Reliance, Pearle Europe plan for 700 eyewear chain stores
Reliance Retail Ltd (RRL) and partner Pearle Europe plan to open up to 700 stores of their eyewear retail chain ‘Vision Express’ across India in the next seven to eight years. Vision Express is an equal joint venture (JV) between RRL and Pearle Europe, the biggest optical retail group in Europe. The JV presently operates 41 stores across major cities in the country. Vision Express will continue to open company-owned stores with an average floor space of 800-900 sq ft and the opening of the ‘Vision Express’ stores will be a big business opportunity for signage players like in-store media companies and signage suppliers.
Kolkata-based leading menswear brand Turtle plans to open four more exclusive brand outlets (EBOs) in Orissa over the next one year. This will take the number of EBOs in the state to seven by the end of 2010. The company is scouting for property in Bhubaneswar, Rourkela, Sambalpur and Balasore to open EBOs while the third EBO will come up in Bhubaneswar in the next few months. The new EBOs will be new destinations to embark upon for signage players that include in-store media companies and signage suppliers.
A leading major in imaging and printing solutions, Kodak India plans to open 100 Kodak Express stores in the country over the next two years, with an estimated investment of Rs 15 crore. The company plans to open 100 Kodak Express stores by 2012 with an investment of Rs 15 lakh per store. The main focus will be major metros and tier II cities. Currently, Kodak has 12 such stores across the country and the new stores in the pipeline will offer a new opportunity to the signage industry, particularly the in-store media companies and signage suppliers.
Cotton King, an attire brand for men, opened its 25th outlet in Maharashtra and 8th in Pune in a span of five years. The company offers value-for-money products with a large variety and high quality of 100 percent cotton category and planning to expand in the regions like Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mysore, Hubli and Dharwad. Apart from strengthening its base in Mumbai (Navi Mumbai, Thane and Kalyan), other parts in consideration are Napur, Amravati, Akola, apart from the neighbouring states like Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Voila! It would be a big opportunity for every signage player, particularly in-store media companies and signage suppliers.
After Germany’s Metro and US-based Wal-Mart, UK’s largest Cash & Carry player Booker Group Plc has set up its first shop in Mumbai. Booker India, a unit of Booker Group, spent nearly Rs 8 crore in setting up the 35,000 sq ft Cash and Carry store in Kandivali suburb of Mumbai and planned to roll out similar ones in other parts of the country. Metros and smaller towns can take different sized stores in the country and the company sees how the Mumbai store operates and stabilises. And there is the fact that the new Cash & Carry stores will lend a new business opportunity to signage companies, particularly in-store media companies and signage players.
Ducati Motor Holding, the world’s leading producer of Racing inspired motorcycles has opened its first showroom in India. Partnered with Precision Motor India Private Limited to provide opportunities for growth and further establishment of the Ducati Brand, the company has chosen Mumbai as its location for the first flagship showroom. The Ducati brand which symbolises racing success, innovative technology and the highest quality standards is a perfect fit for Precision Motor India and the opening of the new high-end store will race up opportunity for signage players, such as signage suppliers as well as in-store media companies. 
Latent Images Private Limited, which currently operates five ‘IIIrd i’ digital camera retail stores in Hyderabad, is planning to open three more gadget retail concept stores under the ‘NowGadget’ brand. The new stores will be unveiled in three cities—one each in Chennai, Bangalore and Kochi—in the next six months. No doubt, such high-end stores will offer an unmatched opportunity to every signage supplier as well as in-store media company in the region.
Kolkata-based conglomerate ITC Ltd plans to launch its rural hypermarkets, known as Choupal Saagars, in a smaller format as it seeks to boost its presence in the remote towns. The company already has 24 hypermarkets, each spread across 10,000 sq ft, offering multiple products and services, ranging from clothing and electronics to soil testing, under one roof. Now, the company plans to set up stores just half the size of the existing ones and this is also a delivery of an unmatched opportunity for the signage players to explore new landscape in the Indian retail segment.