Kiosks spell huge business for India’s retail malls

“Kiosks becomes an introduction point and an avenue for test marketing,” says Kishore Bathija, chief executive of Inorbit, which operates malls in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Pune.

In the Saket neighborhood of south Delhi, the Select Citywalk mall houses vendors selling Turkish fast food, cupcakes and fruit-shaped soaps along with kiosks of reputed brands such as RIM BlackBerry and Samsung.  Retailers Association of India chairperson Kumar Rajagopalan says, “Kiosks are a method to add newness and bring added spice to malls.”

According to the Financial Express newspaper, fast food giant McDonald’s  operates several kiosks in various malls in different cities and plans to add more of that format across India. “Our kiosks are doing extremely well as large number of customers are thronging to them,” says McDonald's India chief Vikram Bakshi.

Start-up retailer Happily Unmarried had a tough time scouting for tiny spaces in malls to showcase its gifting items three years ago.  “Malls were were high-handed and said they would only work with bigger brands,” said Happily Unmarried co-founder Rajat Tuli. Then it managed to get space for a kiosk in New Delhi’s Select Citywalk Mall that gave it the much-required visibility.  Today the company runs three stores, and has set up kiosks in malls in Mumbai, Bangalore and Ludhiana. Now new malls from Kolkata and Bangalore serenade Tuli for his business

Jewelry manufacturer Karigari also started off with just one kiosk  in Select CityWalk  in 2009 and has now expanded significantly in an all-kiosk model. Cambay Tiger Prawns, which started as a kiosk within HyperCity hypermarket, has now food stalls in two Mumbai malls.

Established retail chains are expanding into the kiosk format. Jawed Habib Hair & Beauty started a kiosk version of hair cutting salon HairXpreso in 2009 and currently operates 88 such kiosks in malls Soon they will offer haircut  kiosks inside several Big Bazaar hypermarkets. 

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Krispy Kreme, PF Chang's to Enter India

Dubai-based billionaire Micky Jagtiani's Landmark Group, which operates Max hypermarkets and Lifestyle  Stores  in India  and is India’s number three retailer behind Future Group and Reliance Retail, is about to enter food retailing.  The $4-billion group's leisure arm Citymax India may franchise Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and PF Chang's China Bistro. 

Jagtiani has hired Ruby Tuesday’s India head, Vishal Sawhney to spearhead the group's hospitality business, as he targets $1 billion India revenue by 2013. Dubai-based Landmark Group's new president for hospitality business Vishal Swahney said, "We would not want to comment on market speculation." Citymax India already operates Gloria Jean's Coffees, Polynation Food Courts and Sanjeev Kapoor's The Yellow Chilli restaurants, besides an indoor family entertainment centre called Fun City.

Krispy Kreme will compete with another American chain Dunkin' Donuts, slated to hit Indian markets by next year with Jubilant Foodworks as its franchisee.

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New York-based consumer products maker Wiesner eyes India

New York-based Wiesner Products Inc (WPI) has set up its subsidiary in India to sell a range of consumer items such as footwear, hosiery, accessories, apparel and home goods at retail stores here.

Wiesner Worldwide Kreations (WWK) Pvt Ltd, the Indian arm of WPI, has already tied up with leading retail stores in the country like Hypercity, Home Centre and Westside, as it looks to strengthen operations in the country.

"We have set up an office in India with a team of 15 people and are targeting big retail chains along with a large number of distributors. India is the third country of operations for Wiesner after the US and China," WWK Vice-President South East Asia Bhavna Jha told PTI.

She said Wiesner Products Inc that has operations in the US for over 40 years with an annual turnover of around USD 250 million, is looking to offer its international products to consumers in India.

Asked about the company's expectations from the Indian market Jha said, "We want to go slow and steady here."

Besides selling its products in India, Wiesner is also looking at local sourcing.

"All the sourcing for the US and China markets is done from China and Philippines at present. In China, the company co-owns a few manufacturing units and has exclusive sourcing arrangements with others. Going ahead we will consider sourcing from India also," she added.

Wiesner Products Inc makes and sells branded products, licensed items and private labels.

It also holds licenses for merchandise of brands such as Aerosoles, Nickelodeon, MGA, Marvel, The Sharper Image, WWE and Warner Brothers.

The company has design offices in New York and Shanghai, but is not considering to develop design capabilities in India, Jha added.

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Kenneth Cole partners with Reliance to open 25 India stores

American clothing brand Kenneth Cole has entered into a deal with Reliance Brands, a Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries firm, to retail its collection of men and women's apparel and accessories in 25 planned stores across India over the next five years.

Kenneth Cole and Reliance Brands have signed a licencing agreement for retail and premium wholesale distribution in India.

Under the agreement, five stores will be opened over the next three years, with plans to open an additional 20 stores in the following five years.

Reliance Brands President and CEO Darshan Mehta said in a statement that Kenneth Cole represents an iconic all-American fashion house that "encapsulates a lifestyle that is chic, urban and is infused with modern style and sensibility that perfectly resonates with the contemporary Indian consumers".

The launch will initially include the opening of "dual gender" retail stores in major cities across India that will retail men's and women's footwear, clothing and accessories under the Kenneth Cole New York and the Kenneth Cole Reaction labels.

"India promises substantial growth potential for our brand, the country's economy is growing quickly and development is strong, which is why Kenneth wants to create a presence in India now," Kenneth Cole Productions CEO Paul Blum said.

Blum said the brand's global expansion is directly linked to an increased demand for its product internationally and we are "excited to introduce our brand to the market with a strong partner like Reliance".

"India is fast becoming a fashion capital of the world and the synergy of its metropolitan lifestyle coupled with the modern sensibilities of the brand's heritage is the perfect addition to the growing global portfolio for Kenneth Cole Productions," the company said.

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Cadbury India sales rise 40%

Two years after Kraft Foods acquired Cadbury Plc globally, sales in its Indian business skyrocketed as the firm aggressively ramped up distribution and increased advertising spent on both existing Cadbury brands and new launches from Kraft portfolio.

Cadbury India's sales grew 40%, thanks to the successful launch of  Oreo cookies coupled with double digit growth of most legacy Cadbury brands.  The Economic Times reported said that the record growth comes at a time when there has been talk about integration issues between Kraft and Cadbury because of two disparate cultures-one American and the other British-coming together.

Since 2010, Cadbury India has brought in two Kraft brands-biscuits with Oreo and fruit juices and beverages with Tang. While Tang is manufactured at Kraft's Hyderabad plant, Punjab-based Bector Foods makes Oreo.

More than half of Kraft Foods' revenue now comes from markets outside North America. According to its Chairman Irene Rosenfeld's stated goal, the proportion of business in developing markets such as Brazil, China, India and Mexico will increase from a quarter of total revenue in 2010 to roughly one-third by 2013.

While Kraft is an Amritt client, none of the news above has bearing on our work for them.

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