Indian Retailer

The organised retail companies in India after passing through a year long bout of recession, are now moving forward with business expansion plans. Retail majors like Future Group, Aditya Birla Retail, Reliance Retail, Trent and Spencer's Retail are now opening new stores and planning to come up with new hyper market chains.

The Future Group is sure of success after the end of economic down turn. The group is confident that it revenues would touch Rs. 25,000 crore next year even though its business extension planes have been delayed by 2 years. The group is planning to increase its space to 30 million sq ft and 10% operating profit margin. In 2008-09 the revenue of the company was Rs 5,000 crore.

The company coming up with retail malls in Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Udaipur in the coming three months.

Releasing its expansion plans in front of the media Mayur Toshniwal, president (retail operations), Future Group told "We are planning to add at least two Big Bazaar stores every month. We would come up with 15 Big Bazaar stores and add one million sq ft over the next six months.

The slowdown did affect retail companies because big-ticket purchases like electronics went down by 30% and household electronics and furniture tumbled by 30%.'' But now the market is showing improvement signs and as of now his company growth is 10% and hopeful of making it double in the coming months.

Moreover Mr Toshniwal added that to fulfil its sales target and to increase its retail space the company would be in need of big investments of Rs 3,000-4,000 crore. The other retail majors are also in the mood of making cash. That is why Aditya Birla Retail is expanding its retail hyper market 'More' one in every month.

Spencer's Retail owned by RPG group is also planning to invest Rs 1000 crore for expansion of its business in the next three years. It is going to open 10-15 small format stores and the same no of large format stores by the end of 2010.

The H1N1 influenza more popularly known as Swine Flu is having its influences not on the humans but even in the retail market. Natco Pharma from Hyderabad has come up with its anti-H1N1 drug 'Natflu' in Delhi on Friday and now it is in talks with pharmacy chains across the country. The company had recently done an agreement with Medplus, the pharmacy retail chain which has its stores mainly in south India and now looking for other biggies in the sector.

Natco Pharma National Sales Manager K Srivastav while speaking to the media told "We are looking for similar tie ups and currently negotiations are on," but refrained form revealing the names that had been consulted. According to him '' There are around 480 retail pharmacy stores which have the mandatory licence Schedule X for selling the drug and it is likely to go up as more people have applied for the permit." Natco had a turnover of Rs 400 crore in FY 09 and hoping to increase it to Rs 600 crore in the coming year.

National Health regulator DCGI has allowed only six companies i.e. Cipla, Hetero, Natco, Strides Acrolab, Ranbaxy and Roche to sell the drug in the country. Against H1N1 Flue Strides Acrolab, Cipla and Hetero these three companies have already announced that they have produced the Oseltamivir capsules, the lone medicine available.

Reliance Retail to revive West Bengal projects soon BARASAT (West Bengal): Reliance Retail, part of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries, is looking at reviving its West Bengal projects "in a major way", a top official said here Saturday. "We are currently working on how best we can come back to the state in a major way. It's all currently on the drawing board," Tarun Jhunjhunwala, president of Reliance Industries, told reporters. The company hs faced several political hurdles in its bid to sell farm produce in the state. At present, it has two brands operating in the state - Reliance Fresh and Reliance Digital. The company is also planning to acquire real estate. "We have exhausted the space for our Reliance Fresh format and so if we plan to expand this format, we have to buy real estate," Jhunjhunwala said. Regarding its stalled project to re-develop a municipal market at Park Circus in Kolkata, he said the company was now at an advanced stage of negotiation with the authorities to settle the dispute. He expressed hope that the issue would be resolved soon. 'Walmart keen to expand in India' Walmart Stores, the world’s largest retailer, is keen to expand in China and India, chairman S Robson Walton said in Kuala Lumpur. "Internationally, we’re focusing on larger markets," Mr Walton told delegates at a Forbes Global CEO Conference in the Malaysian capital on Wednesday. “China is a big opportunity for us. We're just getting started in India, where we see great opportunity over the long term,� he said, without giving details on its expansion plans. Walmart, which competes with France’s Carrefour SA in China, is accelerating expansion in Asia that Walton expects will lead the global economic recovery. China’s retail sales rose 15.4% in August from a year earlier, the biggest gain this year after accounting for seasonal distortions, according to the Chinese statistics bureau on September 11. Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart operates at about 630 locations in China, India and Japan, according to its web site. About 24% of Walmart’s net sales came from its international division in the quarter ended July 31, the company reported last month. Walmart sees opportunities in the healthcare business, Mr Walton said, without giving details.