The Hindu Business Line : Marks & Spencer launching food, kids’ wear in India

New Delhi, Nov. 12 The UK-based retail chain Marks & Spencer, having gotten off to a slow start in India, is launching its high volume food and kids’ wear categories, to add further impetus to its growth in the country.

“The retail chain is introducing its food and kids’ wear categories in India, beginning with the first one at our 20,000 sq ft flagship store in a mall in Gurgaon in the National Capital Region,” said a company official.

According to the official, in the food segment, a major growth driver across its outlets globally, the chain will offer a range of biscuits, confectionaries, groceries, savouries and a special celebration range for the festive season, priced between Rs 95 and Rs 1,800 for high-end items.

The official said, “Marks & Spencer aims at providing good quality food to its Indian consumers. Keeping in mind the Indian taste and international standards at the same time, the chain seeks to compete with the Indian retail chains.”

To offer value

Meanwhile, the kids’ wear segment will be a comprehensive range, ranging between Rs 395 and Rs 3,000.

“While the prices will be higher than the local brands, we believe we are offering value to our consumers,” said the official.

Both the new segments will be a part of the overall store formats, and will not have standalone stores.

“There will be no standalone formats for the segments.

“The chain as a whole believes in the large format stores and both these segments would be a part of the Marks & Spencer outlets,” pointed out the official.

On the advertising front for the two new segments, the chain will not have any specific campaigns. They will be advertised with the campaigns that the overall store format follows, the official said.

Slashes prices

Marks & Spencer, whose master franchise in India is the Planet Retail Group, recently slashed prices across its Indian outlets owing to a slow growth rate.

Company officials however countered reports of a slow growth rate and said: “We have reduced prices in order to reach out to more customers. This is in line with the chain’s strategy in the UK and as well as globally.”

Marks & Spencer that saw an increase of 5.4 per cent in its revenues for the second quarter of 2007-08 globally, currently has 12 outlets in India and plans to open another 10 within the next five years.