Economic Times answering this question What’s a Recession? has made a fair analysis with some writing about India

“Is India going through a recession?”

There is no doubt that India has been affected by the recession that has beset the US economy, especially in sectors which are export-oriented or are dependent on outsourcing. However, the RBI governor last week assured that India would not see recession even if uncertainty continued globally. He stated that growth would be moderate and pegged GDP growth for 2008-2009 at 7.5-8%(ET 2Nov) Read the rest of this entry »

2005/06 - Baroda, Ahmedabad, Surat, - New Destinations, money to burn, places to acquire, malls to be built.

2008 - Malls ready, high rentals, brands occupying, supposedly great footfalls BUT no conversion. And some have changed hands, closed so on & forth.

WHY? WHY? WHY? Read the rest of this entry »

A month ago, Bela a dear friend, who runs Spink Marketing a retail consultancy invited me for coffee at the TiE office early morning to meet some entrepreneurs, learn from them & her presentation and try to provide some inputs also.

Since the time was early morning, this was really tough, but decided to go!

The topics covered Global Retail challenges versus Local current challenges. Improving Services offerings in Retail context… creating more moments of “WOW”… Read the rest of this entry »

Indian Retail that had been rocking a year back is facing rocks today; some of it due to circumstances beyond control, but some definitely within control. Based on experience, discussions, talks over the past year……thought that some of these can be listed down…. Read the rest of this entry »

2008 is going to present an Exciting, Challenging & sometimes Frustrating market conditions. In many cases all three situations will be present at once. Such business environment demands the best from Professionals.

To succeed in such exciting times, lets see what skills do a manager needs to refine. The following skills listing are not in any particular sequence of importance. Some of you may find the last one to be of top priority, while for others this may be just the right sequence! I leave it to your judgment.

1: Hiring (& keeping) the best.
As products (& or services) become similar, its the people who will make the difference. Read the rest of this entry »

HR translates into Human Resources, but for the Jewellery Industry that requires & provides employment to thousands, it is not a high priority. Read the rest of this entry »

April 2005 –

Finally decided to take a plunge into an Industry that is around 70,000 crores (according to various studies & reports). Out of this only 3% is the branded segment, though the industry as a whole is growing at 20% + year on year. Read the rest of this entry »

An email debate on the above initiated by Harris - Managing Director of Witco the chain of luggage speciality stores down south Read the rest of this entry »

Example II

Having shifted to Mumbai & the new MNC expected me to report for the presentation in a JACKET???? Read the rest of this entry »

A couple of days ago, a friend sent an sms asking the above question. Quite relevant, in the current “india shining, retail rocking” scenario. Read the rest of this entry »