Indiantelevision.com Team

(17 April 2009 9:20 pm)

BANGALORE: Reliance Retail Ltd. (RRL) has launched its first ‘Trends’ outlet in Bangalore and the eleventh in India today.

The retail major plans to open 100 large format ‘Trends’ outlets by 2011 in 34 towns and cities in India.

This year, Reliance plans to open ten outlets to bring the pan India tally of 'Trends’ to 21. The other ‘Trends’ stores are presently operative in Delhi, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Jallandhar, Ahmedabad and Kochi.

“Rather than targeting numbers in revenues, we are looking at giving our customers a feel of value products. We want to set a new benchmark in the industry through affordable fashion,” says Reliance Trends Ltd. Senior VP (apparel speciality stores) Akhilesh Prasad.

A typical ‘Trends’ outlet would have a floor area between 15,000 to 25,000 sq. ft. with one of the outlets in Hyderabad having a floor space of 34,000 sq. ft. The Bangalore outlet is a stand-alone with a spread-over of 18,000 sq. ft, adds Prasad.

Depending upon the location of the outlet – whether stand-alone or in a mall, Prasad says that each outlet in the metros has about 2,000 to 5,000 footfalls during weekdays and 5,000 to 6,000 during weekends. The conversion rates in the standalone ‘Trends’ stores are higher than those of stores in malls, informs Prasad.

On completion of the pan India roll out, RRL plans to tap television also. At present the company uses radio for brand promotion in metros and mini-metros while in the case of small towns such as Jallandhar, it uses the local print media.

‘Trends’ is Reliance’s apparel, luggage and accessories specialty store format that claims to offer more than 100 Indian and international brands.

RRL, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited, opened its first retail store in November 2006 and today operates over 900 stores in 77 cities, spanning 14 states with over 4.2 million sq ft of trading space.