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The Nuance Group is teaming up with Shoppers’ Stop in a joint venture designed to enter the Indian airport retail market |
INDIA. The Nuance Group is teaming up with one of India’s leading retailers – Shoppers’ Stop Ltd, part of the K Raheja Corp (Chandru L Raheja Group) – in a joint venture designed to enter the Indian airport retail market.
The joint-venture company will be equally owned by both partners and plans to offer a comprehensive range of services, from operating master concessions to distribution of international brands. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the companies’ representatives in Hyderabad today.
In a statement Nuance said: “India is one of the most promising markets as far as airport development and marketing is concerned. This process is further accelerated by the upcoming privatisation of several major airports across the country as well as by the fast expansion of various airline companies in the country. The Nuance Group has defined India as one of its key strategic expansion areas.”
Shoppers’ Stop has built up a strong competence in department stores and operates 20 Shopper’s Stop stores all over India, which carry a mix of both national and international brands. The company has been paramount in bringing to India some of the best names in fashion and cosmetics.
Shoppers’ Stop, a K Raheja Corp (CL Raheja Group) company, has a 100% subsidiary Crossword, which sells books, music CDs, stationery, newsprint, toys and games at 33 locations. K Raheja Corp also owns and operates Inorbit Malls – one of the most successful malls in the country – in Malad, a suburb of Mumbai. In early 2006 the K Raheja Corp introduced its value retail concept Hypercity, which at 118,000sq ft is the country’s largest hypermarket.
The Nuance statement continued: “Teaming up in a 50:50 joint venture, the two companies offer a perfect combination in expertise of international airport retailing and retailing to the Indian customer.
“The objective of the joint venture is to offer a wide range of services for Indian airport retail both on the duty free side and the domestic side as per applicable regulations, from the operation of master concessions, duty free and food & beverage concessions to the franchise of concepts developed by Nuance or third parties as well as distribution of international brands of wine and liquor to hotels and other wholesalers as may be permitted by Foreign Direct Investment Regulations.”
The Nuance Group Executive Vice President Business Development & Strategic Marketing Carlo Bernasconi commented: “The signing of this MoU with Shoppers’ Stop Ltd is a first milestone for The Nuance Group’s entry into the dynamic growth market India. We are convinced that together we will be able to create a truly unique offer perfectly tailored to the needs of the customers at Indian airports.”
Shoppers’ Stop Managing Director BS Nagesh added: “We believe with this partnership we will extend our unique shopping experience to the airports and touch the lives of millions of travellers. This will also help us create a larger footprint across the country.”
The Indian travel market
Interest in India is at an all-time high in the travel retail industry thanks to a flurry of contract tenders due to take place over the short and medium term.
Last week The Moodie Report quoted State Minister for Civil Aviation Praful Patel as saying that India’s airline passenger traffic was set to increase by at least +25% on an annual compound growth basis over the next decade.
During the first quarter of 2006, domestic passenger traffic rose by +49% year-on-year. Patel said that a strong rise in international traffic to India was being driven by the strong domestic economy as well as new air travel agreements with countries such as the US and UK.
India is also keen to attract foreign airlines to around 35 secondary airports outside the country’s largest cities.
About Shoppers’ Stop Ltd
Shoppers’ Stop is a leader in the Indian retail sector and one of the pioneers in setting up large format department stores chain in India. It has a national presence, with over 90,000sq m of retail space, and stocks over 200 Indian and international brands.
It is described as India’s premier shopping destination – with stores in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Pune, Kolkata, Gurgaon, Chennai and Ghaziabad – and is India’s largest department store chain. Shoppers’ Stop is the only Indian member of the IGDS (Intercontinental Group of Departmental stores) along with 29 other experienced retailers from all over the world.
Shoppers’ Stop has been awarded SuperBrand status 2003/2004 by an independent Superbrands Council comprising the most eminent professionals from marketing and advertising out of a national list of 711 brands across 98 categories.
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