Reliance Industries Ltd's retail arm has announced plans to roll out 7-Eleven convenience stores in India, days after Future Retail Ltd concluded a similar deal with the US chain.
Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd will open the first 7-Eleven round-the-clock convenience store in a neighbourhood in India's financial capital of Mumbai on October 9.
Isha Ambani, Director, Reliance Retail Ventures Limited, said, “At Reliance, we pride ourselves in offering the best to our customers and we are proud to bring 7-Eleven, the globally trusted convenience store, to India. 7-Eleven is among the most iconic global brands in the convenience retail landscape.
"The new pathways we build together with SEI will offer Indian customers greater convenience and choices within their own neighbourhoods.”
Expanding Its Retail Presence
The deal marks the latest by the Reliance Group, led by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, to rapidly expand its retail and e-commerce businesses to better compete with Amazon.com and Walmart Inc's Flipkart in India's nearly trillion-dollar retail market.
The conglomerate's $3.4 billion deal for the retail assets of Future Group has been stalled following Amazon's legal challenge.
7-Eleven Inc, known for its iconic products including the Slurpee, operates and franchises more than 77,000 stores in 18 countries and regions.
Future Retail said on Tuesday it had mutually terminated an agreement with 7-Eleven as the companies were not able to meet targets of opening stores and paying franchisee fees.
Future Retail
In 2019, Future Retail - India's second-largest retailer with more than 1,700 stores, including the popular Big Bazaar supermarkets and local chains Food Hall and Nilgiris - had said it plans to set up 7-Eleven stores from scratch and convert some of its existing operations into the US brand.
The unit formed to run 7-Eleven stores in India had reported a loss of 173 million rupees without opening any stores, Future Retail's annual report showed.
Reliance's shares rose 1.22% in morning trade, while Future Retail stock gained 3.7% in a strong market.
News by Reuters, edited by ESM. For more Retail news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
