British Iconic brand, Superdry launches its flagship store in Juhu, Mumbai

Ambrus Jewels by Arpit Goyal, inspired by a rich heritage and the beauty of rich culture, make the jewellery pieces a matter of high-end and luxe experience.

The company unveiled its first flagship store at Defence Colony in South Delhi on 31st October 2018. Comprising of an exquisite range of rings, earrings, necklaces, and pendants the exclusive collection is a beautiful melange of enigmatic designs and inspired by the poetry of beauty.

Acknowledging the family's support and patience the brand will ensure a seamless process that will leave behind a long lasting impression and a strong legacy. 

The enchanting appeal of this collection not only adds radiance to your face but reflects the inner artistic sense of the creator. Enhancing the diva in you the jewellery pieces will surely enhance your style quotient. 

Commenting on the launch, Arpit Goyal, Founder says, "I have always emphasised on giving importance to Indian culture and heritage as reflected in the jewellery pieces. An eye for art, I appreciate the Indian history in architecture with the use of colours.  I believe in appreciating the Indian craftsmanship and promoting the fine jewellery craftsman."

We are ready to present the perfect amalgamation of tradition and trend for modish and fashionable women. We have jewelleries for every event either big or small, and of different designs from Bridal Heavy Diamond Jewellery to Cocktail Diamond Jewellery to Gold Jewellery to Corporate, Contemporary and Everyday wear. So, we are all set with our new offerings and collections.

Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri Limited is India’s renowned and trusted jewellery retailer with a legacy of more than 150 years. The company has foryed North India by opening its first store in Noida. The first store in Noida is also the 38^th TBZ-The Original store across 27 cities in India.

 The Noida store of TBZ-The Original offers a wide array of innovative and attractive jewellery designs with an added attraction of custom-made products. The showroom showcases a vast range of contemporary and modern jewellery collection and a mix of gold, diamond and jadau jewellery for discerning customers. Customers are given personalized attention and services. They can also consult the TBZ team including the senior personnel in Mumbai for their specific requirements. 

 Speaking at the launch Raashi Zaveri, Director, Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri Ltd., said, “Launching TBZ-The Original store in Noida marks a special double celebration for us as the launch coincides with our 154 glorious years of trust, tradition and timeless award-winning design and craftsmanship in jewellery. TBZ- The Original is known for being the preferred choice of jewellery for Indian brides and is the perfect fit for Noida, which is known for its lavish weddings. Customers will have the same shopping experience and access to exquisite handcrafted jewellery that is available at all TBZ-The Original stores across the country.”

TBZ-The Original’s Bridal Collection flatters every bride since it has been lovingly strung together with opulent Indian heritage and contemporary craftsmanship inspired by the needs of today’s brides. The exquisite gold and diamond wedding jewellery collection comprises of a thoughtfully curated assortment starting with mesmerizing engagement rings, beautiful bangles and Kangans, attention-grabbing necklaces with intricate work; amongst others product categories. All our products are TBZ – The Original certified and carry the BIS Hallmark

Reliance Jewels has announced the launch of its extravagant store in Varanasi. The store features exclusive collection of traditional and contemporary gold, silver, diamond and solitaire jewellery, catering to the brand’s patrons, in and around Varanasi. So far, Reliance Jewels has 78 showrooms across 47 cities and is expanding exponentially.

After an overwhelming response from their patronage in the city, Reliance Jewels is extending its gratitude to all for their love with the launch of its second showroom in Varanasi, which is one of the oldest andmost luminous cities in India. A combination of archaeology, mythology, art and history makes it the cultural capital of the country and its people areknownfor their unique and pureartistry in fine silk, silver and gold.

Speaking on the launch of the new store, Sunil Nayak, CEO, Reliance Jewels said, “We are grateful to the city of Varanasi for all the love, and therefore, it is only appropriate to have launched our 2^nd showroom in the cultural capital of India. We would like to thank our patrons in this city for all their love and support, and are glad to present our second outlet to provide a grand shopping experience to them. We are all set to floor them by show casingwide range of designs and aim to offer, contemporary as well as traditional pieces along with an assurance of quality and purity to our patrons, there by enhancing their jewellery experience, all under one roof

A report published in the year 2016 by Boston Consulting Group in collaboration with the Retailers Association of India depicted a whopping fact that the contemporary Indian retail industry evaluated to $600 Billion. The same figure will be doubled to more than $1 Trillion by the end of 2020. The steady growth of the e-commerce platforms in this market will not hamper sales of the brick and mortar stores. The big retail magnates will stronghold the market with their innovations and inclusions of remarkable visual merchandising strategies.

The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of the Indian retail industry clearly depicts an overwhelming growth of 10% every year. If every piece falls in the right place then India will surpass the capabilities of China by the end of 2025. The e-commerce market will take a huge leap to grow and touch the $70 Billion mark within 5 years. Taking this figure as a threat, the brick and mortar brands will have to change their merchandising strategies likewise to dominate the game. Here is the list of 5 best retail visual merchandising strategies adopted by the big players to keep the customers coming in the store.

1. Empowering customers

The best way to make sure that a customer will visit your shop repeatedly is to involve him or her in the process as much as possible. The engagement and inspiration availed to the shoppers will surely impact the buying decisions positively.

Omar Pallante, Chief Executive Officer, Arte Vetrina Project, said, “Visual merchandising has assumed a more strategic role, not only linked to an attractive way of distributing the product but also to the selling logic. The sales monitoring in relation to the distribution of the product, let you define the consumers’ behavior, giving out important information about the product and its presentation into the store.”

This is where the experiential store comes into the picture. The ideal way to cut through a tough competition and making your own mark is via an experiential strategy engaging the customers.

Eric Feigenbaum, President, Embrace Design, depicted “When designing a store, we’re not merely designing a selling center, but rather an experience. Great visual merchandising will tell stories while transporting viewers to new places, new times, and new states of mind. Additionally, great visual merchandising will create moments, landmarks, and points of view.”

2. Presenting your product

The word ‘visual merchandising’ means you will have to engage the vision of the customers. Nearly 83% of the brain thoughts are processed using visual data. Tracy Flynn Downing, Ace Designs, suggested “It’s all about creating something visually stimulating to take the consumer from standing in your store to having an emotional connection with who they are, who they want to be, how they want to feel. Something as simple as rolling the cuff of a shirt can change your perspective and really help you visualize that this isn't a shirt on a bust form, this is the shirt I am going to buy, roll up the sleeves and go for a breezy stroll on the beach."

Anything appealing in a unique way will surely intrigue the thought process of the buyer.

3. Technological applications

The customers like to take charge of the shopping experience by choosing their preferred channels and using their favorite devices. The use of technology towards informing, educating and engaging the customers can be a good step towards future.

Eric Feigenbaum said, “The store is a tool of communication, and it’s the successful retailer who will strategically curate the deployment of technology into the store to expand the dialogue with the targeted customer. It’s the visionary retailers and visual merchandisers who are nimble and forward thinking who will succeed.”

4. Window of opportunity

The windows for display are the key to attract the footfall towards your store. You will have a few seconds to create an impression as the majority of the population is possessed by smartphones. The shop windows are the first sales pitch for the onlookers. A proper makeover is mandatory that perfectly displays the products and messages you want to cater.

5. New merchandise

Everyone loves a surprise. In this case, a customer, especially a repeat customer always expects something new in the store. Designing and merchandising are necessary to stay ahead of the curve. Innovate your products, prepare new designs, and find the contemporary needs via analyzing the pain points of the customers to innovate your shop.

Nykaa, India’s largest multi-brand e-commerce beauty platform opened first of its kind  brick & mortar Nykaa store at VR Mall, Whitefield, Bangalore. This follows in-line with the e-commerce players omni-channel approach to beauty retail. The Nykaa Luxe store is positioned on the ground floor of the mall and features brands like Estée Lauder, Clinique, L’Occitane, Ciaté, L.A. Girl along with Nykaa Beauty, the in-house range of cosmetics, offering the discerning beauty shopper a premium luxury experience and a bouquet of brands and categories to choose from.

‘With our omni-channel strategy we will be available at every touch point for our customers. We want to give them to ease to shop a product at their convenience and comfort, whether through online or while visiting a store. The success of our ecommerce store has given us a keen understanding of our customers, who trust our choice and offer’, says FalguniNayar, founder & CEO, Nykaa.com. Also present for the afternoon was  Adwaita Nayar, Head of Offline Retail Strategy.

Nayar visited VR Mall, Bangalore to announce the Nykaa Luxe store launch and  host The Nykaa Beauty Bar - a beauty animation with masterclasses and expert makeovers, to allow customers a one-on-one interaction with leading brands and products. Setup alongside the Nykaa Luxe store in VR Mall, this edition of the event will have nail enamel brand O.P.I, haircare brand Wella and Nykaa Beauty. This will be the fifth edition of The Nykaa Beauty Bar having already visited Chandigargh, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Ahmedabad. 

Spread over 650 sq feet, the Nykaa Luxe store is sure to add a unique element to the offering at VR Mall as it brings a rare combination of beauty solutions under one roof. Trained beauty experts will be present at the store to offer recommendations and solutions to shoppers.Nykaa opened its first brick & mortar store at T3 Terminal, New Delhi in 2015 and its second store at the domestic Arrivals terminal of the T2 Terminal at Mumbai Airport. The opening of this Nykaa Luxe stores is in line with the aim to open 30 offline stores across India by 2020. The stores will also showcase the popular Nykaa Cosmetics products with lipsticks, nail enamels, face compacts, kajals and eyeliners.

Currently there are 5 Nykaa Luxe stores across the country including Infinity Mall – Mumbai, VR Bengaluru and the recently opened store at Khan Market – New Delhi.Since its launch in 2012, Nykaa has seen a strong growth in the beauty vertical with a current run rate of 600 crores offering over 700 brands and 80,000 products. With a path to profitability by 2017, Nykaa closed its last round of funding to raise 104.3 crores in December 2016.

In its efforts to continually reinvent the shopping experience for its consumers, Bata India has added a new concept store at Ambience mall, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi. This store adopts a unified communication style for the brand via creation of highlight areas and focal points enabling a seamless customer journey, reinforcing brand authenticity through the ‘Bata History Wall’ and offering engagement at well-placed interactive zones.

Unveiling of this store was graced by Thomas G Bata himself. This store is unique not only with its clutter free aesthetics, but also through its visual impact as it is an all-white European inspired décor, with minimalistic furniture philosophy to deliver a premium ambience.

This Flagship store houses the latest premium collections from Bata - The Men’s European Collection & Women’s Festive Collection in addition to latest range of Boots for Women under the Naturalizer brand.

Bata European Collection is a range of hand-crafted leather Shoes for men. Designed in Italy by designer Juan Pablo Malaver and made in India, these handcrafted leather shoes are elegant and impressive. The European collection offers the best of urban style and classic comfort.

Naturalizer is a range of winter boots and work wear for women. It’s boot season and Bata’s latest collection boasts of versatile and chic looks for any forecast. Celebrate style and discover winter’s must-haves. With rich leathers, soft suede’s and unique details, this winter footwear captures the essence of modern femininity.

Thomas G. Bata said, “We have grown leaps and bounds from the time I used to travel to India with my father with suitcases full of shoes to introduce through our vast retail network, to now when we design in real-time at our ‘Design Centre’ which has also been set up in India. We are very excited at some of the new projects that the India Design Centre has piloted and which we aim to now take to other Bata countries. Worth mentioning is the Men’s European Collection which has infused style in our otherwise comfortable range and is getting very good traction from consumers.”

Speaking on the occasion of the store launch,  Rajeev Gopalakrishnan, President, South Asia, Bata Emerging markets, said: “With our new destination stores we have started delivering a richer international experience across multiple cities. I am pleased that these new initiatives have got a good response. As we consolidate our style relationships with today’s discerning consumers we will continue on our path of launching premium footwear for women, men and kids.”

Online shopping boom has reduced the number of consumers visiting actual stores to make purchases. To compete, brick-and-mortar retail establishments are increasingly offering fun, unique experiences to encourage brand loyalty and in-person repeat visits. Using LEDs for store lighting has become one of the most effective ways of influencing the buyer’s overall impression and purchasing decisions.

LEDs, with their long life, lower energy requirements, ease of adjustment from cooler to warmer white light, dimming and control capabilities, and a wide range of sizes and configurations, have a tremendous advantage over traditional lights. But beyond that, through the integration of communications technologies, LEDs can permit real-time interaction with shoppers through a smart device. The technology can provide information about sales, the location of departments, and items on display.

Inviting experience

Let’s begin at the store’s windows and entrance, where the decision to stop in or move on is often made. The ability to adjust from warmer to cooler shades of white referred to as color tuning—along with precise light distribution—allows the retailer to create an inviting space that appeals to the shopper’s sense of comfort, safety, and familiarity. Once inside, LEDs’ plethora of physical configurations, including recessed lighting, track lighting, and wall lighting, allow the presentation of a variety of inviting environments in different parts of the store. By illuminating the merchandise, accent lighting—combined with lower levels of surrounding light—can encourage shoppers to linger at certain shelves and racks. The positioning of lights above the aisle ends helps drive customers through the store and discourages bottlenecks.

Whether it’s a red tomato, a bright blue sweater, or a sparkling piece of jewelry, LEDs’ color-tuning capability provides retailers with flexibility in optimizing the appearance of their offerings. A cooler white light approximating daylight could enhance the sparkle factor of cut gemstones, for example, while a warmer white light could make the reds, oranges, and yellows of a floral display really pop. For food in particular, LEDs can help increase shelf life and enhance appearance. Exposure to ultraviolet and infrared radiation can result in degradation of food’s appearance and nutritional value; LEDs used for general illumination contain no ultraviolet or infrared in their output.

