Anil Ambani has big retail plans

Not wanting to be deprived of a slice of the retail pie, Anil Ambani is working on a blueprint for the sector. Retail industry analysts as well as realty sector sources have confirmed that the younger Ambani is looking at his group entering the retail space.

Reliance Communications already has a significant retail presence through its "Reliance WebWorld" outlets. Incidentally, the WebWorld chain of 241 outlets in 105 cities has recently been renamed as Reliance World.

While these outlets mostly offer broadband internet surfing, video games, e-ticketing, and TV news uplink facilities, they also provide tele-medicine and web shopping facilities. Many outlets are also billed as gourmet coffee shops under the Java Green brand.

Sources said the company was considering conversion of the coffee shops into full-fledged food and beverage outlets. When contacted, a Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-ADAG) spokesperson refused to comment.

The first signs of a retail foray were evident with group firm Reliance Capital investing in Giny & Jony and Vishal Retail, the promoters of Vishal Mega Mart.

Last year, Anil Ambani had spoken of investing in pharmacy chains, said a Delhi-based retail analyst. Ambani had even shown an interest in the consumer durables sector around that time.

In any case, his group was already present in the multiplex (general entertainment services) category, and that could be a launchpad for future growth, he added.

There is also news of Ambani joining hands with Starbucks, the famous coffee retailer. Another analyst said the group was exploring all options, from convenience stores and category-specific outlets to hypermarkets. Ambani was also negotiating with global brands and global retailers, he added.

Yet another expert claimed the junior Ambani had been in serious negotiations with Armani, among other luxury brands.

It was possible that the foray might be confined to top-end single-brand retail, given the presence of players such as Pantaloon Retail and Raheja's Hyper City, and the upcoming Reliance Retail hypermarkets of Reliance Industries in the general multi-brand retail format.