Letters to the Editor

Home furnishing industry

Please provide me some details about the home furnishing industry for a project I am preparing. I am an MBA student and now in summer training.

Devesh Sapra

Thanks for the information

Indeed, this is useful info about supporting 'green' bags.

Could I have details of the different firms, especially Blacksheep Ventures, who could supply us these bags? Also, I would be glad to support the NGOs who are makers of these bags. Even if they are able to cater to a part of our requirement, we would be more than keen to support them.

A part of Hiranandani Group , Lakewood Malls is the retail group of Hiranandanis. With our retail brands Haiko Supermarket, Loft (multi-brand footwear & footcare store) and su:riti (The Culture Shop), we are already seven stores across India.

Madhusudan Desai
M/s. Lakewood Malls Pvt.Ltd

Green bags

'Go GREEN with Enthusiasm' is our motto. Being based in Dubai, we have been promoting usage of reusable and biodegradable jute bags from India. The retailers understand their social responsibilities and are open to making the change. We have been successful in introducing the bags to two key retailers in Dubai. Also, corporate and exhibition organisers are our clients.

When we can do it in Dubai, why can't Indian retailers? They should promote usage of reusable jute bags by their customers. To take if further, we are now introducing in the Middle East 100% biodegradable plastic bags.

Every small step counts towards solving the global environment problem.

Pradeep Parmar

Paper bags

Thanks a lot for the article. I would like to use the handmade paper bags from Sandesh for our retail stores Luxor Signature. Please give us the address / phone numbers / contact details of them.

Chander Shaker Baddam
A.G.M Retail
Luxor Writing Instruments P. Ltd

Bag'ging to go green

I read with great interest the article on the green bags for retailers. I share the views in the article and add that our NGO Literacy India www.literacyindia.org has facility to make paper bags for retailers. Recently, we completed an order for over 7,000 bags for an MNC.

We use recycled paper, newspaper etc for the paper bags. We have our own paper plant to recycle the paper.

Shall be pleased to provide more information

Rajpal Duggal
Trustee
Literacy India

Fashion merchandising houses

I am a student of architecture. As part of my syllabus I"m doing my final thesis project on fashion merchandising houses in India. I am also designing a fashion merchandising house for Fashion Technology Park at Mohali, Punjab. I will be really thankful if I could get some help from your side for a more detailed insight into the fashion industry. I am looking for fashion merchandising houses in India, the buildings of which I can study architecturally.

Shweta Raghaw

Spring Air

This is in reference to a query I have regarding an article about Spring Air brand (the link follows) http://www.indiaretailing.com/news.asp?id=2097&topic=1title=.

I would like some help from your end regarding their contact details in India as I am a developer and would like to meet them to explore various opportunities.

Raghav Sawhney

Looking for India franchisee

We are a major retailer in the United States with 600+ stores under the name of Limited Too, and are looking for a potential franchisee in India. Our customer base is the tween girl, aged 7-14 years, who wants the fashion of her older sister and loves that we offer a store 'just for her'.

We currently have 30 franchise stores with MH Alshaya in the Middle East countries of Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, KSA, and Jordan. In March we opened our first store in Sweden as part of an agreement that covers Scandinavia, and in the Fall we will open our first stores in Russia.

I read your newsletter over the internet and wonder if there is any information available on what apparel retailers are partnered with what retail groups?

In advance, thank you for any help you can give me.

Deborah Daly
Tween Brands Service Co.

Of scanners and printers

We would like to introduce ourselves as an ISO 9001 - 2000 certified company having head office and works at Gurgaon and six regional offices, one each at Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. We have a network of dealers and distributors all over India.

We are members of GS1 India, Label Manufacturers Association of India, AIDC Technologies Association of India & AIM Global.

We are authorised distributors of TOSHIBA range of Barcode Printers & ARGOX in India. We are also sole distributors of Godex range of Barcode Printers in India. We are also sole distributors of OPTICON for scanner and data capturing units.

VC Srikanthan

Technology in action

I am a subscriber to your newsletter. I find your coverage of retail trends in Indian retail interesting and timely. I believe the enclosed article on "Technology in Action" conference for retailers hosted by us at Key Largo, Florida, will be of interest to your readers as well. Our TAC invitation goes out to several Indian retailers.

Emerson Climate Technologies is a division of Emerson Electric (NYSE: EMR). Retail Solutions is a division of Emerson Climate Technologies with 'energy management' as a primary objective. Our sophisticated energy management technologies are used by major retailers around the world - TESCO, Wal-Mart, Giant, M&S, and Metro, to name a few. Our solutions focus on designing for HVAC, refrigeration, lighting and power; as well as on monitoring and management techniques for power using a sophisticated control-and-sensor system inside the store. You may visit www.emersonretailsoluitons.com for more details.

S. Lakshmi Prabha

MORE project

I am an MBA student. I got a project on More (Aditya Birla group's retail chain), so will you please help me by telling me how More is going to segment its market in India, and also about the opportunities for More in the retail industry.