Well-lit dressing rooms
An important part of shopping for clothes is the dressing room, where many apparel-buying decisions are made. How well the room is lit can impact how the clothing looks. Because of LEDs’ real-time color tuning and dimming capabilities, they are improving the experience of trying on clothes.

Philips currently offers LED products that allow buyers to evaluate their garment selection according to the season or occasion. By altering the LEDs through a control panel in the fitting room, the consumer can get an idea of how a dress would look on a sunny day and in a dimly lit restaurant.

New way to communicate
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, LEDs may be a key element in the way stores communicate with their visitors. Because LEDs are electronic, it’s easy to incorporate not only lighting controls but also communication capabilities using light as the medium. With such a “Li-Fi” setup, data would be transmitted to enabled receivers, like smartphones, using visible light pulsed at high frequencies that are undetectable to the human eye at much faster transfer rates than traditional Wi-Fi. In the retail environment, a Li-Fi system would be able to push to shoppers’ phones information about sales, coupons, the store’s layout, and other items of interest based on the person’s location in the store as detected via GPS or store cameras.

Author: Yoelit H. Hiebert, Senior Member, IEEE

Danish luxury furniture maker BoConcept has forayed into Indian market by opening its first store in at MG Road in Delhi.

Targeting the upper middle class with its range of modern design products, BoConcept store is an experience centre rather than a mere outlet. The brand that stands for creating one’s own living concept, has roped in the same feel in its store, wherein the interior compliments the brand USP that is more than great designs, but a concept.

The outlet is and ultimate amalgamation of modern and contemporary looks fused together. The outlet boasts of 14 in-house studios. Spread across 4500 sq. ft., the store offers a wide range of furniture.

Commenting on the demands of store, Navin Khanna, Director at BoConcept said, “The requirement of the BoConcept's store was to maximise the space, introduce and showcase most of the designs we offer. The first idea while setting up the store was that it should be well spaced out so that each studio in the store is well defined.”

Brought to life with a cost of around 3.5 lakh euros, the store finds its USP in the fact that it is a well spread out same level store allowing efficient exhibition of all 14 studios.

BoConcept offers a wide variety of home furniture and accessories ranging from small accessories to complete furniture solution for the entire home. BoConcept, which started its journey in 1952, operates over 300 stores in 60 countries.

Located at ‘The Promenade’ at Remount Road in Kolkata, the 3,000 sq ft retail destination of Address Home symbolises a new style of interiors where the vintage meets the contemporary. Built in one of the many dome like warehouses, the store boasts of rusted-metal exteriors in an antique dockyard of the British era.

In a bid to recreated retail through restoration, the store combines modern industrial chic with old world charm. The interiors of this heritage structure have an industrial backdrop seamlessly juxtaposed with futuristic trendy designs

Defining about the idea behind store design, Rajat Singhi, Founder and Creative Director, Address Home said, “When we decided to open a store in Kolkata, we were looking for something out of the ordinary. The search ended at Remount Road, where a line of vintage dome-like structure caught our fancy. We were able to conjure up an image of a store where the Industrial vintage met the contemporary.”

“We kept the industrial look of the warehouse pretty much untouched. With its rusted-metal exteriors, in an antique dockyard the store combines modern Industrial chic with old world charm,” added Singhi

Inspired by the latest colors and design trends across the globe, Address Home offers Linen collections that are an artistic highlight of its exclusive offering.

The bleak Industrial look of the warehouse became a great environment for Address Home’s globally designed interior products and provided a hint of much needed Drama. The rusted vintage exterior of the domes is complimented with a raw industrial look to create a stark contrast with the premium luxury product line in high gloss and metallic finishes.

LED spot lights accentuate the products on shelves while track lights have been deployed for ceiling. Further, to shift focus on the products, the shelves have been done with beading detail in white duco finish.

Adding a bit of ‘Eureka’, curved corrugated iron sheets painted in grey have been used as walls.

The striking décor of the new store helps to bring out the designs and the vibrant colors of the collections on display, prominently, adds Singhi while narrating how this off-beat store design has benefitted the brand.

The vision to marry the two paradox styles of interior where industrial vintage meets the contemporary has resulted in a great theatrical visual treat, making the store an absolutely unique design destination. The common element that runs through all the collections is innovative design combined with impeccable quality.

Chumbak – the design led lifestyle company has been a plush synonym for the quirky designs, vibrant accessories and souvenirs. When the products are so vibrant, how can the store lag behind. Doing away with the quintessential fittings and fixtures done in moderate color contrast, Chumbak has always aimed at narrating stories through its retail outlets and its latest store at DLF Mall of India is not an exception.

Spread across 1,500 sq ft, the kitschy store is located at one of the premium locations on first floor (facing the atrium). The store has been designed by 4dimensions that has also designed stores for People, Scullers, Turtle, abof, Burgoyne, AND among others.

“Every time we open a new store, we pay attention to the smallest details in the look and feel of the space so that our customers find the same experience in all the stores across India. We love to make our customers happy and the stores are additions to our efforts in doing so,” said Vivek Prabhakar, Co-Founder of the brand.

The store brings to life the vibrancy and cheer associated with Chumbak with eclectic premium units. Daylight lighting is used all over the store to make it as bright as possible. No dark corners will be found and focus lights have been used to highlight a variety of products and general lighting has been considered to enhance browsing inside the store.

Commenting on the brand requirements, 4dimensions revealed, “We were asked to create a store that is memorable, contemporary and allows the brand to house an array of products. We aimed at elements that could leave the customers enthralled and encourage browsing. The idea was to ensure that the store resonated a happy feeling associated with the brand.”

The flooring has been customised to create zones in the store based on the merchandise. The fixtures are simple and effective following an open and modular design for various products to display a flexible story.

“While we do have a loyal group of customers who regularly visit the store and are brand advocates, first time customers are drawn towards the design of the store and because of the Chumbak experience,” adds Prabhakar.

Everything in the store has been customised to add an interesting twist to the classic lifestyle store with bright colour paints that add to the Chumbak flavour which have helped in creating the vibrancy.

The recently launched store of American clothing brand Brooks Brothers at DLF Mall of India captures brand's long standing tradition coupled with a dash of the youthful verve.

Contemplating the rich heritage of brand, the 2,000 sq ft outlet offers a miniscule journey to the luxuriant journey of Brooks Brothers. Christened as ‘Red Fleece by Brooks Brothers’ this outlet offers both classic and contemporary menswear wardrobe solutions, thereby being innovative and modern, yet rooted in the two hundred year history of Brooks Brothers.

Done in brick patterns, the entrance tones down the surroundings, thereby shifting focus to the suave interiors of the outlet. Further, the store design concept has been carved to a much youthful one with cluster of mannequins grouped into stories. 

furniture and furnishings in dark tones create an elegant ambience, thus adding much-desired warmth to the outlet. While the wooden shelves highlight the merchandise, they also add richness to the overall look, which is further balanced by usage of several props.

Large scaled photographs highlight the milestones of teh brand, while the vintage fixtures and decoration in bronze tone craft a shopping environment true to teh brand's legacy.  

Adding the signature Red Fleece touch, the store has extensively used sports equipment like baseball sticks, badminton rackets, rugby balls etc. to add the young look.

Evolution of the original boutique style with much more elan must have been the concept while conceptualizing the recently launched store of Massimo Dutti at Select CITYWALK, Delhi.

Housing a host of womenswear, menswear and footwear along with swimswear and other fashion accessories, the 5,027 sq ft store is a picturesque epitome of urban yet contemporary feel while being practical and fuss-free at the same time.

The finishing of the store including the shape of the installations – aim to give the consumer a feeling of warmth, while exuding a smart, contemporary aura.

Walnut wood, brass, leather and dark marble are the dominant materials in the new architectural design that blends modern lines and classic details – the signature of Massimo Dutti.

The premium Spanish brand is priced a notch higher than Zara. The move shows that consumption continues unabated at the top end of the retail market.

The Fastest Sportswear brand in the World- PUMA introduced the  biggest flagship store in India today. Spread over three floors and covering an area of 4,800 sq ft in New Delhi’s hot retail destination South Ex., the store has been designed as Forever Faster store.

The Forever Faster store concept imbibes PUMA’s brand ethos which is reflected in the design, layout and top of the line product offering. The store design is captivating with clean lines and a very modern look and feel.

The layout and design is simple to give focus on the products to ensure they demand attention, stand out and resonate with the consumer. The in-store product communication too has been planned in a strategic manner to aid customer understanding of the products.

Through the store’s design, unique product offering and concept PUMA has created a platform to give consumers an opportunity to experience the brand’s DNA. The store houses the widest range of PUMA’s latest performance and sportstyle products, with a variety of products exclusive to the new store in Delhi only.

Ranging from lifestyle to, football, cricket, golf, running gear and gym wear, the options are endless. PUMA select a special range of products in collaboration with international designers- Alexander McQueen and Chris Stamp etc. is made accessible at the store.

The products are divided into different categories and displayed at the store. PUMA’s strong heritage is underlined by a visible footwear wall, a hot spot in the stores. Talking about the new store PUMA India MD, Abhishek Ganguly opined, "The store’s layout and bold visual displays allows us to strongly engage with consumers in a very unique manner. As a brand, PUMA’s endeavor is to provide the most stylish and cutting edge products, the store brings to Indian consumers a very international offering of footwear and apparel.”

Future Group has updated and upgraded its value-based hypermarket experience for the new gen customers with an innovative and futuristic retail format rechristened as Big Bazaar GEN NEXT. The Big Bazaar GEN NXT store is designed to be smarter and experiential - through use of technology, innovation in services, layouts, sections and digital interfaces.

In words of Kishore  Biyani, Group  CEO,  Future  Group said, “We  have  put  our  15  years  of  learning  with  Indian  consumers  in  creating  this  concept  of Big  Bazaar GEN NXT.  The Big  Big  Bazaar GEN NXT is designed  in  such  a  modular  way  that  it  will  constantly evolve  and  can undergo  continuous  upgrades to incorporate  more  technology-led interfaces and innovations.”

Big  Bazaar GEN NXT store has a  whole  new  design  that  has LED lighting, large digital screens, digital shelf talkers and energy saving technologies that  optimise  air-conditioning,  humidity  and  lighting  within  the  store which is conveniently segmented into three sections: Fashion, Food and Home & Electronics.

The brand new identity has been created with the infusing of colours bestowed in changing light kinetics in the store front sign. The store design concept for the Fashion Zone has been updated to a much younger and global one by storytelling planograms and dynamic digital walls complemented with warm lighting with large cluster of mannequins grouped into stories.

Floorings are also different for three different sections. The design concept for the Food Zone has been contemporised with inspirations from the new age culinary world. A dominant space is dedicated for this zone featuring a wider assortment of a variety of specialty food anchored by an open live kitchen.

The Home & Electronics Zone is laid out conveniently in a large space of 10,000 sq ft area methodically demarcated for different categories it offers. Each of this space has clearly signed individual entries with fixtures design and layout for very convenient engagement with the products offered.

Talking about the thought behind the futuristic hypermarket experience, Vishal Kapoor, Chief Design Officer, Future Group, explained, “The store is a culmination of our past learning with our vision of future. From a market cluttered with price-driven mundane models, we have moved towards an experience-driven model. The fast-evolving consumer behaviour, social and economic environment supplemented by technology have been key backgrounds of this next gen experience.”

The recently launched store of luxury home and lifestyle brand, Elvy at Banjara hills is a toast to an ultimate luxury feel. Elvy, since its inception has been a brand which boasts of premium quality pieces and a truly distinct feel.

The store at Banjara hills places the brand a milestone ahead with its beautiful plush interiors. The store offers a wide range of exquisite collections, sourced from different corners of the world and displayed to perfection.

The new store is everything that spells luxury at its best and the displayed collections are breathtaking as ever.

Right from beautiful décor pieces to categories which include Serving, Kitchen, Bar, Office, Games, Bath, Outdoor, Travel, Teens and juniors, the store is replete with quirky as well as sophisticated pieces which cater to varied tastes.

The store promises its clientele some truly contemporary options to adorn their home with, and consists of some very pretty lamps, handsome accessories and artful servings. Exclusive in their appearance and high on versatility, Elvy has always had something for everyone, and the new store is just another step ahead in making the idea even more successful.

In words of Vandana Khosla, Creative Director, Elvy, “With the new store, we want to cater to the diverse tastes of our customers and offer them an international way of living. The store’s look and feel is what sets it apart and we are very excited about the response it will generate among the customers.”

Elvy Lifestyle, with its new store launch aims to maintain the niche statement that it has achieved in the past few years with its hand-picked collections. Each item speaks for itself, and strives to match the standard that Elvy has set.

Akin to the bespoke ethnic wear line by Sabyasachi Mukherjee, his first flagship store connotes the grandeur witl a little more play of old world charm drifting one back to the era of royalty.

Situated at Mehrauli, New Delhi, the store bespeaks signature ethos of the brand thus striking a seamless visual delight carved of antiques, rare collectibles, vintage items, extraordinary scents and of course clothing!

Sprawling 13,500 sq ft and designed by the man himself, the store is no less than a mini museum. What is takes to be Sabyasachi Flagship store is hand-fired Portuguese tiles, antique mirrors, an impressive compilation of vintage photographs, rich carpets and rugs layered with patina of age decorate the walls of the store.

The pièce de résistance is 63 pieces of art and sculpture by the Sabyasachi Art Foundation, inspired by Qajar paintings from the Persian dynasty and Indian miniatures. Admire the art, meander through the ‘love garden’ and sip on steaming Darjeeling tea while you browse his designs, because that is precisely what Mukherjee intended.

