It is apparent (‘May sell stake, but we aren’t bankrupt: Subhiksha’, February 9/‘Operations are at near standstill’, January 31) that organised retailers are in deep trouble. They overestimated consumer demand and believed that the customer wouldn’t mind paying extra for some air-conditioned comfort, and that customers would keep going back to stores which never even stocked what they wanted. This has, however, not happened. Which is why so many big retailers are reworking their expansion plans. It would take a brave financier to want to finance these firms today. So much for the fear that organised retail would kill the millions of kirana shops in the country!
Virendra Singh, Noida
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