Abhishek Barthwal

Khandesh Central Mall in Jalgaon

With regard to the above topic, we are proud to inform you that we are a prime developer developing a 5.5 lakh sq. ft mall in Jalgaon. In connection with the same and referring to the newsletter dated Friday, June 27, there was an article on Vaidyaratnam Group expansion. We would like to know the concerned organisation's details as also contact details about their retail head. Kindly help us and oblige.

Vrajesh Nayak
Crescent Entertainment & Tourism Limited

Eastward shift

Indeed, the article "Eastward shift: Indian handicraft in modern retail outlets" was a nice write-up by Ranjan Kaplish & Satrajit Sen .

Can I have the email IDs of them ?

Madhusudan Desai
M/s. Lakewood Malls Pvt.Ltd

Are they keen?

We are a consulting group in the business of global sourcing. Our German principal is an expert in catering to the needs of retailers in Europe and the United States, for both direct and indirect material sourcing.

We are very closely following the developments in the sector and Indiaretailing's reports have been an extremely important part of our research. The recent articles on "Recyclable or environmental-friendly bags" were extensively covered.

However, we would like to be sure about the big Indian retailers' keenness on going the Green Way, as none of them (read Reliance, Pantaloon, etc.) sounded very inclined towards recyclable packaging.

Niswarth Kochar
Sourcing Engineer-Consultant

A lifetime bag

I've been following your articles about 'Bag'ging to go green from the retail store, and am glad that someone raised this issue at a national platform as yours.

Am enclosing a few ideas based on my 10 years in packaging industry, see if they help.

At Dynaflex Private Limited [www.dynaflex.in], we were supplying to stores like Westside, Planet M, Globus, and Reliance. We are trying to introduce the concept of a 'lifetime bag'. Here, a customer, instead of getting a low-cost, shabby plastic bag free, will have to buy a heavy-duty plastic bag, which whenever it is torn can be returned in exchange for a new similar bag. This ensures that the plastic bag goes back to the retailer and does not end up blocking sewers or landfills. We collect the damaged bags from the retailers and recycle and reuse them for other applications, thereby reducing the plastic waste problem. Besides, we are replacing plastic instead of producing more each time a client buys something.

Under normal circumstances, such a lifetime bag will last about 20-30 times the life cycle of a normal plastic bag. This concept has been very well accepted in certain parts of Germany, France and the United Kingdom.

We know that paper bags are an expensive and impractical solution, and only good for such public debates. To be practical and find a solution, we must figure out a way to reduce plastic consumption in the world. Why create another problem in trying to eliminate one?

Everyone knows that if we don't want people to smoke, we must stop producing cigarettes, not issue license to make them, stc. However, the government will do nothing of that sort due to its vote bank compulsions and, instead, they tax the smokers. This is not a solution! It's just one of the ways to discourage people, and might or might not work.

In a similar way, in the petroleum and polymer industry we must not forget that large corporates like Reliance, Exxon, etc., are involved with billions of dollars in investments. So, the best solution must be a workable solution for all parties involved.

All the best , and hope some good comes out of your articles .

Gaurav
Black Sheep Ventures
Baroda, Gujarat, India

Offer for RDB

I would like to offer RDB a space for leasing at Grand mall and towers at outer ring road, Bangalore.

Please give me the contact numbers for the company and the name of the head of the company.

SV Arun Prakash
National Head Retail
IDEB Projects Pvt. Ltd

Railways realty

I write in relation to the news titled 'Indian Railways offering retail space'. I hereby request you to inform me if any tender was issued for this article, or where can I contact for the details of the same.

Meharia Consortium Reality Services
New Delhi

Business partners for French firms

This is with reference to your article dated 5th May 2008. We at the Economic Department of the French Embassy work towards finding business partners for the French firms in India. Regarding the same, we needed the contact details of Navratna Bharat Retail Pvt. Ltd. We would appreciate if you could mail us their details since you had carried an article on their tie-up with Cartier.

Aarti Gautam

Franchise of Grab Store

I wanted to enquire whether franchise of Grab Store is available. I belong to Nagpur and really interested in the concept of offering multiple brands at discounted rates.

Yashoda Khilwani

Office and retail space for lease

Developer: Abyaar Real Estate
Exclusive leasing agent: Colliers International

Offices:
Open Space Plan
Price per sq.ft from AED 185* per sq.ft
Office space from 730 sq.ft upwards

Retail:
Open Space Plan
Price per sq.ft from AED 260* per sq.ft
Retail space from 480 sq.ft upwards

Location: Dubai Investments Park, near Green Community and World Central (Jebel Ali Airport)

Completion: Approximately 2-3 months}

Plot number: 598 - 1192 (HQ 7), opposite Nibras School and Ewan Residences

For more information, please call or email. Email communication preferred.

*15% common area included

Nasser Faris