Antique leather furniture and hand painted humongous chandeliers give the store its lush decadence. True to Mukherjee’s design aesthetic, the store boasts of earthy colour palate and is divided into two wings by a heritage monument with a grand staircase.

The first wing houses bridal wear, jewellery by Kishandas & Co. for Sabyasachi, and trunks by Trunks Company, Jaipur, while the other wing consists of ready to wear collection along with sarees and kurtas with a separate floor for menswear and Sabyasachi’s iconic accessory line.

"I had a flagship store in Delhi earlier as well, but it was a small space. The other flagship store had a space constraint and here I could do what I had thought of. I wanted to do a store which is reflective of Calcutta, its heritage, bylines of Lucknow, where you can do music programs at night, people can just sip a cup of tea and get lost in the atmosphere. It is a beautiful space and I hope people will enjoy it," said Sabysachi.

And it is said that the ace designer has devoted ten months of his life to get this store together, while ensuring each and every piece of art-work that one will witness in the store is hand-picked.

In a bid to up their style quotient, Ahujasons - the shawl connoisseurs have launched their private store -Privè at Khan Market. With this store, Ahujasons looks to enter the market with products that are quite different, but somehow associable, to those that have made them famous.

Ahujasons aims to give customised service to customer and narrate them the work, heritage and legacy behind the art of shawl making, hence this niche store called Prive meaning private…very exclusive.

Brought to life by Amit Aurora, the Ahujasons Privè store has been designed to make the products spell luxury, opulence and style while showcasing premium and limited edition range of shawls, stoles and scarves, handcrafted with love for the fashion aficionado of today.  

Offering an array of luxurious fabric bases like pashmina and cashmere, the exclusive collection weaves a magical spell showcasing multi hued beautiful designs, graceful elegance and ethnic flair.

From classic and timeless to contemporary and trendy, the eclectic spread of luxe accessories at the Privè store offers something special for everyone.

The store design has been kept minimalistic to accentuate the product rather than store and hence interiors have been done in wood.

The design is in league with brand’s ideology to choose natural material over man made because all raw materials in their products are natural and brand aims to portray the same through its store. The floor has been done with exclusively designed handmade cement tiles.

Blending many genres and schools of design into one luxe statement, SAIBAAN design studio at Lado Sarai presents a sprawling space full of wondrous elements for the discerning homes. 

The studio is spread over an area of 5,500 square feet, draped around a large tree canopied private court yard. It showcases the indigenously made indoor furniture and the finest international brands of outdoor furniture.

This studio orchestrates the many elements that make a house perfect right from fine furniture to sterling silver, table decorative and fancy lights to art by many contemporary masters, all put together to create an experience of the august with elegance.

A blend of modern and traditional, the space offers furniture and home elements that bring together varied sheens and shines, materials and finishes. Each piece being a blend of many luxurious elements: rare stones, beveled, etched and smoked mirrors, rich textiles, metals etc, treating each to the finest techniques and finishes including textured paints, gold leafing. Precision in craftsmanship further perfects the vision of the designer.

There is a bid to look at every element with an eye for detail. Ingenious and dramatic detailing like creating a sense of luminance with inbuilt lighting, encasing metal between two glasses, gold leafing on carved wood or creating new sheens through paint.

With a studied sense of restraint that consciously keeps away from beading and embroidery, SAIBAAN studio cling to creating drama through new shapes and a sense of classic chic.

Indeed, SAIBAAN creates a repertoire of elements that can only fit into the realm of art or the finest of couture.

Over the years ORRA has been acknowledged for its one in-a-million creations which have graced the spirit of womenhood.

Sometimes it has been the innovatve collaborations with international designers like Pierre Gauthier and Ann Demeulemeester from Belgium and Gavin Rajah from South Africa or the innovative jewellery that has emerged with ORRA's association with world renowned artists like SH Raza and Anjolie Ela Menon, that has made headlines.

Be it the jewellery or stores, the brand swears by TIMELESS designs.And this penchant for royal graduer is well portrayed in the South Ex showroom of Orra, which has been designed by SJK Architects - Shimul Jhaveri Kadri.

The play of lights and the selection of colour palate offer that dark and mystiq feel within this 3,000 sq ft store that would want one to look out for more...

Even the brand logo has been incorporated as a desin element which is evident in the steel curtail-like partition created of the brand logo set in steel.

Junkyard – quite a quirky name for a café! Offering a paradigm shift from the refined and modish food joints, Junkyard café by flaunts a bargain of colours with all that is raw and junk.  

This café has been formulated by Umang Tewari the creative man behind some great concept bars in the City - The Vault Cafe, Raas, Fork You, Skooter etc. The Cafe is spread over 13,000 sq ft and stems inspiration from an actual junkyard.

Unlike the usual low lit joints, Junkyard cafe is all about high ceilings and open spaces. The huge terrace overlooking Connaught Place is just serene.

The first thing that strikes is the quirky interior. The sofas carved out of mother boards, Car bonnets, automobile parts assembled into a robo-like structure, a junk dinosaur and the list goes on.

The bar table mounted upon a line of barrels, pillars made up of drawers and tyres add  just the right amount of energy to the ambience.

One part of the roof is made up entirely of bottles and the the beautiful interiors made of recycled items are balanced by the edgy wooden flooring.

The design brings out the grungy world of junk, which is contemporary and at the same time very exclusive. Right from the first of its kind interiors and art installations which are made using materials like tyres, barrels, parts of car and trucks, old radios, TVs, chipped board furniture, beer bottles, and old junky speakers gives The Junkyard Cafe, a junkyard look in every possible manner.

The Italian luxury brand Fabi has marked its presence into the Indian market with its first store launch in New Delhi.

Aiming to be the latest fashion destination of the season, the flagship store of Fabi at South Extension is winning accolades with its subtle and chic store design. the store has been designed in a way that 25 per cent of the shelf space has been allocated to accessories, while remaining 75 per cent displays a wise array of footwear.

Spread over 1,100 sq ft, the one of a kind store offers high class men and women shoes and hand bags imported especially from Italy.

Designed by Italian architect Alessandro Germini, the store decor is in line with contemporary stores across Europe and the rest of the world.

Fabi is a perfect beacon of Italian made designs, a promoter of elegant style and an astute observer of trends who always anticipate new ways of life.

The store exhibits class and its décor is pristine with a touch of the latest global trends. The store's international feel and strategic location in the city of Delhi will ensure the ultimate shopping experience for its customers.

Le Creuset, one of the leading cookware brands across the globe has launched their fourth stand-alone store at Infiniti Mall in Mumbai which is nothing less than a vivacious blend of colours.

Established in 1925, Le Creuset has been making world-class cookware and is renowned for innovative, durable and attractive cookware. The brand is known for its premium quality ranges of enameled cast iron cookware, multi-ply stainless steel, toughened non-stick, and stoneware along with its outstanding range of wine accessories.

Spread over 585 sq. feet this flagship store uses the new design ethos that has been launched so successfully in Le Creuset stores in other established international markets this year – with the emphasis clearly on product ranges, available color options, and best in class merchandising.

The store design has been kept minimal with use of white all over the shelves, in order to highlight the products that are done is very eye-catchy colours.

While coloured products have been balanced with white background, red walls add the much needed zing as cast iron is quite a cold metal to be showcased.

Commenting on the store design, Ankur Damani, Commercial Manager – India quotes “Our objective is to ensure that our consumers in India understand that Le Creuset is all about color, coherence and is most importantly very versatile for cooking different cuisines, including Indian food, while retaining the nutritious qualities of the food, and is relevant to their lifestyle.”

Spanning across 7,500 sq ft, Roche Bobois’ store at the up market of Ulsoor road, in the Bengaluru City Center, has been designed to allow customers a first – hand opportunity to experience the French Joie De Vivre, or joy of living. This impressive store showcases Parisian design at its best.

The store is decorated with Paris inspired wallpaper giving a feeling of being in the city.

The store has extremely high ceiling and a large mezzanine floor that displays the Nouveaux Classiques collection.

The store has been designed by Jacqueline Hopfer, Head of Interior Design at Roche Bobois.

All the stores of Roche Bobois stores across the world have been designed by Hopfer'

The cost for doing the interiors of the store was approximately Rs 2 crore and it took five months to complete the store.

Samvit Tara, Managing Director, Roche Bobois India shared, ’’Roche Bobois is a niche brand that is rich with heritage and positioned as a luxury lifestyle product. The growth and demand for quality luxury furniture from the discerning consumers in Bengaluru, has encouraged us to launch our first exclusive store in the city."

"The brand symbolizes sophistication and luxury and we offer furniture and accessories to design conscious customers who appreciate only the finest in life,” she added.

Addressing the need of Indian wear brand (which are very few in the cluttered market) Suditi Industries has opened the doors of its ethnic retail brand Indianink. Displaying a range that is perfect blend of contemporary yet traditional designs, the store of Indianink at Raja Park, Jaipur boasts of a sense of Indian culture. Spanning across 800 sq. ft, the store has been designed by Arch Design.

Elucidating the thought behind designing the store, Ajay Nihalani, CEO - Indianink, Suditi Design Studio Ltd said, “The first idea was to bring out the core essence of the brand on the store layout. We wanted to develop a retail store that displays cultural designs blended with modern look & feel.”

A combination of traditional-inspired yet modern design of the store improvise productivity by attracting walk-ins, ambiance that increases the dwell time of the customer, ease of movement, develop design elements and touch points that prompt purchase. Beige wooden backdrop gives the right amount of subtleness required to highlight the vibrant collection, while the stainless steel hangings allow a better display.

“The in-depth brief allowed the designs to re-create a layout that matched our requirements. The store fixture allows more visual display of the garment. The structure developed has benefited an ease of movement even during rush hours,” adds Nihalani.

The store offers some of the most elegant & stylish apparels, giving an ultimate experience to the shopper. And to create an ambience that compliments every collection and story-line of the garment, the store has been characterised by delicate carving with bright colors. With its aim to craft apparel that women love & inspire, the brand is working towards providing best of fashion styles that are determined to spread its presence through iconic retail hubs.

Launched on Children's Day, 14th November 2015, One Friday is a venture of founders Meet & Neel Sawhney of Summit India (one of leading exporters and manufactures for upscale private labels in more than 12 countries worldwide).

Born out of love for the whimsical wonder-world, the kidswear brand caters to boys and girls aged 1-12 years. Sharing their vision, founders of One Friday, Meet & Neel Sawhney of Summit India said, “One Friday celebrates the spirit of childhood with a pinch of prep and a pot full of trend.”

Designed on Nordic elements, One Friday stores lead you inside with a mystical and fantasy feeling.  It's a whimsical world you discover as you roam around the store and discover the nooks and corners which bring alive the narrative of the world of One Friday.

“One Friday is a concept store for children actively designed to suit their lifestyle and our store experience is inspired by their world of imagination,” added the founders Meet & Neel Sawhney while elaborating about the store concept.

The delightfully stylish collections are displayed on cedar wood planks suspended from ropes, hanging tree branches and ladders. 

Illustrated maps of fantasy land; ship's wheel to sail away through magical clouds of secret skies; a sailor's world complete with globe, compass and much more create a charming and engaging world for shoppers.

The child-friendly interiors and a dedicated kids play area give special attention to its little guests.

In yet another effort to awestruck the youth brigade, MTV cafe has been extended to chain of cafes, as Viacom 18 consumer products together with Funbars Hospitality launched the first even MTV themed cafe – FLYP@MTV in the capital.

Encapsulating the verve and get-go persona of MTV, Viacom 18 consumer products has extended the brand beyond digital and merchandise and has come up with MTV themed cafe - FLYP@MTV under a licensing alliance with Funbars Hospitality Pvt. Ltd.

Conceptualised with an idea to create an environment that translates the brand value of MTV for the youth, FLYP@MTV delves into engaging, entertaining and enriching the fickle and extremely curious youth of today, which is evident in the interiors of the cafe that have been kept very raw and a lot of variations have been summed up to catch up with the ethos of the youthful brand.

Tech-enabled, FLYP@MTV is doing away with the typical platter and has got the menu curated by celebrity chef Ranvir Brar, while drinks have been taken care of by Nitin Gulati, the top bartender of the country. The café aims to provide patrons the opportunity to interact with it through touch points at the café, specially curated entertainment and a highly tech-enabled environment matching the ‘instant demand’ of the youth. A unique facet of the café is its nature of being an exclusive place to work during the day and transforming into a place to chill in the evening and a play zone at night.

FLYP@MTV also boasts the MTV Virtual Museum created to explore the world of MTV in years gone by through Oculus and Controllers. From MTV's varied merchandise items, one can view each item in the form augmented products on the shelf

The Talent Record Room will be an MTV style recording studio for an audience which can sing. One can record songs and upload it after reviewing the audio and video files of the song. Following the launch of the first café in New Delhi in December, more cafes will be launched in the next five years, beginning with Mumbai and Bengaluru.

Experience zone is how the latest store of Arttdinox at Sikandarpur, New Delhi has projected itself. Situated amidst an unending reverie of home décor studios, this store of Arttdinox spans across 10,000 sq ft and showcases the widest variety of products manufactured by Jindal Steels Ltd Lifestyle, including façade, planters, railings, vanity, wardrobes along with tableware and kitchenware.

Briefing about the store, Anuj Jain, CEO, JSL Lifestyle (Arttdinox) asserted, “It is an experience centre in any case because if you look at the products being displayed here, except from the tableware, nothing can be picked off the shelf.”

Designed by Amit Chhabra, the store has been fragmented into partitions, with every partition carrying a different colour theme. “The biggest challenge while designing this store was striking a balance between the open space and steel, which is generally very plain and cold,” opined Jain.

