Sutraa is having a shopping event in Bangalore, January 5 to 7, 2023. Featuring a wide range of premium women’swear brands, the event is focused on occasion wear for the upcoming spring wedding season and late winter festivities.

Business-to-customer fashion fair Sutraa will also hold festive editions in Ahmedabad and Hyderabad this January. Sutraa shopping fairs are designed to give up-and-coming brands a platform from which to grow brand recognition and launch new designs to an audience of keen shoppers in cities across India. Sutraa launched its first event of 2023 at Vizag, January 2 to 3, 2023. The shopping fair featured a wide range of women’s festive wear by both local and national brands as well as accessories, jewellery, and handicraft items, among other products.

The leading lifestyle expo has already conducted over 350 successful events across the country and aims at promoting fashion throughout all B-cities. The vision is to provide patrons a selection of curated fashion and lifestyle products, at a marquee venue, in a relaxed and an upscale environment. Design elements are organized in sync with a strong branding focus. With these ideals, Sutraa has set new standards and ushered new trends in the world of fashion.

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