Vegetable vendors in Jaipur are demanding closure of recently opened Reliance ‘Fresh’ outlets in the city, according to a report published in Keralanext. Reliance Fresh, as may be recalled, is a neighbourhood convenience stores format of Reliance Retail which offers fruits, flowers, vegetables and staples. Reliance ‘Fresh’ is part of its nationwide Rs. 25,000 crore retail initiative. Presently, 21 Reliance ‘Fresh’ stores are in operation in Hyderabad (16) and Jaipur (5).
Local vegetables vendors, according to the report, have said that these stores were severely affecting their business as they were not only bringing down their sales but were also taking away their customers as the newly opened stores were offering products at cheaper rates to shoppers .
The report cites a vegetable vendor as saying: “We are suffering losses as fifty percent customers have left and half of our vegetables are rotting as only half of them are being sold. We want the license of Reliance to be cancelled and their stores to be closed.”
Allaying the fears of vegetable vendors, Umesh Bhandari, Head of Reliance Retail, Rajasthan, is cited to have said that “The vendors should not worry as the market is big enough and growing at a very good rate and there is space for everybody. There is no need of panic because there is a customer for everyone.”
“At the same time, we are also trying to reach the customers through wholesale distribution mechanism whereby these vendors will be offered products, in wholesale, at reasonable rates,” he added.
Max Retail, a part of the Dubai based Landmark Group, launched its first Value Retail store in Hyderabad on Friday, the 22nd December, 2006. The new store, housed in City Centre Mall, occupies 16,000 square feet of retail space. The new store will cater to the needs of entire family offering fashion apparel, footwear and accessories. Fashion apparel will be priced between Rs. 99 and Rs. 599.Max will be targeting aspirational youth, between 22-35 years of age, which has been exposed to western influences, as its core customer.
Though, bargain hunters and late comers flocked to stores this weekend, the late-buying binge was not enough to meet sales goals, and retailers are now turning to post-Christmas business to make this season a merry one, reports AP.
The posh Banjara Hills area of Hyderabad saw opening of yet another standalone retail showroom of Mothercare, which also houses a Crossword outlet, on Friday, the 22nd December, 2006. While construction major K. Raheja owned, “Shoppers’ Stop,” is the master franchisee of the Mothercare brand in India, it owns the “Crossword” brand.
It was second store for Mothercare, which offers safe products for pregnancy and parenting. Conceived 45 years ago, Mothercare is now visited by 85% of the pregnant women in the U.K. and has the privilege of counting Angelina Jolie, Heather Mills McCartney and Jordan, among its customers.
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