The concern was addressed by creating warmth with usage of lots of greens and colours on to the steel, which is evident in hues to greens and teal accentuated by usage of red and white. Moreover, the asymmetrical wooden shelves housing the tableware add to the warmth and the homely feel that acts as the USP of the store.

Further, the kind of accessorisation done around whole store - including carpets and flowers - is one of the elements adding warmth to whole space.

Breakbounce, the retail brand specializing in ‘off the peg’ street-wear, has launched its first exclusive brand outlet in India in Vadodara. Commemorated as a way of life, Breakbounce is an ode to the street culture, which is evident in the store design. With an advantage of backward integration to design, develop and manufacture, the brand has paid great attention to product and its detailing.

The concept store is a fusion of opposites and is spread across 640 sq ft. While it is grungy and almost unfinished in its choice of materials, it is stylish and refined in design. The main design of the store is composed of two main elements. The first element being a composition of vertical MDF/Cement board slats that make up the shell of the store and the second being a container.

The wall display which covers most walls is a composition of slats and boxes to house the products. The slats have products rolled up in cylinders and stacked one on top of the other in a colour coded fashion. This augments the design and also acts as storage in an attractive way.

The walk-ins will instantly sense and identify with the street style vibe of the store. The idea is to give the youth, an experience straight off the international runways as the brand brings the latest trends in streetwear to the Indian shores at affordable prices.

The Luxury Jewellery Brand 'Dipti Amisha' signature store at Prasad Chambers, Opera House, Mumbai is nothing less than Victorian era opulence draped in contemporary designs, which is well portrayed in the showcases, furniture to the chandeliers and the perfectly placed photo frames. 

Exclusively carved furniture in Moroccan wood and tastefully chosen upholstery adds to the vintage royal ambiance which acts as the USP of the store which is more of a boutique and​ studio than just a showroom. Such an elaborated fusion facilitates in offering ‘home-like’ experience to the buyer.

In words of Dipti Jhaveri, the Co-founder of the jewellery brand, “We managed to recreate the royal vintage 'Gharana' in our signature store. The woodwork is Moroccan that definitely elevates the interiors plus for a statement chandelier we got cover customised in intricate jardosi work on velvet.”

While taking about the design aspirations, Jhaveri says, “The design inspiration has been Dipti Amisha's Jewellery which is an ideal combination of romanticism of the royal Victorian era and Indian contemporary designs. For the store, we thought the best would be if we could get royal interiors especially curated. We wanted what is called the perfect ‘Gharana’ look and we are glad​, that ​we managed to recreate it.” 

Dipti Amisha designs along with the ideal combination of gold, white gold and diamonds, have been fashioned with the enchanting beauty of emeralds, topaz, opal, ruby and pearls to give a vibrant and colorful break to the line. 

From Bridal heavy sets to intricate contemporary diamond haathphools and Jodha Akbar-esque Jhumkas, one can indulge herself in complete luxury at the store. Be it Solitaires crafted in dazzling danglers or the ethnic uncut rings and vilandi pendants, ask for it and Dipti Amisha brings it to reality.

When it comes to store design, store designers  often use vibrant shades, contemporary fixtures, and subtle shades to grab onlooker’s attention. Sometimes, I wonder that is it only a stores’s design that magnetizes a passerby to enter a store and shop  or is there something more to it..

Well, let’s find out how some of the famous retail brands design their stores and convert the store visitors to end customers.

Where class meets ecstasy!

Nirav Modi’s brand new boutique at Madison Avenue in NewYork is a unique amalgamation of luxury and glitterati.Spread across sprawling 700 square feet, the store is designed by acclaimed Spanish artist-designer Jamie Hayon. His endeavours enliven the true spirit of the brand, by making the boutique a befitting addition to the row of iconic luxury flagship stores on Madison Avenue.

Expressing his views about the store, Founder, Nirav Modi said: "Establishing a presence in the United States is a key milestone in our growth strategy as a leading international luxury brand, and underscores the importance of the U.S market. Besides, the sophisticated American woman will recognize as soon as she enters the boutique that that the entire experience is designed to pay tribute to her beauty, and to reflect and reveal women's inner radiance". 

The store is designed in such a way that its luminous space has an elegant and polished environment, through which visitors are instantly transported to a world of marvels.

Exquisitely alluring!

The newly launched flagship store of the Bombay Shirt Company is a hub  of  design and simplicity. Located in Mumbai’s Bandra (West).Founded by Akshay Narvekar,

Bombay Shirt Company encapsulates the essence of the city – modern, yet swathed in old-world charm. The new Bandra store will offer an extensive variety of trendy designs as well as corporate staples for men and women, with a master tailor on hand to help with measurements and suggestions.

Designed by Mumbai-based designer Aurnab Biswas, the 450 sq. ft. store also has a charming al fresco area where customers can sip on coffee and people-watch while designing their shirts.  

The overall form, material, color palette is warm, natural and neutral. The simplicity and clarity of the design were inspired by the company's ethos of demystifying the creation of a custom-made shirt.  

Awesomeness redefined with SuperDry store in Mumba

The UK High-street fashion label inspired by Japanese design influences in vintage Americana style, opened its first store in India at Palladium mall in Oct 2012. Thereafter, Superdry now has six stores in Mumbai and 13 stores across the country, due to its immense popularity and ensuing success.

Spread across a floor space of 2700 Sq. ft. The interiors of the store embody Superdry‘s brand elements, which contribute to the distinctive and iconic imagery that the brand is renowned for.

Cool Vintage inspired look and feel, complete with all-natural French Oak wooden panel detailing. Rustic iron display and oversized rustic tables along with an interesting installation of imported Jam jar lights, which at 20 feet long forms the centerpiece illuminating the sprawling store.

It’s time to get set go with  ASICS

True Sport Performance brand ASICS recently unveiled its store at High Street Phoenix mall, Lower Parel, Mumbai.

 This running specialized boutique with the proprietary ASICS FOOT ID system, marks a significant milestone for ASICS in India’s retail scene.

With  floor space of 1004 Sq ft,

The store design concept brings to life the brand’s positioning as True Sport Performance. Combining the emotion of sport with technical expertise, the store delivers a unique sporting retail experience

To nurture a growing interest in the pursuit of running excellence, the new store features ASICS foot ID system, with staff on site to perform the analysis.This system is a destination area of the ASICS shop offering static and dynamic measurements, including foot shape analysis and gait cycle analysis

Mystique engulfed in Luxury!

The boutique features a subtle blend of contemporary style and mid-century elements

STEFANO RICCI, an exclusive Italian international premium fashion and lifestyle brand has recently launched its flagship boutique in upscale South Mumbai's Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. 

This unique store is spread across a sprawling 2500 sqft and is located in one of the prime locations in the city.

Furthermore, the boutique features a subtle blend of contemporary style and mid-century elements. Contemporary furniture, wall panels and the trademark Stefano Ricci brass eagle head heightens the sense of a royalty and mystique.

Moving further, the store is divided into three broad sections- The STEFANO RICCI menswear, STEFANO RICCI home décor and STEFANO RICCI Bespoke section. 

The store is truly a blend of STEFANO RICCI's rich heritage and modern face. The brand's line also includes the STEFANO RICCI Royal Suite Collection, in constant evolution, covering various types of products: porcelain and crystal dinner services, silverware, furnishing accessories, luxury linens and leather goods.

True Sport Performance brand ASICS today announced the opening of a new Franchise Store at Mumbai’s most admired shopping mall High Street Phoenix, Lower Parel. This running specialized boutique with the proprietary ASICS FOOT ID system, marks a significant milestone for ASICS in India’s retail scene.

Sharing views about the launch Rajat Khurana, Director, ASICS India said, “We are delighted to launch our first Franchise Store in Mumbai after an overwhelming response in Delhi. ASICS as a brand strongly believes in creating performance enhancing sportswear including footwear, apparel and accessories.

The brand is highly committed to the Indian market and we see a huge growth potential and an opportunity for ASICS in India. We have aggressive growth and expansion plans.”

ASICS HIGH STREET PHOENIX with an area of 1004 Sq ft offers a wide range of running and other sporting goods for all levels of athletes from beginner to competitive. ASICS HIGH STREET PHOENIX will also continue to support Mumbai 

Runners for India’s biggest Running Event- Mumbai Marathon. ASICS has been sponsoring the Mumbai marathon since 2008. ASICS hopes that this Franchise store would be the ideal destination for the  running community of the city as it offers a plethora of running products and services.

The store design concept brings to life the brand’s positioning as True Sport Performance. Combining the emotion of sport with technical expertise, the store delivers a unique sporting retail experience. To nurture a growing interest in the pursuit of running excellence, the new store features ASICS FOOT ID system, with staff on site to perform the analysis.

ASICS FOOT ID is a destination area of the ASICS shop offering static and dynamic measurements, including foot shape analysis and gait cycle analysis. ASICS FOOT ID static measures the foot shape and ASICS FOOT ID dynamic analyzes the consumer’s gait while running. It helps runners find the most suitable shoes to draw the last ounce of performance out of them.

An out of the box concept that will surely add on to the Retail experience in India. Moreover, this unique store is amalgamation of class and sophistication…

Located at Altamount Road and Bandra-Kurla Complex, Mumbai, this unique store offers amazing  Bespoke tailored services. Apart from that Corporate collars has introduced a wonderful concept of tailored services on the wheels  which provides  a complete solution to your styling needs, with the convenience of getting your tailoring services right at your door step.

The concept of Corporate Collars™ on Wheels has been introduced for the first time ever and it embodies the Corporate Collars™ promise of the Perfect Fit, Precise Tailoring, and Prompt Service for both men and women.

This amazing service not only comes with the ease of convenience but also with an added benefit of your personal stylist who will advise you on redesigning your wardrobe.

The concept serves you in a very systematic way, by first understanding your requirements, then suggesting and discussing the design and fabric you wish to get tailored followed by having your measurements taken professionally.

Corporate Collars™ on Wheels is the brainchild of Young Turk and founder of Corporate Collars™, Harssh Chheda who will facilitate its operation through this innovatively designed Mobile Van. The van is sleek and refurbished with a novel approach.

The van bequeaths all the facilities and truly reflects the aura of Corporate Collars™ and has been meticulously designed to enhance the ease of purchase for the customers with a wide variety of superior products.

Expressing views on the unique store concept,  Harssh Chheda, Founder, Corporate Collars™, “This unique concept of Tailoring on Wheels has been initiated for working corporate men and women who are busy with the hustle and bustle of the city life. This concept really goes to where the customers are, instead of waiting for them to come. We value our customers and this concept has been designed keeping in mind the dire needs of today’s corporate audiences who lack time but still want to stand apart from the crowd. I am thrilled to introduce such a unique service that is beneficial to our customers.”

 The Van which will travel to different places throughout the week aspires to bring proprietary panache of Corporate Collars™ to your locality through prior appointments which can be booked on their website.

Woodflicker, a premium furniture brand to cater to niche luxury segment was recently in the national capital, Delhi. The brand will cater to the demands of its discerning set of clients by facilitating them to buy both from its online website  as well as from its state of the art designer studio in heart of India ‘Delhi’.

Woodflicker is incepted with the specific aim to provide uniquely designed inspirational timeless interior solutions with a cutting edge collection in living, dining, bedroom spaces and much beyond. The set-up is a culmination of the intuitive creative vision to cater to the segment of niche luxury furnishings and interior designing.

Woodflicker’s contemporary range of finest furniture includes designer beds, dining tables, chests of drawers, sofas and other accessories. With each of its luxury furnishings being specifically customised after identifying and matching with the individual style and design requirement of the target audience, Woodflicker will be a one-stop creative hub for providing classy and elegant interiors to both the high-end residential and commercial sectors.

Inaugurating the Launch of Woodflicker, Srikant Panda, Owner and Director, Woodflicker and a celebrated name in the luxury interior designing industry remarked “Art in its various forms has always been treasured in the culture and history of India and its outstanding magnificence has inspired awe from around the world. Likewise, at Woodflicker, India’s very own premium luxury brand for interior designing solutions, our endeavor is to bring in shape such unsurpassed work of art so as they become an epitome of marvel rare to be achieved in any  other corner of the world and are indeed of timeless value.”

Built in exclusive dedicated manufacturing unit from the most premium teak wood and high end components sourced, every luxury designer work at Woodflicker is accomplished with extraordinary finesse and unrivalled perfection.

The meticulous works of craftsmanship by most skilled set of labours are chiseled to deliver designs of exceptional standards under the creative direction of a highly talented team of world-class designer specialists. Each of the design elements is thoughtfully considered to deliver remarkable design solutions which result in a functional interior that is truly individual.decorating any space,

The luxury furnishings by Woodflicker render their eternal aura bringing an exquisite effect of opulence to any surrounding and create spaces that delight all the senses.

The design of sports-centric entertainment centre, Smaaash, is done keeping in mind the energetic customer out playing: robust, hard wearing, often stylish and judicious.
Amidst the busy abode of soon-to-become corporate honchos in DLF Cyber City in Gurgaon lies a pitch. The pitch, covered on four sides with thick safety net and a rather intimidating screen at the bowling end, spells pain, glory and everything Cricket. Welcome to Smaaash, a one-of-its-kind concept in India.

Beyond the net, mannequins of two talented sporting figures loom large: Sachin Tendulkar taking the left and Christiano Ronaldo the right of the entry gates. Entering Smaaash is in itself like walking through the crowds and onto your pitch. Spread over 25,000 sq. ft., the twilight-lit venue draws about 3,500-4,000 people everyday, with the number even rising to 5,000 on weekends.

