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Strategies & Market Trends : India Coffee House -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (5933)	8/27/1999 10:56:00 AM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12475

RPG fuels the 'retail' fire in India rpgnet.com rpgitochu.com rpgcellular.com sprintrpg.com Close on the heels of the much-publicised opening of Crossroads (promoted by Ajay Piramal) and Westside (promoted by Simone Tata) chain of retail stores, comes the news of Rs 640 bn RPG Group giving its retail business a fillip. RPG operates a retail chain in south India under the brand name of 'Spencer'. The Group, which also runs an online music store called 'Saregama.com', has joined hands with the US$ 6.6 bn Dairy Farm International Holdings, Hong Kong, to operate 'Foodworld' supermarket stores across the country. Dairy Farm runs one of the largest food and drug stores retailing chain in the Asia-Pacific region. The joint venture is looking at an ambitious Rs 20 bn turnover in six years, operating 350 to 400 stores in the given time frame. The new company will acquire and operate the 29 Foodworld supermarkets that are currently operated by Spencer in Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. RPG will hold 51% in the venture, the rest will be held by its Hong Kong-based partner. According to newspaper reports, Mr. Sanjiv Goenka, vice chairman, RPG Enterprises, has said that the new entity would require an initial investment of Rs 3-3.5 bn to attain targeted turnover of Rs 20 bn it has set for itself. Retailing is a low margin, high volume business. With the Indian retail segment in a nascent stage, and growing competition, the Rs 20 bn target will not be easy for RPG to achieve. But with signs of economic recovery and a large potential consumer base, it looks like an ideal time to lure the Indian consumer. 27 August, 1999 (Quantum)