SPAR launches South India's biggest Hypermarket in Malleshwaram

Bengaluru, Karnataka, March 13, 2010 /TREN/ -- SPAR, the world's largest independent food retail chain spread across 35 countries, unveiled its flagship hypermarket in India under the license agreement between Max Hypermarkets India Pvt. Ltd. & SPAR International. SPAR at Malleshwaram is the country's biggest food store, spread over an area of 90, 000 sq ft. on a single floor plate. This SPAR flagship store is located at Mantri Square Mall, Sampige Road, Malleshwaram, one of the oldest residential localities in Bangalore. The mall has the capacity for parking of over 2000 cars in the basement.

SPAR brings a truly international shopping experience at Indian prices to customers. The aesthetics of this hypermarket are truly phenomenal. The systematically arranged sections at SPAR promise the customer an easy and hassle-free shopping experience. Be it the bakery, grocery, fruits & vegetables, dairy products, easy-to-cook products, meat, poultry & fish, wines, beer and spirits, home textiles, personal care, kitchenware, crockery, electronic products and IT and accessories or children's products, SPAR provides the widest range of quality and value-for-money products in the country.

The SPAR Hypermarket at Malleshwaram, Bangalore, guarantees to take the customer's shopping experience to an entirely new level. This is the 3rd SPAR store in Bangalore, after Koramangala and Bannerghatta Road, but is proudly the chain's "flagship" store.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Viney Singh, Managing Director, Max Hypermarket India Pvt. Ltd, said "Through the introduction of such large format stores, we hope to take the shopping experience in India to a whole new level. At SPAR, customer satisfaction takes precedence over every other aspect. We would like to provide our customers with the best of services, coupled with value for their money, and make their weekly shopping an experience to look forward to."

SPAR India benefits greatly due to its affiliation with both SPAR International and the Landmark Group. SPAR International provides expertise in the field of food retailing with best practices in designing and merchandising. The Landmark Group, whose stores are destinations for non-food retail, provides for superior sourcing and range of products.

Freshness, Choice, Value and Service are the Brand Pillars of SPAR and form the core of SPAR's retail philosophy.

Reliance Footprint plans major expansion

Mumbai, Maharashtra, March 12, 2010 /TREN/ -- Reliance Footprint - the footwear arm of Reliance Retail Group, is eying major expansion. Gopalakrishnan Sankar, chief executive, Reliance Footprint says, "The places where we are set to open our stores include Jabalpur, Amritsar, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Belgaum, Vijayawada, Mysore, Coimbatore, Gurgaon, Raipur, Mumbai, Bhubaneshwar."

Reliance Footprint recently launched its 4,500 square feet store in Bangalore at Mantri Square mall. "We can't specify the exact amount but generally speaking the costs can vary anywhere between Rs.1,500 per sq.ft to Rs.2,000 per sq.ft on carpet area," informs Sankar. "We are targeting to achieve a 15 per cent market share in the organised footwear market in the next five years."

The rapid expansion of Reliance Footprint in India is a testimony to the fact that Reliance Footprint's products and services have been appreciated by its customers. An inaugural offer of upto 60 per cent discount is being offered to the customers on their purchases at Reliance Footprint during the launch period.

Reliance Footprint offers a wide variety of footwear and other consumer commodities including handbags and accessories together with a line-up of international brands from America and Europe. Reliance Footprint offers a troupe of various categories like casuals, formals, casual sports, comfort wear, kids wear and home wear. Reliance Footprint also engages in selling private labels and is also coming up with specially crafted footwear for people with foot deformities. Reliance Footprint is aiming at a share of about 10-12 percent in the entire footwear industry in a time span of a few years.

Notes to Editor

The Reliance Group, founded by Dhirubhai H. Ambani (1932-2002), is India's largest private sector enterprise, with businesses in the energy and materials value chain. Group's annual revenues are in excess of US$ 28 billion. The flagship company, Reliance Industries Limited, is a Fortune Global 500 company and is the largest private sector company in India.

PE-Backed Home Solutions To Merge With Pantaloon Retail

February 24 2010, 17:25:05 IST | MADHAV A CHANCHANI

Home Solutions has raised two rounds of funding from ICICI Venture and Kotak SEAF India Fund.

Kishore Biyani's Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd is merging its subsidiary Home Solutions Retail (India) Ltd with itself. 

India's largest retailer said, in a filing to to the exchanges, that its board has approved demerger of the consumer durable, home furnishing, home improvement and furniture business from Home Solutions into Pantaloon.

Home Solutions has raised two rounds of funding from ICICI Venture and Kotak SEAF India Fund. The two private equity funds invested Rs 120 crore in Home Solutions back in 2006. ICICI Venture and Kotak SEAF also invested in the Rs 150 crore rights issue by the company in early 2009. The move is likely to give these investors liquidity and avenue for an eventual exit.

Pantaloon last year said, it was considering merger with Home Solutions to "have better synergy and efficiency in the retail business."

Home Solutions is a retailer of products like electronics, consumer durables, furniture and home improvement products, which are retailed under different brand names. These include eZone (high end consumer electronics specialty store), Collection I (luxury furniture & furnishings) and HomeTown (home improvement store).