The flooring, lighting and design of the venue are highly ambience-oriented, and vary according to the games or activities they represent. The arcade games’ portion is low on artificial lighting whereas the Oculus Rift video games, the virtual reality headset for 3D gaming experience, are high on colourful florescent LED lights to give customers a truly immersive virtual reality surrounding. The cobalt blue flooring across the arcade game section is done up in cork, ensuring a firm grip of customers while playing.

There most famous section in the Smaaash parlour is a one-of-its-kind 360 degree cricket simulator. It is aptly lit, with a wide screen down the pitch as the toe crushers of your favourite bowlers await your batting talent. The Cricket lanes are carpeted and are surrounded by nets from all three sides, and a full HD display down the pitch, showing the running up of your favourite bowler. The customers can have their friends and family wait in the lounge behind the batsman’s back, watch your game or sip on to some drinks.

The bowling alley is UV-lit and offers a surreal, almost-perfect background for rounds of bowling. The sports bar, Uncorked, offers a low light ambience for people coming in to have chilled mock tail or other alcoholic beverages. Again, the flooring is carpeted and ceilings are imaginatively lit, either by wall lights mounted on pillars or fashionable tiny LEDs. Overall, the design of the place is quite imaginative, keeping in the mind the customers’ interaction with the space– focused on activity. It’s robust, judiciously used space and ambience is testimony to the fact that through the design the owners want to culminate partying and playing.

Indian kitchen appliance company Franke Faber India has opened its exclusive showroom “Franke Studio”in Banglore. The Swiss Brand Franke that ventured into the Indian market sometime back will have a variety of kitchen appliances at the newly opened Franke Studio at Banglore.Currently Franke offers kitchen sinks, taps and bio waste disposers,hoods, hobs, built ins – oven, microwaves,deep fryers, BBQ’s, dishwashers, refrigerators, coffee machines, and wine coolers.

The Banglore Franke Studio was inaugurated By Mr. Peter Spirig, VP – Asia Pacific, Franke Group,In the presence of Mr. Vishal Raman, DGM – Sales, Franke Faber India Ltd and Mr. Anil Bhamre, Head Marketing, Franke Faber India Ltd and Mr. Ravindra,Director Franke Studio.

The Franke studio is located in South Banglore with an area of total 2400 sq ft.The Franke studio has a wide array of collections to choose from like White Series / Black Series / SS Steel and the products available under the same range are Hoods, Hobs, Oven, MicroWave Oven, Dishwasher, Refrigerator, Coffee Machine, Wine Chillers, Sinks, Taps & BWD. From Design to Execution of the Project was so precise, which is what makes the Appliances so classy for modern kitchens.

Speaking about the Newly Launched Banglore Franke Studio Vishal Raman,DGM-Sales Franke Faber India Ltd says “At Franke Store, we aim towards a holistic and stylish kitchen experience, Bangalore being the catchment area for Hi End European kitchen market in South India; we established this experience centre where customers are empowered with superior technology products for live cooking experience”.

Franke is the market leader that values premium kitchen appliances. Franke products show a companywide commitment to technology, quality and design. The Franke Kitchen Appliances started in Switzerland and eventually ventured in the Indian market with a wide array of Kitchen appliances.

Having originated in Switzerland, Franke has always been known for adhering to quality and maintaining high standards. The products are all masterpieces in their own right, thanks to the high-end technology and immense amount of research that goes into producing each and every appliance from the Franke stable. No wonder then, that these European masterpieces are now an essential and integral part of your dream kitchen..

Arttd’inox Modular Kitchens opens up their first store in  Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Arttd’inox expects growth from the region owing to people becoming aware of newer kitchen concepts, the region also  boasts of high level of  Stainless Steel consumption 

Arttd’inox today opened their first stainless steel modular Kitchen store right here in Indore - MP.   Arttd’inox is more than a decade old brand from the house of Jindal Stainless Limited, which brings to the brand the authenticity, quality and high levels of customer satisfaction across its product offerings.    

The first for the city, the newest outlet is spread over 2300 sq.feet which will display the premium range of 100% stainless steel modular kitchens and dinnerware options to choose from.  

The store completely showcases the various Arttd’inox stainless steel luxury products like modular kitchens, tableware, wardrobes, stainless steel furniture, mirrors etc.

Expressing views on the matter, Anuj  Jain, CEO, Jindal Lifestyle/ Jindal Architecture: “ Indian Kitchens and cooking habits have changed, there is shift in the choice and the kind of kitchens which Indians want  - today the kitchens need to sleek, contemporary, stylish, functional and technologically advanced and this need is what the brand caters to  through the 100% stainless steel kitchens”. 

Located in one of the most high end areas of Indore, the brand is confident the city  would prove to be a good market for the brand and the patrons would receive the products positively. 

Arttd’inox modular kitchens is the first ever 100% Stainless Steel modular kitchen brand  in the world,  having a strong pedigree of group like Jindal Stainless behind them which allows the brand to offer and create customised design solutions keeping the global Indian consumer in mind. The brand has also strategic tie ups with brands like Siemens and Whirlpool for appliances and Hettich for Fitments.  

Added Jain, “ Indore and its people are emerging as the new consuming class as increasingly we found out that consumers in the city are travelling more, they are  well aware and well informed and thus are demanding brands which depict style and are willing to pay the price for it.   The city is also predisposed to using Stainless Steel and thus it made complete sense to bring our brand to the city.”

He also added that the modular kitchen industry today stands at Rs. 2500 crore, and is expected to grow at CAGR of 45% in the period 2013-2018. Mr. Jain is confident that owing to its pedigree and high quality, Arttd’inox modular kitchens definitely would make their mark in the branded and organized modular kitchen category. 

Starting at Rs. 6 lakh onwards, the kitchens that the brand offers come with features like:

• Water and Corrosion resistant: Due to the high quality of stainless steel used, the kitchens are completely water proof and corrosion free thus extremely hygienic and durable 

.  Hygienic and Food Safe: As they are completely made out of Stainless Steel, the lack of usage of polish, varnish and lacquer which commonly used with wooden cabinets makes the kitchens pest and termite proof. 

• Because of being 100% in Stainless Steel, the Arttd’inox Modular Kitchens are going to be easy to clean, maintain and use as there would not be a problem of a chipping laminate, sagging cabinets, a problem faced with wood as a outer surface.

•  Contemporary Design and Customized Look and Feel: Arttd’inox modular kitchens will be contemporary in design,  look and feel and will be made available keeping the different tastes and vivid requirements across the country..

About The Jindal Stainless: Jindal Stainless, a part of the $ 18 billion USD, OP Jindal group is the largest integrated manufacturer of stainless steel in India and is ranked amongst the top 10 stainless steel manufacturers in the world, with a capacity of 1.8 million tons. A leader and a name synonymous with Enterprise, Excellence and Success, the company’s ethos mirrors most characteristics similar to the metal it produces; Akin to stainless steel Jindal Stainless is innovative and versatile in its thought process; strong and unrelenting in its operations. JSL has crafted its success story by fully integrating its operations based on a strategy of both, backward and forward integration, starting from mining, melting, casting, hot rolling to cold rolling and further value additions .

Social media giant LinkedIn's new office designed and structured by Denton Associates, London – UK is an excellent amalgamation of subtle design and playfullness.

A design that induces fun at workplace ,Denton Associates have recently completed the first phase of LinkedIn London’s office re-design and are currently designing the remaining 4 floors of the office.The social media giant wanted its London office to be the largest in terms of number of floors, to be brought in-line with their other locations around the world. The first task was to tackle the Reception and Transport-themed floors.

The office as a whole has an ongoing London theme, with the reception floor embracing a more worldwide view of London and its landmarks and each of the other floors embodying a more ‘London for Londoners’ approach.                      

Besides, Denton Associates have already structured the first phase of this workplace; Wherein they have created a space that is photo-enticing and reflects The company's work culture.

Interestingly, the most eye-grabbing section is the reception that boasts an iconic phone box, leading on to the recognizable details from a typical London street, culminating in ‘Big Ben’ and ‘Changing of the Guard’ boardrooms, complete with sentry boxes.

At the other end of the floor staff have been treated to their very own bar for social events and celebrations, which includes brass detailing and the LinkedIn logo lit up high on the back bar as the focal point.

 London-born artist Damilola Odusote was invited to create a piece for both floors, in which he weaved symbology of London together with elements of LinkedIn’s branding in his signature intricate style.

What'smore, the transport-themed 3rd floor features a string of meeting rooms taking inspiration from typical and more abstract ways of getting around the British capital. Highlights include a take on the classic routemaster bus,

Boris Bike-inspired teapoint seating that charges your phone when cycled and an Underground room complete with curved tile wall and genuine ‘80s District/Jubilee line seat fabrics.

* Text and Image courtesy: Denton Associates official website

The city of lakes-Udaipur will soon be a kids destination, as Funskool unveils its seventh store in Rajasthan. This news store is nothing less than a toy land which every kid wants to visit..

Funskool India Ltd,leading toy company has opened its first store in Rajasthan at the Celebration Mall in Udaipur. 

The store features the most popular international toys from Hasbro, LEGO, Leap Frog, Tomy, Ravensburger, Siku, Hornby and licensed products from Disney, Warner Brothers, Nickelodeon etc. in addition to the full range of Funskool’s own brands like Giggles, Handycrafts,  Play & Learn etc., manufactured in its plants at Goa and Ranipet.

The store was launched on 14thAugust, having a wide collection of board games, action figures, puzzles & toys for children & adults.  The colorful store also has a dedicated LEGO play table for the kids toengage themselves in when they visit the store.To celebrate the launch, a LEGO Policeman Building Eventwas organized.

Speaking on the occasion, John Baby, CEO of Funskool India Limited said, “We are delighted to launch the seventh store in India. The momentum has been great from our previous launches which have been taking place in a very short span of time.

Expressing views about the store, R. Jeswant, Senior Vice President – Sales & Marketing, Funskool India Limited said, “We are truly overwhelmed at the reception we got at all the launches. It is the vision of Funskool to incorporate an educational aspect in their toys so that children have an opportunity to have fun while they learn. We are positive that the customers in Udaipur will have a whole new experience of buying the best of toys under a single roof.”

Funskool forays into Rajasthan with the objective of showcasing the world’s best toys of the highest quality with ample safety standards. The company is scheduled to open many such stores across India.

 Standing by the mission to deliver the best to our customers, Funskool has identified a few more key markets in to enable customers to have a fresh and easy toy shopping experience. The company will soon open many such stores across the Tier II cities in India.

Artistic aesthetics and fantastic designs will continue to transform the experience of retail stores across the globe. Located in Los Angeles – California, the exclusive store is one of the most vibrant luxury store of the city.

Retail and hospitality have spearheaded a huge shift, led by brands with a more artistic inclination, but we’re pretty sure it won’t be long until the first illustrious name from the luxury stratosphere will settle here.

For its second outlet in the city, the French retailer picked a ground floor unit at the Ninth and Broadway building, an imposing landmark structure from the late 1920s by American architect Claud Beelman.

The A.P.C. store is situated around the corner from the dramatic two-storey main entrance, below a façade decorated with similarly ornate terracotta filigree panels.

The shop interior is created by Laurent Deroo, the brand’s Paris-based house architect. Apart from the broad window sills lined with timber, the overall aesthetic strays away from the architect’s usual palette.

This is a lofty space, and massive shelving systems have been designed to properly fill it.

Dipped in soft greys, these furnishings blend well with the concrete flooring while at the same time being offset by a pristine white ceiling. The new A.P.C. boutique carries the brand’s full range of men’s and women’s apparel, shoes and accessories.

Le Studio, Nitco Ltd's flagship showroom showcases the company's designer collection of tiles and ceramics, which includes floor tiles, wall tiles, imported marbles and mosaic.

Located at Kanjumarg in Mumbai, this epitome of home fashion also hosts the company’s new range of contemporary HD digital wall tiles with six prism colour technology for the first time in India.

Spread across an area of 1,500 sft, the showroom has a seating and discussion space. The LCD TV within the store helps visitors to visualise the products in actual home setting.

The room decor depicting living rooms, bathrooms and kitchens gives a perfect idea as to how the product will look when laid.The well-trained staff are capable of handling all types of customer queries by virtue of their good understanding on interiors and modern design concepts. They help customers to choose and decide the right product according to their needs and preferences.

Vivek Talwar, Nitco's managing director is confident that featuring never-seen-before designs and concepts, this showroom will bring a rich shopping experience to his customers. “While creating this space, we have ensured that the concept, tone and look of it are true to Nitco's aesthetic level.”

Leading fashion retail chain, Lifestyle's Calicut store is a unique fusion of engaging display and vibrant fashion apparel & accessories.

Lifestyle stores are designed to be very customer friendly. Calicut store design is based on the concept of a 'through-and-through' visibility. A lot of research was undertaken to identify the best practices and international standards of retail. Keeping Lifestyle's brand image in mind - few key design takeaways were introduced with the new store design.

The floor plan is very open and spacious. A lot of emphasis has been laid on a sleek and minimalistic look. Each section bears a differentiated look from all the other section and yet all sections come together in unison to portray Lifestyle's brand imagery.

Wall cladding and flooring of the store:

A lot of fixtures have been mounted directly onto the walls to optimise space utilisation. Walls have the most fashionable representation and are largely feature display with coordinated representation. Mobile wall fixtures have been designed to allow partial visibility to others zones of the store. Walls have channels to fit in the shelves which are optimally spaced apart and are fitted with other display fixtures - straight arm, step arm, D bars to support front and side hanging as per the planogram requirements.According to the store's design team: ‘Lifestyle's signature look of lighter ceiling and flooring is very well represented through this new design. The floors are vitrified tiles, without a differentiated aisle space. The main aisles have a receded ceiling detail with ambient lights.'

