Forever to invest huge to increase pan-India expansion
Forever Jewellery, a division of Suraj Diamond Group, announces that it will invest Rs 150 crore this 
fiscal to increase its pan-India. This year, the company is looking for new outlets in cities like Nagpur, Vadodara and Surat. Every year Forever Jewellery plans to open 4-5 stores, besides 12-15 Navras retail outlets at Big Bazaar and 18-20 of Carbon brand sales points in the country. The company has tied up with Future Group to sell its Navras brand designer jewellery at stores operated by the Big Bazaar chain and last year acquired the Bangalore-based Carbon brand for retail sales promotion. Forever Jewellery has 59 Carbon brand outlets, 49 Navras brand outlets at Big Bazaar chain stores and six Forever stores across the country, of which three are in Gujarat. Now is the time for every in-store signage companies to think over plans to exploit the high-end jewellery zone to crack a new business opportunity.
Real estate developer, Alpha Corp recently opened the doors of their stunning AlphaOne mega retail and entertainment development in Amritsar, Punjab. After the inauguration of the eagerly awaited AlphaOne, thousands of enthusiastic visitors made a beeline for AlphaOne coming in hordes on all three days of the weekend. The total weekend sales at AlphaOne were over 2 crore rupees. The revenue generated at Flavours, the food court was Rs. 6.41 lacs on Sunday alone. The biggest retail, lifestyle and entertainment destination centre of Punjab has the best mix of international, national and regional brands. Apart from shoppers, this full-packed AlphaOne outlet is a warm place for signage companies looking for grabing new business in the in-store sector.
Luxury brand Da Milano has their collections primed to penetrate the world of high fashion retail in Mumbai. It has recently launched its first exclusive store situated within the trendy Linking Road, Mumbai. This swanky store is spread over 2000 square feet and reflects a minimal yet striking décor to attract the young and uber stylish urban crowd. With an all glass frontage, the off white backdrop of the store with soft green wall paper, warm wooden shelves, glazed marble flooring and effective lighting helps to bring out the designs and the vibrant colors of the collections on display prominently. No doubt, such high-end exclusive store is the right spot where in-store signage companies could mint new business.
William Penn, multi-brand retail store chain housing premium fine writing instruments, desktop and lifestyle accessories, has announced its plans to expand retail network in India to 15 stores by 2010 end. Launching its fourth store in Bangalore, the company considers India as a booming market for luxury goods. Luxury brands from across the world have got interested in India because of the rise in purchasing power and the expansion of William Penn retail chain will also be a new business opportunity for in-store media companies, sign suppliers, print providers, etc.
Bangalore-based Prestige Group is planning to develop six malls, scheduled to be operational by 2013. The real estate giant will construct four of these six malls in a JV with Singapore-based CapitaMalls Asia. The new malls would be set up in Hyderabad, Kochi, Mangalore, Bangalore, Mysore and Shantiniketan, a township developed by the group near Bangalore. Prestige Group has two malls in Bangalore— Forum at Koramangala and True Value Mall in Whitefield. The one in Whitefield is a discount mall with anchors such as Pantaloons, Tommy Hilfiger, Megamart, Esprit and Louis Vuitton having their factory outlets there. Prestige Group’s unveiling of new malls in strategic locations would boost the parametre of the Indian retail segment, which in turn bring in new business opportunity for the signage industry as well.
Reliance Retail, which has a tie-up with UK-based toy retailer Hamleys, announces the of launch 20 toy stores across the country in the next seven years with an investment of Rs 150 crore. The organised toy market in the country, estimated at Rs 1,500 crore, is poised for a healthy growth. In a matter of some months, the second Hamleys store would come up in Chennai. Breaking news is that the signage industry is that these new toy stores will be poised as new business opportunity to in-store signage companies.
Tata Group’s Infiniti Retail plans to open more than 100 Croma stores across India during the next two years. Currently the company has 47 Croma stores and the latest in the expansion is the three new stores of—20,000 sq ft at South Extension, 6,000 sq ft at Saket (New Delhi) and 12,000 sq ft at Gurgaon (Haryana). Infiniti Retail, a subsidiary of Tata Sons had launched Croma chain of mega stores of consumer electronics and durables in 2006. Croma’s magnification in the capital city and its NCR is a green signal to the region’s in-store signage majors for a new business opportunity.
Adidas AG, the world’s second-largest sporting-goods maker, announces its improved sales and profitability resulting from the upcoming FIFA World Cup, SA. It is confirmed that it will help the company meet its increased forecast for full-year profit. Revenue in 2010 will rise at a ‘mid-single-digit’ pace, faster than the previous forecast of ‘low-to-mid single-digit’ growth. Now, what the company is expecting is that India will become its big growth market and retail sales to rise at pace faster than the previously expected as it steps up store opening across the country. The company’s plan to magnify its retail preseence in India is a new business prospect for signage players like in-store media majors, sign makers/suppliers, print providers, etc.