Q-Mart to roll out 15 Curves centers
Q-Mart Retail Ventures Private Limited
, the promoters of Q-Mart lifestyle super market, signed an agreement with CFW International Inc (Curves India) to set up 18 Curves centres in Andhra Pradesh. CFW International is the master licensee of Curves brand of fitness centres for women in India. The centre offers fitness, strength training and weight loss guidance. While 15 centres would come up in Hyderabad, one each has been planned in Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Tirupati. Not only for the fitness aficionados, the new curve centers will carve a new business opportunity for signage players too.
Discount store chain The Loot announces its process of raising Rs 100 crore to boost its growth. The company, which recently forayed into the shop-in-shop format, plans to open 10 more such stores this quarter and is talking to players like Reliance Retail, Aditya Birla and Future Group among others for this. Out of the 10 stores, five would come up in Mumbai. Currently, The Loot has 150 odd stores pan-India and over the next six months, the company plans to open 40 more standalone stores taking their total number to 200, including the ones in shop-in-shop format. Now, signage players like in-store media companies, sign makers and print providers can get set to loot a new business opportunities in the new stores.
Cocoberry, India’s first premium frozen yogurt chain, is eyeing 50 retail outlets across India by the end of fiscal 2010-11. The company, which at present has around 11 operational outlets in Dehi NCR and Mumbai, plans to expand its reach in other cities like Chandigarh, Bangalore, Jaipur, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Pune, Chennai, Kolkata etc in the next one year. New stores are likely to be launched in Jaipur and Bangalore within the first quarter of next fiscal and about two-three outlets are in the pipeline for launch in Chandigarh. Now the mushrooming of Cocoberry retail outlets in big cities across India is a new business punch for in-store media companies, print providers and fabricators in the signage sector.
MMTC Limited, a public sector enterprise and the leading bullion trading company of India, plans to increase its footprint in the retail market. The company envisages to open 100 outlets, including company owned as well as joint venture and stockists in the near future. The brand had been getting huge response from retail buyers in the exhibitions organised at various centers over the years. The company under Shuddhi (a JV of Gitanjali and MMTC) planned to open 63 outlets and out of these about 25 should be opened in Delhi. The silver lining in the new expansion move of MMTC is that signage players like in-store media companies, sign suppliers, etc could find a new opportunity in the new jewellery outlets.
UK-based toy retailer Hamleys plans to open 20 toy stores across India in the next seven years. The overseas company has tie-up with Reliance Retail and the JV will invest Rs 150 crore for the new stores. The company has unveiled its first store in Mumbai. Such new move accelerates organised toy market in the country and it has been estimated at Rs 1,500 crore poising for a healthy growth. Hamleys stores will be every kid’s delight, but more in concern for a new opportunity with the opening of the up-market toy stores will be for the signage industry too. In-store media companies, sign suppliers and others can earmark their business at a new level.
14 are already operational and the remaining will be opened by the end of this fiscal. The company currently has around 127 screens and invested Rs 14 crore in the new seven-screen multiplex, which has a seating capacity of 1,850. South India is an important market for the company, for which it has been planning to invest around Rs 50 crore in the next 18 months in the south. Of course, the expansion of PVR multiplexes will shower new business opportunities to signage comanies such as, fabricators, printers and others.