Store lighting

Stores have ambient and focal lights, with a mix of warm and cool lights. With recessed details on the ceiling, cdmt lights serve for ambient lighting whereas there are tracks and focal lights for specific merchandise highlights on the walls and floor fixtures.

Types of Fixtures :

Fixtures are designed in accordance with the concept look and feel. The denim fixtures look dark and raw. Casual fixtures are mostly in neutral tones and designed in a way such that the colourful products are highlighted, while the fixtures and fittings themselves take a supporting role. Formal on the other hand is more clean, classy and minimal.

Most fixtures are dynamic in their usage- in our recent stores mimic complete portability. All elements can be assembled, refitted or modified at site. The designs are in sync with our philosophy that keeps us nimble and makes it easy to adapt to changing market needs.

All brand buying and therefore, customer representation happens in accordance with season's themes and key trends. Depending on the area allocated to the brand, the representation on floor is tweaked to present the offerings in the most fashionable manner.

To aid the displays on floor a two step meticulous process in followed. For starters all the merchandise carry theme/collection tags. This makes the segregation of merchandise a lot easier for the operations teams and brand staff. Secondly, there is a thoroughly detailed planogram, circulated by the VM team. This helps the front end team in displaying the merchandise to convey a story and to encourage cross selling as ensembles & categories. Most brands are detailed to the level of specific product codes, prop and VM element placement and communication visibility.

There are focal points created even in the wall profiles by way of special treatment that breaks the monotony of regular and continuous walls. This could be in terms of wallpapers or a longer/ shorter dimension of fixture. Use of veneer sheets and corian is selective but used for impact. There is use of specific light fixtures above promotion tables and focal points in ladies ethnic and denim sections.

At strategic locations across the floor plates, mannequin clusters have been placed to highlight most fashionable and trendy offering from the collections. Each cluster has its own look which fits into the section representation.

The leading floor of lifestyle stores start with the chic make up, cosmetics and personal accessories product. This area -especially the sunglasses and watches section are more brightly lit than the whole of the stores. We also use differential lighting within the other section- though this concept is better accepted in brand stores.

Kochi: DSK Hyosung, a well known name in premium super bikes segment, has inaugurated its first exclusive superbike showroom in Kochi on the 14th of January 2015.

The company assembles and markets superbikes under the brand name of DSK Hyosung.

Following the success of its existing showrooms in various parts of the country, this new setup also offers a complete range of super bikes from 250cc - 700cc, under the dealership of Kanif Motors.

This new showroom is designed to fit the pre-requisites of a modern day showroom in an urban set up.

'Bearing in mind the mounting demand for superbikes and the steady commercial development of the southern region of the country like Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu etc., reaching to some of the major cities in this region is a very calculated move,' says Shivapada Ray, COO, DSK Motowheels.

Kochi can be seen as a potential market for two-wheelers with consumers nursing a firm aspiration for superbikes.

With a CKD plant in Maharashtra, the brand enjoys the status of having the well entrenched superbike network in India.

Hyosung has considerable presence in the super biking market segment in the US, South America, UK, Australia and many Asian countries including India.

As a professionally managed interior design company, Design Radiance, considers design as its core element and believes in blending the social aspects of today's life with interior essentials.

Design Radiance Pvt Ltd is a comprehensive design company with projects ranging from Corporate, Retail and Hospitality.

For Haute Couture fashion label Kartikeya, Design radiance created a studio combining the sale of label's aesthetic designs with creating a personal space for the buyer.

The look of the store was done keeping "Her" (ambiguous) personal pace in mind, where 'She' has a living room to herself, a dresser and a wardrobe section to get dressed. 'She' also has some luxuries like a piano to play, a fire place to get warm, and a changing room, which acts like a wardrobe area.

Design radiance used wall moulding and ceiling cornice designs to give Kartikeya its look and feel, kept the wardrobes and furniture all black with accents of oak, and sourced a 110-year-old German piano to compliment the theme. "We took about a month to finalise the store's design.

There were researches involved, and our client too who is a fashion designer put forth his ideas before the current design could be zeroed in on," said Rishu Anand, Director, Design Radiance. Today, the store commands attention amidst the stacked up Hauz Khas bazaar and truly blends the gap between the Indian and the Western fashions, translating the visions of both the client and the designer into the new store.

Store Profile:                                                                                                                                                                    

Project Name: Kartikeya

Site: Hauz Khas Village

Area: 850 sq ft

Completion: September 2014                                                                                                                                

Leading luxury accessory brand Da Milano has recently launched its exclusive boutique in Ahemdabad. Located at Venus square, the boutique’s ambience is designed keeping in mind the brands image.

 Further, the interior of store has been fused with earthy, natural and fresh colors to add the newness to the place.

The brand new outlet houses a broad selection of latest products ranging from handbags for women, travel bags, laptop bags, and briefcases for men, and much more.

Besides, an extensive range of small leather goods like wallets, pouches, mobile covers and belts are also available at the boutique.

What’s more, the store showcases premium collection of trendy and colorful handbags crafted out of leather and prints picked to raise your style quotient.

Expressing his views on the store launch, Sahil Malik , Managing Director said: “We are thrilled to launch our third store in Ahemdabad. Our other two stores are located at Airports and the brand is very well accepted there, so this time we are coming in city. As it's a growing market and people here are also very fashion-conscious. Our target audience is the upper middle class who value styling, fashion and product quality.”

Growing drastically in length and breadth Da Milano has ensured its presence in every distinguished mall and high street present in the country.

With an aggressive expansion in every metropolitan as well as Tier I and Tier II cities, the brand is taking a great leap towards success. Besides, Da Milano continues to be the fastest fashion moving leather accessories brand as it continues to have a strong foothold across India with its 47 retail store pan India.

Among the key expansion projects the brand will be soon working in other international podiums at UAE, South East Asian and European markets.

Established in 1989 Da Milano has presence in global markets like Europe, North America, Asia and Russia where our brand has carved a niche for itself. The brand’s collection varies from formal to informal occasions, business purpose and for glamour.

The new flagship store of 3.1 Phillip Lim is a unique blend contemporary yet simple design. Designed by Campaign, this flagship boutique is located in Great Jones Street, Manhattan’s NoHo district.

The store is spread across an area of 325 sq m, which has been developed in close collaboration with Creative Director Phillip Lim.

With an idea to craft a space reflecting the brand’s modern luxury philosophy and create a canvas to showcase the 3.1 Phillip Lim collections of womenswear, menswear and accessories,

Taking inspiration from the concept of studio luxury and a play between two seemingly opposing ideas, the design of the flagship boutique brings together contradictory materials, mixing the luxurious with the humble in unexpected ways.

The luxury materials such as marble, onyx, Corian, champagne gold finished metal, and green mink have been elegantly curated in the new store alongside MDF, ply and plasterboard, everyday materials more commonly used in construction.

Besides, the eye catching architectural features of the store include a curving, white washed plywood wall and oversized stone steps along the back of the store.

The steps showcase shoes and accessories in addition to providing a platform for installations and performances.

Futher, the store displays a freestanding minimalist architectural block, inserted into half the length of the store creates space to house fitting rooms.

What’s more, the walls of this store are inspired by the work of renowned photographer Bill Jacobson and his recent series of minimal still-life images placing rectangles of various sizes in different settings

Made from standard construction materials including soft touch black MDF, multiply and unfinished plasterboard, the canvases are carefully curated to appear effortlessly and casually placed along the edges of the interior.

The collections are showcased in the boutique add on to the elegance of the brand. Besides, minimalist metal rails in champagne gold finish, and white Corian and mint-hued marble tables compliment the 3.1 Phillip Lim range.

Further, plinths to display accessories make playful use of utilitarian materials with ordinary floor tiles stacked high, and interspersed with pieces of glass giving a glint of blue.

Moreover, the unconventional and unexpected use of mixed materials is also evident in the flooring, which utilises grey limestone and exquisite blue Bahia marble tiles at the entrance for maximum drama.

The store's floor tiles are arranged in a classic chequered pattern, the layout subverted by their juxtaposition to the poured concrete floor featured in the space beyond the entrance. The inlaid brass strips mark out the pattern and add a note of classical refinement to the interiors of this store.

Ruco Lines’s brand new store is an extraordinary combination of simple yet contemporary design.Designed by Jean Nouvel, this single brand store showcases a wide collection of footwear in an innovative way

Located in Rome, this boutique follows the contemporary challenge of retaining the uniqueness of stores designed by Jean Nouvel.

Besides, following the concept of replicating and maintaining a single brand, from one city to another and from one continent to another.

Jean Nouvel derives inspiration from the ornamental features that characterise the existing spaces, and anchors them in his projects.

The design of this boutique is focused on the envelope, bringing out the original formal characteristics by amplifying them. The envelope is magnified and particularised through an envelope of white plaster.

In this form of revealed architecture, the scenography peculiar to each store is set up through the creation of “tableaux” based on frames of metal rods.

What’s more, these frames define each space, marking the walls as well as the floor and ceiling, and acting as supports for Ruco Line shoes and bags. Each space stages its own unique tableau, featuring Ruco Line products.

Besides, tall luminous totem poles shed bright white light that spreads over the ceiling, highlighting the formal singularity of each store.

Image and text courtesy: www.retaildesignblog.net

Entice, fine jewellery brand by KGK group has recently unveiled its new boutique which is a fusion of luxury and simplicity. Inaugurated by bollywood actress, Dia Mirza, the store is located at Richmond Circle, Bengaluru.

Besides, this is the fifth boutique from the brand in India. With this sparkling new addition, the total number of Entice standalone boutiques across the globe has reached 17.

Expressing his views on the launch, Sanjay Kothari- Vice Chairman, KGK Group, said: "This magnificent boutique is one more step towards a progressive retail market in India for us. Entice, the luxury jewellery brand will always strive to craft the most gorgeous pieces of jewellery, which are a pride to own. Our gemstones and jewellery are of the highest quality standards and the designs are unmatchable, hence, making them all the more desirable." 

This luxurious double-story boutique is spread over an area of 3000 sft, and the contemporary interiors add on to the elegance of this retail space.

Furthermore, the plush interiors compliment the fine range of designer jewellery;  the beauty of every crafted piece is more highlighted in the display. Besides, the design and adornment of the place is done in a manner which makes it modern yet classic while being very spacious.

'Entice is heralding a new era of jewellery design and retail, inspired from our traditional heritage roots, where designs meet the growing demand for international aesthetics and at the same time make a bold statement about India's style leadership on the world stage,' added Kothari. 

On the occasion of this store launch, exquisite Daimond and Kundan Polki collections were showcased.

 Sharing views on the occasion and collections, Manju Kothari -Creative Director, Entice adds, "For me, beauty and aesthetics are of core importance, be it the jewellery or the ambiance of the boutique. This is what is reflected in our new boutique where all the jewellery pieces on display have been specially crafted and radiates Entice's signature craftsmanship. I am certain that our patrons will have an incredible time experiencing the finest of jewels in the lap of sheer and pristine luxury, as much as we enjoyed in creating."

Apart from an extensive range of handcrafted diamond jewellery, the boutique boasts of vast new collections of traditional as well as contemporary jewellery for every occasion.

The latest store of Arttdinox is a unique combination of British architecture with an Indian touch. Located in the central part of Bangalore, the store is in a colonial era building dated 1893, which was originally built by Britishers as a Orphanage.

Spread across an area of 1200 sqft , the store is surrounded amidst the vintage Cinnamon- a boutique which was quite famous for its eclectic designer range of products adds on to the beauty of the new Arttdinox store.

Apart from the wonderful exterior, the store showcases its fine collection of kitchen ware and dinner selections.

Commenting on the design, Sanjay Agarwal, Designer, FRDC said: 'Overall an attempt was to recreate an 'Indian Colonial era led Retail environment with a history of building as given and modern retail experience as an intervention. Besides, people should spend quality time in this space away from today's chaotic environment in retail mall and that was a primary objective."

Besides, the store's is designed keeping in mind the Indian architectural feature- central courtyard open to sky and spaces built around the courtyard, front Verandah-or a foyer creates a welcoming entrance to the premise.

Restoring all these features and reinforcing the original roof built on Burmah Teak purlins and rafters, lime plaster with exposed electrical wiring was quite a challenge.

Besides, harvesting abundant natural lights and views from arched windows, Long drop ceiling fans from ceiling, and much more features add life to this retail outlet.

The brand new store of CREYATE by Arvind group is a unique amalgamation of style and technology. This online custom clothing brand of Arvind Internet (AIL), a start-up by the Arvind group has revolutionized the concept of shopping at a physical space.

Located in Ambience Mall, Gurgaon, this store built on a pillar of customization, wherein the consumer can experience both the benefits of brick and click. This digital store offers ample options to the visitor to choose and create his own garment.

Furthermore, the store hosts a collection of casuals, semi casuals and formals designed for all occasions.

Besides, this store allows the customer to design his own garments on www.creyate.com, the online studio gives the freedom of choice and expression. Also, the brand offers its consumers a home visit with the experts of style- the Style Stewards, one can get measured and styled in the comfort of their homes.

This technically advanced fashion studio, the Creyate Store is quite an extraordinary experience. Starting from iMacs that help one design their garments online and ending with swatch books that allow them to touch and feel the fabrics, fashion play is literally at one‟s fingertips. With an Augmented

Reality installation helping customers understand their garments better, this is indeed the future of fashion. For those who have been impressed by the designs, they have the option of scanning the QR code on the garment, transferring it on screen and customising it to perfection.