Currently Pantaloon holds nearly 67% stake in Home Solutions while the rest is held by other shareholders, which includes ICICI Venture and Kotak SEAF. These other shareholders will now be allotted equity and preference shares in Pantaloon Retail in lieu of their stake in Home Solutions.

For nearly 10 million shares of Rs. 10/- each of Home Solution, Pantaloon will allott 5,928,818 equity shares of Rs. 2/- each and 6,347,635 preference shares of Rs. 100/- each. The preference shares will be convertible into one equity share of Pantaloon within twelve months from the date of allotment or July 31, 2011, whichever is earlier, according to the filing.

These shares, including the preference shares upon conversion, would be worth Rs 470 crore based Pantaloon's closing price today of Rs 383.3. The deal is subject to approval from the shareholders, court and other authorities.

According to its latest annual report, Pantaloon has invested Rs 165 crore in Home Solutions business till June 2009. It operates retail formats like Home Town, E-zone, Home Bazaar, Furniture Bazaar and Electronics Bazaar. During FY09, Home Solutions registered an income    of Rs 1,071 crore and a loss of Rs 5.73 crore. Source: VCCircle

Asia Retail Congress 2010 says Reliance Footprint is the best

Awards 'Best Retailer' award in the non apparel and footwear category

New Delhi, Delhi, February 22, 2010 /India PRwire/ -- Reliance Footprint, the footwear specialty store of Reliance Retail was adjudged 'The Best Retailer of the year' in the non apparel and footwear category at the Asia Retail Congress 2010 Awards held recently. Reliance Footprint has achieved this distinction within 2 years of its operations.

Reliance Footprint which has established an impressive network of 17 stores across 15 cities is focused on presenting international standards of service, product range, quality and shopping experience to the consumers in India. Today Reliance Footprint is known to offer unmatched choice at unbeatable price in an environment which meets world-class standards of service, quality and display.

On the occasion, Mr. G. Sankar, CEO, Reliance Footprint said, "We are thrilled at winning the Best Retailer of the Year Award in the footwear and non apparel category at the Asia Retail Congress 2010. With our variety of product choice and unique shopping experience we have been able to initiate a definitive change in the footwear retail industry in India and this award is a testimony of our efforts. The award is dedicated to all our customers who have reinforced their confidence in our stores and given us an opportunity to serve them."

Press Release: Specialised Real Estate Course Launched

Maturing Property Market in India:

Specialised Real Estate Course Launched

As the business of real estate has become more complex in structure and more international in scope, the industry has felt the shortage of trained professionals and recognised the need for specialised education in Real Estate. In response, IDS National Institute of Real Estate Management (IDS NIREM) has launched a Post Graduate Diploma Program in Real Estate Sales & Agency Management (PGD-RESAM). This one-year distance learning program aims to create a cadre of professionals specialised in and dedicated to the property sector. On the other hand, at present real estate companies not only have to rely on professionals coming from other sectors but also have to spend huge money and time on orienting them for this sector.

The program objective is to provide the course participants with thorough knowledge and practical skills to plan and execute successful sales & leasing strategies for different types of properties, manage real estate agencies and carry out basic appraisal. The course curriculum focuses on developing knowledge and skills in sales & leasing of properties, property marketing, appraisal, agency planning & management, real estate transactions and legal aspects of real estate.

The PG Diploma program in Real Estate Sales and Agency Management is the only course available in the South Asian region with true international focus, allowing participants to have a unique competitive advantage in the real estate market.

This high impact, industry-driven and employment-oriented program offers both the fresh graduates who intend to pursue a career in real estate and the working professionals, an unequaled educational growth and career advancement opportunity. For further information, visit www.nirem.org

For information to Journalists:

Why this course:

This course was planned in response to a consultative meeting with developers, multinational consultants, HFIs etc during which a common observation was the skill gap in the existing breed of real estate professionals. The problem was attributed to the lack of real estate focussed education & training programs in the country that can train students as per the needs of real estate sector. Also, at present, real estate companies have to rely on professionals coming from other business sectors, who require huge investment of both time and money but leave on getting the first opportunity. This is because they do no want to specialize in real estate sector. Therefore, the urgent need of the hour is to create a pool of professionals, specialised in real estate business.

About the Institute:

IDS National Institute of Real Estate Management (IDS-NIREM) has been established by ‘The Industry Development Society for Real Estate’, which is a real estate sector development and promotion body. NIREM is planned as a Centre of Excellence in Real Estate Education, Training & Research. The institute is mandated to provide PG level degree, diploma and certificate courses in addition to MDPs, Consulting and Research in different areas of real estate.

In addition to Learning & Capacity Development Initiatives, IDS-NIREM, aims to develop benchmarks for real estate sector, provide with comprehensive market data to end-users, retail & institutional investors and other stakeholders, facilitate simplification of asset acquisition and investment process, promote adoption of international standards including the financial and other disclosure norms, best practices and corporate social responsibilities etc. To know more about the institute, please visit www.nirem.org