Losses from convenience store formats selling groceries are increasing. Retailers like Reliance Fresh, More, India bulls, Spencer's and Subhiksha are either shutting down a few or going slow on their ambitious expansion plans. Hyper City Retail recently exited too.
Once an attractive destination of modern retail, Ahmedabad is turning into a "retail graveyard.". Glaring vacant spaces in the swanky malls apart, the of two Big Bazaar outlets in the city seem to be indicative of the shape of things to come, reports Economic Times.
A heterogeneous product mix, inviting ambiance and other cosmetic benefits of modern retail have failed to sustain the interest of Gujarati consumers looking for functional benefits from the retail experience. Brands like Nike, Tea Centre and Conizza, have already closed shop.
Bharti Retail, maintaining slow pace and rolling out only seven stores so far, seems to have had no pangs of expansion so far. It had intentionally decided to move slow and learn the dynamics of retail first. The Bharti Wal- Mart joint venture has opened only seven stores in six months, compared with around 700 stores by Reliance in two years.
"We plan to have pan India presence, but are in no hurry to roll out stores everywhere. Our aim is to understand the dynamics of retail and evolve the right model. We are not here to prove anything in a year or two, but looking at 5-10-year period," reportedly says Bharti Retail president and COO Vinod Sawhny. |