“As a pioneer in bringing global fashion to India, Arvind now intends to break the monotonous convention with CREYATE offering innovative and the best in class brand experience backed with never before technology. CREYATE intends to offer an alternative to ready-to-wear as well as traditional custom clothing and targets to cross Rs. 100 crore by next year. Our digitized concept retail stores are well thought-out extension that facilitates one‟s yearning to create their own style statements, by literally letting you wear your personality on your sleeve.” said Kulin Lalbhai, Executive Director, Arvind Ltd.

 The CREYATE store offers an unparalleled line of luxury formal and casual clothing. Defined by unrivalled tailoring, premium fabrics and exquisite finishes, the formal collection aims to create a vestiary legacy- one that partners with the most prestigious mills across the world, like Scabal and Zegna, all while utilizing impeccable Japanese technology.

Interestingly, ecommerce website moving to brick and mortar is something different from the usual trend, but this also indicates that both the platforms are equally important, and the newly launched store of Bombay Shirt Company is a perfect example of this Omni channel model.

Recently, Bombay Shirt Co. has its launched second outlet at Mumbai’s Viviana Mall in Thane, Mumbai. Spread over an area of 90 sq ft, this outlet is an unique combination of contemporary design and simplicity.

Besides, the new kiosk showcases a separate display for men’s and women’s shirts, along with a wide array of fabrics on the swatch board that provide a quick glimpse for customers.

Expressing views on the outlet’s design, Akshay Narvekar, Director of Bombay Shirt Company, said: “There was a particular style and look for the kiosk that I had in mind. We worked with our graphic designer to put it on paper. What happen next was to work with carpenters and ensemble the design and all other elements.”

Further, the store has two separate racks for women's collection and men's collection. Also, it has a sitting area for customers where they can sit and browse through our swatches. Besides, the front arena has a swatch board displaying a few of our fabrics for a quick glimpse of the collection.

Besides, an attached table stacks the fabric swatch book, along with the branding featured products and options of collars. 

Further, the collection is designed by Akshay Narvekar, which consists of mix blocks, stripes & checks that can be customized for unique styles, and detailing such as collar, cuff, buttons and more.        

 Global Desi, the boho chic brand, achieves a significant milestone, as it celebrates the launch of its 75th exclusive store at Monalisa Centrum, Vadodara. Established in the year 2008, Global Desi, is the pioneer of fusion wear in India, and is inspired by the country’s vast and vibrant heritage; juxtaposed with western silhouettes and global styles.

Speaking on occasion of the launch of the 75^th store, Anita Dongre, Creative Director, Global Desi said “Global Desi is known for its distinctive style sensibility, unique prints, and trendy silhouettes. The increase in consumers graduating to the philosophy of fast fashion, supported by growth in brand consciousness, makes urban India an exciting market for fashion. We attribute this landmark achievement of our 75^th store, to a combination of hard work, a dedicated team, and most importantly, a loyal customer base. We are looking at rapidly expanding our style footprint into newer markets and smaller cities. We are grateful to all our loyal patrons, for the continued support, and we aim to strengthen our commitment to our consumers by offering the best of fashion, infused with the latest global trends, in supreme quality and at competitive prices.”

The collection offers styles like bomber jackets, culottes, skirts, dungarees, and a wide range of comfortable knits and denims, in bold pops of colours like blue, red, purple, pink etc. A heady cocktail, where global trends and Indian aesthetics, influence style in equal measure – ‘London Calling’ is the new language in fashion for the global woman.

 Global Desi, is currently present in 53 cities in India, with 200 multi-brand outlets throughout the country, 2 international stores and 75 exclusive brand outlets.

In inventory management, what is required is to select the right product, right time and right place and make the products available for customer. Also, there should be the right quantity available always at Distribution Centres (DC) and stores need to have better in-stocks to ensure no sale loss. Also, suppliers need to be pushed to supply each and every order that is placed to deliver on time and at the right place. 

Keeping an accurate count of product and maintaining an organised item inventory is essential. Making out timely orders and maintaining regular deliveries is also important, ensuring our inventory never gets too low forcing us to lose sales nor our inventory building up too big thereby threatening us with an expiration date crisis, as well as, time lost moving around excess product coming in our way. There are some major factors for retail inventory management which are discussed below.

Retail inventory management software: It is required to ensure that we are using right software and setting all the parameters required to create right quantity based on our regular sales, seasonal, festivals and back to school etc. (right forecast, policies, number of days inventory holding in our DCs & Stores by department, category, sub-category, fine line  and item level etc).

Keep a high percentage on the sales floor: Store manager needs to keep maximum number of products on the sales floor. The bigger the percentage of our product is on the floor, the more efficient our inventory plan will be, assuming our shelves are fully stocked. We want a lean and trim stock supply, without stock piled
to the ceiling in the back of the store or warehouse, where it’s
hard to work.

Also, walk around the store daily and notice which items seem to be selling. Take mental notes of the items that never need to be restocked. When you recognise items that aren’t selling well, determine if this is a seasonal product or the product simply isn’t popular anymore. In either case, move the product to a new location, to try to facilitate sales.

Rotate inventory: A huge loss for businesses with inventory is items going ‘out of date/expire shelf life’. One way to avoid this problem is to rotate product often. When we stock new deliveries of product onto the sales floor, we don’t want to simply replace what was sold with your new product. Instead, we want to place the product with the latest out-of-date numbers in the back of your display.

If we continue to place new inventory in the front of the display, we’re eventually going to have a lot of product pass its expiration date, simply by sitting in a spot no customer is ever going to put their hands on it. The same thing goes for the back room. We want our newest product behind or under your oldest product in the supply room, so you place your oldest product on the sales floor first.

We might think this is a huge headache, to continually pull product from the back and place the new inventory behind it. If that’s too much of a problem, consider pulling the entire old product to one side of the display, preferably the one that gets picked from the most often, and building the rest of the display with the new product. If we have inventory that moves pretty quickly, this system works well enough, too.

Keep an inventory regularly- Periods and Quarters: Count inventory regularly. In some business, a quarterly or twice yearly inventory suffices. In other businesses, having an inventory every ‘sales period’ works better. For instance, I worked as the warehouse in-charge for one of the major telecom companies of the world, and we had a new inventory period every four weeks. This meant 13 inventories per year, to keep track of exactly what we had in
our warehouse.

The more often we count inventory, the more often we’re going to be thinking about what sells best and what should be discontinued, or at least ordered less often. This is a good strategy, because it forces us to make hard choices and to hold oneself accountable.

Retail inventory management concerns: Things are never going to be perfect in retail inventory, but some retail inventory managers are better than others. The best retail inventory management requires attention to details and good communication. Even then, resupply isn’t always perfect.

For instance, when I was a warehouse in-charge, if the central warehouse that supplied us with product was having a space crisis with an over-ordered product, we would sometimes get extra pallets of unwanted product, no matter what we put on our order. Someone else’s problem became ours, despite our loud complaints. Only seldom did those complaints result in the product being shipped back where it came from - it was our problem.

That’s going to happen to a retail manager sometimes, so we have to get used to it. What you can do to make those retail inventory problems more manageable, is to handle you own business. Keep a good track of your inventory needs, order exactly what we want, don’t let salesmen/buyer talk you into something you know you don’t want, and when someone else makes a mess for you, we’ll be able to handle it. In other words, in retail inventory management, the more problems we solve, before they become problems, the better retail managers we’ll be.

Conclusion

Don’t fall in love with your inventory. It’s not likely to love you back. It’s amazing how the investment in inventory can take on an emotional, almost passionate quality. But, if you think about it, it is understandable.

For those of us whose focus is on managing retail inventory and maximising the return on inventory investment, however, inventory is a dispassionate means to an end. We look at inventory, and we see a surrogate for cash. It’s either going to be sold and converted to cash, or it’s sitting there tying up cash, costing us more cash each and every additional day it’s not sold. It is our responsibility as inventory managers to recognise and adopt sound inventory management practices, in order to maximise the return on inventory investment, without sacrificing the passion that is the lifeblood of any growing business.

Leading lifestyle brand, The Bombay store has recently launched its fifth store in Mumbai. This unique store is expediently, located at Linking Road, Khar, Mumbai.

Besides, this swanky destination is spread across retail space of the 1800 sq. The elegant decor of the store promises a graceful dose of retail therapy to pamper the discerner customer.

This store is further, spread across two levels the new store is luxuriously merchandized with seamless array of lifestyle products broadly categorized into artefacts, home décor, fashion accessories and wellness.

Commenting on the launch, Asim Dalal, Managing Director of the Bombay Store said, “We are pleased to launch our fifth store in Mumbai at the upscale neighborhood in Linking Road, Khar. The new store will provide wholesome shopping experience giving customers access to wide choice of traditional and contemporary lifestyle products under one roof. Infusing a sense of fashion and fun the collections will encompass indigenous Indian crafts in eclectic mix of vibrant colors, rich textures, forms and themes. Over the years we have received stupendous response for our products and service at all our flagships stores in Mumbai. With fair understanding of customer tastes in the city we believe there will be high degree of acceptance from our esteemed patrons”

This outlet will boast of plethora of products ranging from exquisite artefacts, bed & table linen, home products, fashion accessories, ethnic jewellery, stationery, tableware, mementoes & souvenirs, paintings and wellness products.

 It also gives the customers a chance to add a classy touch to their  home, with beautiful bed covers & cushion covers in striking colours with embroidered motifs. With festivities around the corner the store offers mesmerizing gifting options ranging from Stylish Bags, Indian Ethnic Wear, Chocolate Boxes, Designer Cutlery and Hand Made Crafts.  

The brand has also unveiled ‘Bejeweled’ collection that offers handmade ornamented embellishments in vibrant color combinations.Moreover, these creations are beautifully embroidered in smooth texture with intricate designs and notable patterns that add touch of royalty.

International architectural hardware, Häfele launches its exclusive new Design Studio with Luxmi Associates in Karnal, Haryana.Located at Novelty Road in Karnal, this design studio is spread across an approximately 1050 sft of internationally acclaimed range of innovative products that have inspired architects and interior contractors across the world.

 With Exclusive franchises in India, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, the German company Häfele is now ready to set foot in Karnal with its wide range of interior fitting solutions that matches individual tastes and meets specific requirements while providing the latest innovations from the world over.

Commenting on the launch, Häfele design studio in Karnal, Nilesh Dave, National Manager – Sales – Trade and Franchise says, “With the launch of the new Häfele Design Studio, Häfele aims at bringing internationally acclaimed and innovative hardware and kitchen fitting solutions to Karnal. Häfele is committed to identify and understand the specific needs of customers, architects and interior contractors across segments and provide them with desired fitting solutions. All Häfele products stand for quality and design keeping their functionality at the top of the mind.”

This studio will feature not just the complete range of architects and interior fittings solutions but will host kitchen appliances, lighting and sanitary from the house of Häfele. The new studio will enable customers to touch and feel the fittings in application before purchasing them. It will also give customers a complete overview and enable them to make an informed decision; which fittings will best suit their individual taste.

FITCH is the world’s leading retail and brand consultancy with an integrated offer of strategy, design and implementation, with the ability to deliver across all touch points.

FITCH offers world-class design for the Indian market with studios in Mumbai and Delhi. For Indian textile conglomerate Arvind,

FITCH created an in-store concept combining the sale of superior quality fabrics with bespoke men’s tailoring.

Instead of conforming to the will of the masterji, or traditional tailor, men wanting customised clothing can now express their individual style with help from Studio Arvind.

The traditional shopping process - a linear two-step, wherein the consumer gives up their power of choice at each point - has been completely overturned by a radical new model at Studio Arvind.

Conceived to spark consumer dreaming,Studio Arvind places the customer firmly at the heart of the experience by bringing together the fabric and the masterji.Resultantly it creates a platform for customers’ individuality and expression. This 4,000 sq ft store revolutionises the art of custom clothing for men in India, completely shifting the deep-rooted traditional balance of power between customers and their ‘masterji’!

Bold and mighty is what the new flagship store of GAS is all about. The store has recently opened its doors at High Street Phoenix in Mumbai.

The outlet reflects the brand's spirit and taste through the product display and a precise style made up of settings, lights, materials and textures.

Spread across an area of 1830 sft, the new GAS concept store revisits the brand's iconic interior design elements in a unique way aiming to welcome customers, each with their own style and own personality.

Besides, the store’s product category areas are clearly distinct. Sanded natural chestnut wood floors characterize the area devoted to men, while polished concrete floors and walls covered with glossy white lacquered panels with a dynamic three-dimensional texture, are devoted to women.

Positioned centrally at the back of the store is the space that focuses on the brand's core business - the imposing Denim Wall, which combines the solid look of concrete with an enveloping semi-circular shape and the Denim Icon, a curvy, supple horizontal display. The GAS Flagship store will launch with the brand's FW14 collection.

The theme that characterize the looks for this season, is undoubtedly the biker-rock style. A mood highlighting the archetypal association two wheels and denim, inseparable since the days of style icons like James Dean and Steve McQueen. The distinctive pieces have been revisited in a brand new and contemporary key and have been elaborated with treatments and innovative processes.

Expressing his views on the expansion, GAS President and founder, Claudio Grotto, said: "GAS's expansion in this country, which has one of the world's most dynamic economies and populations, is moving ahead at a steady pace, to the extent that by next year it could become our fourth, if not our third, market. The new Mumbai flagship is an addition to our 46 doors throughout the country's main urban centres, which include shop-in-shops and single brand stores - Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Ludhiana, Hyderabad, Chandigarth, Chennai, Thane, Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Pune - and we plan to continue strengthening and expanding our presence."

A design that recreates the mélange of rajasthani culture, Kathputli -the Marwari restaurant is an amazing combination of ethnic design with a hint of modernity.

Located at Defence Colony Market, New Delhi, Kathputli enlivens the authentic Marwari folk culture served.

Kathputli is a perfect place to experience true Rajasthani folk culture and authentic Marwari and North Indian delicacies. Besides, the engaging the Sufi adds on to the ambience.

Expressing their views about the place, owners Vipul and Divya Gupta of Kathputli, said: "Kathputli is a long harboured dream of ours. As vegetarians, we always felt that there was a need for a pure vegetarian restaurant serving authentic Marwari and North Indian Cuisine for the Jain and Baniya Community, which could showcase the mirage of dishes that these two cuisines have to offer."

Besides, we have worked diligently to bring the feel & experience of Indian culture in terms of food and decor and are delighted to position ourselves as a unique Thali based restaurant which will keep on churning new culinary delights week on week, " the duo added.

Kathputli aims to mirror the beautiful Indian culture in terms of food, service and ambience; the tastefully hand crafted interiors highlight warm and traditional hospitality.

The walls are decorated with meenakari engravings, hawa-mahal and old fort designs adds on to the ecstasy of the place.

True to its literal meaning, the word kathputli is derived from the word "kaath" meaning wood and "putli" meaning puppet; the display of puppets and craftsmanship will indeed the visitors back to the olden times.  

Apart from the amazing ambience, the menu is prepared by professional and experienced Maharajs using some of the best hand-picked ingredients to bring out the authentic and succulent flavors of the dishes.

Zu Tisch, the bistro bar is an amalgamation of vintage style blended with German rustic charm. Keeping true to its literal translation being ‘At the Table’, Zu Tisch redefines the hang out experience.

Spread across an area of 1800 sft, the bistro bar is located amidst the posh surroundings of Greater kailash market1.

Its unique ambience is crafted in a way that it reflects the popular European culture, and is getaway from the mundane flow of life, bringing alive the very essence of the pub culture made famous by the typical pubs of Germany.

This vintage style 50 seater pub cum bistro, is a mix of lounge, table and bar stools with an old world flooring and wooden groin vaults, which gives a typical German cottage feel that will surely engage the consumers and take-in the vibe.

The interiors showcase a blend of modern and ethnic decorative pieces. Besides, a wall is crafted like a rail route of Bavaria, a few retro frames, and an industrial ceiling with heavy duty speakers hanging from it defines the uncomplicated design philosophy of Zu Tisch.

Zu Tisch is the brain child of 3 young IIT ians who along with their corporate jobs squeezed out time and displayed their organizational skills to follow their passion. According to the trio of Mayank, Eshaan and Pulkit, “Zu Tisch is apt for people of all generations to have a great time, it is a café to get lost in thoughts during an afternoon, a restaurant with delicacies that you can’t resist savoring, a pub for those who wish to groove with beats by some of the best DJs in town late at night and a relaxed bar to hang out with your buddies or just alone over some German brews”

Besides, Zu Tisch is all set to add to more fun and frolic to its ambience as it has recently tied up with Harley Davidson, and it is expected that soon Harley davidson bikes would be one of teh major attraction of this place.

Reliance Retail, the largest player in the organised retail space by revenue, today reported Rs 99 crore pre-tax profit on an income of Rs 4,167 crore, says a PTI report.

During the year-on-year period, its revenue stood at Rs 3,470 crore, which rose 20 per cent in the reporting quarter to Rs 4,167 crore, group chief financial officer Alok Agarwal told reporters here this evening while announcing the group's earnings.

In the first quarter of this fiscal, the company had reported a 14.5 per cent increase in turnover to Rs 3,999 crore. The company had not disclosed the standalone profit numbers in the first quarter, but had said they would close the full year in net profit.

For the first time since Reliance Retail was set up in 2006, the company reported a pre-tax profit of Rs 363 crore in FY14 on the back of a 34 per cent rise in its revenue to Rs 14,496 crore.

The company which operates multi store formats like hypermarts, fashion, retail, electronics retail, added 283 stores in the quarter and has invested a little less than Rs 1,000 crore during the reporting period, group deputy chief financial officer V Srikanth said.

This takes its total store count to 2,006 spanning over 150 cities at the end of the quarter with over 12 million sqft of retail space, he added.

Asked about sales, Srikanth said it reported over 25 per cent growth in the quarter, but expressed optimism that for the full fiscal the company could be able to better sales numbers on the back of the improved economic conditions and expect sales to clip at 30-35 per cent.

Mid-sized software solutions firm,  Zensar Technologies revealed that  it has signed a multi-million dollar deal with a leading UK-based high street retailer, says a PTI report.

The Pune-headquartered firm has been managing multiple systems for the retailer for 7 years and the new engagement involves a managed services portfolio consolidation, it said in a statement.

Zensar did not provide financial details of the contract. The company's Technologies Enterprise Transformation Services Head Nitin Parab said: "Zensar's business in Europe has seen a significant boost in the Retail sector with this large deal lending a shot in the arm in our core businesses."

It has been investing significantly in building its leadership in the Retail vertical, through an omnipresent approach to next generation retail and making investments in Omni channel technology for retailers, he added.

Parab said Zensar had recently announced the acquisition of Professional Access Ltd USA (PA), one of the largest Oracle ATG and Endeca partners in the world.

"It is an Oracle Platinum partner with presence in US, UK, Latin America, Middle East and Africa. PA works with several large and mid-sized retailers in these geographies to build and implement their e-Commerce strategies," he added.

Besides, Zensar - an RPG Group company - has also signed new contracts in the commerce space including, an American toy and juvenile products retailer, one of the largest check printers in the US, one of the largest chain of retailers in Mexico a speciality fashion and lifestyle retailer.

Obed Buffet is a unique restaurant that is an amalgamation of simplicity and innovation. This eating hideout is spread across an area of 600 sqm, and is located in St. Petersburg – Russia.

 Obed Buffet is the first restaurant company of Ginza Project, and is made ​​in the format of fast food.

Besides, the interiors of the restro are highlighted with lush green plants, slate boards, picture charts, and much more.

Designed by G-Sign the space is designed with simple yet innovative.

Furthermore, there are numerous counters, salad and soup station, a huge dessert showcase, grill, wok, sushi, pasta, pizza and it works in a non-stop and gets into plates directly from the hands of skilled chefs.

Virtually, all the accessories and furnitures in the restaurant are custom-made from painted tables with recipes and to the walls lined with broken crockery.

Photo courtesy: www.retaildesignblog.net

Muraqqa, the Indian restaurant is an amalgamation of soothing decor and serene ambience. The elegant white interiors of the restaurant adds a sense of simplicity and peace to the environment by redefining the experience of dining out.

According to Mr. Mayank Sahni, Managing Director, “Muraqqa has a lot to offer to the customers, the ambience, the menu and the selection of food items have all been designed exclusively.

Once you step in Muraqqa you will be transformed to the era of Mughals. “

“The decor has been inspired from Taj Mahal with a very royal feel to it. As such we attract a lot of foreign and tourists. Every dish is prepared with hygiene and freshness is served in every cuisine. From preparations of our curries, to baking our breads, we have taken every step to ensure that we provide genuine mughlai cuisine taste to our guests.” added Sahni.

Besides, “India is projected to be number one for growth globally in the tourism and f&b sector in the next five years, this sector has huge potential. Not just the domestic consumption is strong enough this sector is prospering because of foreign tourist also, “ said Mayank.

Simple yet quirky aesthetics is what the Saint G exclusive footwear boutique is all about!

Saint G, is an up market footwear boutique specializing in hand crafted leather; has embarked on an expedition to offer the best from the World of footwear.

The three years old brand, offers a multitude of options in décolleté, sandals, heels, biker, ballerinas and in accessories like handbags, clutches and slings. The assemblage at Saint G is in sync with the international fashion trends, as an extensive research is conducted by the skilled designers of the brand before designing every collection. 

The skilled labourers deftly manoeuvre the raw material to produce a footwear which is not only high on design but is high on quality too. 

 Offering a bright and vibrant mélange of designer footwear Saint G is here to stay as the designers at Saint G strive to produce indigenous designs which are durable too.

The logo in itself embodies the whole mantra of the brand as the crown signifies elegance whereas the lion and the shield symbolize loyalty and credibility respectively, thus meaning that every product encapsulates all the three strong elements in them.

Expressing views on the brand, Ronnie Khanna, Founder SaintG says:"I personally make sure about the quality of the products is maintained without compromising on it’s style and comfort. Saint G gives hundreds of women an avenue to take their designer self to a different level. "

The brand offers its services through online platform like Amazon & Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop and a brick and mortar store in Hauz Khas. Saint G is the apt choice for those who believe in putting their best foot forward! It does not only outshine itself as a mere footwear brand but is also recognized as a bold fashion statement.

The government cleared the proposal of PAMP Gold LLC, Dubai for 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) for setting up the duty-free shop of gold and silver metals at the airport. In all, the government gave its approval to 22 FDI proposals worth Rs 3,248.83 crore.

KSK Energy Ventures Ltd, with 74.94 per cent foreign equity and engaged in the business of investing company, has been given permission to issue and allot warrants to foreign promoters.

The proposal entails investment of Rs 1,050 crore. FIPB has also cleared the proposal of InterGlobe Aviation, holding company of IndiGo. This would clear the way for fresh foreign direct investment in air carrier IndiGo.

The approval is also likely pave the way for IndiGo to come out with its IPO. The air carrier has been planning to attract additional investment for several months. Other proposals which have been cleared include that of Gurgaon-based Baxter (India) (pharma firm), ARKRAY Healthcare (pharma), Verdant Telemetry & Antenna Systems (defence), Genpact India (IT) and Innisfree Cosmetics India (trading), has been deferred. These include those of HBM Private Equity India, Intas Pharmaceuticals and Verizon Communications India Pvt Ltd.

 Fossil India launched its third stand-alone store in Vashi’s popular retail hubs - Inorbit Mall, Navi Mumbai. The store will serve as a one stop destination for Fossil products.

Touted as a lifestyle destination, the store will provide customers an opportunity to discover crafted merchandise within a modern, and chic retail space.

Commenting on the launch, Vasant Nangia, Managing Director, Fossil India Private Limited said, “The opening of the store marks the emerging foothold of Fossil in Maharashtra, which is an important region for the retail brand. We are happy to get the people of Vashi one step closer to the brand they have always loved. It brings the brand to life in a new and exciting manner.

The product categories retailed in India range from its signature line of timepieces, eyewear, an extensive collection of leather products for men and women and accessories

With its  branded stores, Fossil jewellery also makes a sparkling entry into the Indian fashion jewellery market.

Synonymous with classy, chic and elegance, Fossil products ooze character and stand out to make a lasting impression”.

Visitors to the store will also enjoy browsing the collections in a contemporary and chic atmosphere. The store is especially designed to elevate the buying experience, and is committed to conveying Fossil’s signature range of products and rich connotation to connoisseurs and enthusiasts.

Michael Kors Lifestyle inaugurates its first retail store in UB City Mall, Banglore. Spread across an area of 983 sft store, the store showcases a mix of various collections of Michael Kors from watches, jewellery to eyewear.

Besides, the store also carries a selection of the brand’s fragrances.

Michael Kors’ in-house team designed the store to echo the label’s chic aesthetic, using zebra-print furniture, sleek metal fixtures and mirrored surfaces.

What’s more, the outlet has glossy and large-scale vintage photographs that cover the walls, evoking jet set glamour and timeless sophistication.

Michael Kors is an award-winning designer of luxury accessories and ready-to-wear. His namesake company, established in 1981, currently produces a range of products through his Michael Kors and MICHAEL Michael Kors labels, including accessories, footwear, watches, jewelry, men’s and women’s ready-to-wear, and a full line of fragrance products.  

The Rustan’s Group in the Philippines has launched a new department store concept – Wellworth – that caters to middle-class customers. 

Developed by the Blocher Blocher Partners of Stuttgart, the design features of the store include wooden slats around the boundaries – all over the store.

Inside, the slats are carried forward as a multi-storey design element in the central atrium.

The challenge was to ensure the best orientation of the products and to do justice to each department’s special identity.

Clear lines of orientation 

The basement is home to children’s department, with its multi-coloured decor; ground floor is for beauty and menswear, done in contrasting black and white.

 Sports and women’s fashion are located on the first floor, and the second floor is for home improvement - with everything from décor to furniture to household electronics. 

The design team has created clear lines of orientation by so-called boulevards that run the entire length of each floor, functioning as a main axis. With the dark tiles and ceilings, the boulevards stand out from the rest of the floor, which is done in light gray.

 In the home department, the boulevard’s dark tiles are varied with antique Spanish mosaic tiles, which lend a homey atmosphere.

Besides, each floor has a unique ‘world’ distinguished by its design, like the sports department with its brick walls and ceiling light boxes with nature motifs. 

As a result, this store has become a ‘destination’ in Manila. 

Madame, the leading women’s fashion brand has recently inaugurated its new store at Ambience Mall, Gurgaon. Spread across an area of 1500 sq ft, the showroom has been designed with unique lighting and accessories to highlight its apparel collection.

Commenting on the launch, Mr.Akhil Duggar, Creative Director, Madame said, “We are extremely happy to launch our store in Ambience Mall, which is known as the hub of the elite and fashion freaks in Gurgaon.

This store is really special to us and we will try to bring the best of style for our customers.”

The outlet’s display is such that the store looks more spacious and eye-catching. Besides, the store hosts the brand’s newly launched Autum collection, which offers an exclusive range of western wear. 

“The main objective of the launch is to satisfy the fashion appetite of classy trendy women and make them look beautiful, “added Akhil.

The store launched was graced by  Femina Miss India finalists -Jhataleka Malhotra and Gail D’Silva.