Is the Retail industry bottoming out?

Just a year back, retail was the most happening sector. Big, small, flashy, sober – stores mushroomed in all shapes and sizes. After covering the big cities, the retailers spread out to new frontiers – tier II and even tier III towns. Though the battle over FDI in retail was far from settled, it was generally perceived to be a matter of time before we have large global retailers in our neighbourhoods.

But recent news flows indicate that the going is not so great in retail, not anymore. The large number of retail players, flush with money and in a hurry to expand at any cost ensured that there are even 8 to 10 modern retail stores in most localities, in every major city. Most of these stores were set up at huge capital outlays, paying exorbitant rents. Even the biggest of the neighbourhoods in our cities cannot support the large number of stores that have come up.

Apart from the very few stores that have succeeded in differentiating themselves from the crowd, most stores have very low footfalls. Profitability of even the most established players have come under severe pressure. It was only a matter of time before the enthusiasm waned and the reality of mounting losses dawned.

Smaller players like Subhikhsa are the worst hit, and the company is reportedly facing a severe cash crunch and is struggling to pay creditors. The company has been trying to raise money through an IPO for a very long time. Finally, it has succeeded in convincing Azim Premji to acquire a 10 per cent stake and is talking to overseas investors for up to $100 million.

Even the big retailers are not completely immune to the slowdown. Though Pantaloon Retail denied it, reports indicate that the company has closed down two Big Bazaar stores in Ahmedabad. Will this get worse and take a heavy toll on the retail industry? How soon will the industry see some major consolidation moves?

My School friends - Class 12 B

I was planning to write a blog long time back finally i decided to do it as i sit idle at home because of heavy rains which has forced me to stay indoors.The Blog will include more of what i think about various business houses and my view about stocks markets.I will start my blog by dedicating the first article to my school friends;whom i owe a helluva a lot in terms of gaining knowledge,building character and the list goes on.
This is more a kinnda introduction of ma school friends who were nothing close to awesome and we spent close to 14 years studying together at school.I studied @ Sindhi Model Senior school,Kilpauk,Chennai-10.
Here's the introduction of each of ma friends.
Priyanka Bengani - She was more than a friend.We guys stayed in the same apartments and were brought up together....till the time she shifted to Dev Darshan,Chennai.We guys were very close to each other and she knew in and out of me.I attended her marriage in delhi and it was super fun spending time with her parents,cousins and friends.Just cant forget those great moments.
MOhit Khadolia - Height 6 feet 2inches.Awesome personality.Very down to earth,excellent athelete and brilliant in acamedics.He was an all-rounder aand was one complete package and we guys used to envy him at times...lolzzzz.Settled in S'pore and married to our Class mate AArti Budhrani.
Aarti Budhrani - Ms Chipku of our class..Lolz.USed to love playing dumbsharads only with mohit but poor mohit never used to understand her sign language.She used to know in and out of textbooks anything extra she never used to understand..In short a mug-pot to the core...Loves bargaining with autowallahs...Lolz.She used to motivate each one of us and would never allow misunderstanding creep between any of our friends.She kept the us together in unity.Thanxs aarti.
Purvi Sethia - The Tiny Toddler of our class and used to get emotional at times.She was very staright forward and never used to hurt anybody.Always has time for school friends and i can still talk to her hours together..Rock on mate!
Kruti Shah - The Gujju babe (Lolz)..Mooti Bhen of our class.She was a tubelight and never used to understand double meaning jokes and later we guys had to take efforts to let her understand what we meant.A complete studious gurl.
Ridhi Sanghvi - Her Rickshaw-man used to call Half kilo tomato (aara kilo thakali..In tamil) because she had half her face red(By birth).Very sportive and we could call her anything..She would never never feel bad.During the lunch break jus used to talk about the Saas-bhau serials and used to irriate us.She was very helpful and used to do the assignments first..We guys then used to just copy the same..You are the best...
Amrit Budhrani - One Distinct personality who had defects in his body..Lolz.Weight 101Kgs and height 6ft.Got married recently{finally}Lolzzz.He used to lock horns with everybody and also with our juniors.He was a show-stopper of 12B.Once economics Ma'am was so fed up that she had to say that he comes in her dreams...lolz.
Ananth Lakshmi - P.T Usha of our class.Lolz.Used to run very fast(Faster than Amrit budhrani..for sure).Always communicative and used to interact with everybody in the class.Was a clean gurl and we guys never used to have gossips about her..Lolz!
Kapil Chabaria- Darling of 12 B.The Most funniest guy in our class and we guys jus used to love him whenever he used to speak,fight or play because wateva he did made us laugh crazily.He is a Sindhi and an excellent business man.He was a back-bencher so that he could peep into women's toilet! He used to share the seat with Amrit budhrani.Their wavelength never used to match and their in-fighting was just awesome.He could do anything and everything if was given a 5 RS munch...Lolz.
Naveen.G.Mehta - Very aggressive and goes mad at times.I still remember seeing him cry during our last day of 12th standard as he wouldn't meet his Girl friend regularly anymore.Excellent cricket player...Lolz and his bowling action use to make us go beserk.He once banged his head to a steel pole wen he was running in to bowl...Real crazy guy.Whenever i have a doubt i give him call to get his suggestion and i exactly do the opposite of what he says..That makes me successful!Lolz
Rohit Khetpalia - Height 4ft 9 inches...This guy jus refuses to grow up.We got very close during 11th & 12th std.He gets tensed very easily but doesn't reveal it on his face.His basket ball skills used to amaze us and we used to think why is god so brutal that he never made him to increase his height....Lolz.Uses the Word "HARAMI" very often be it whether its a guy or a gurl.On the whole Rohit is a class act.
Avinash kankaria - The DJ of our class who used to bore us with his english songs...Lolzzz.Has a very good Physique and girls used to go ga-ga over his body.We guys never used to lock horns with him and his say was always the final..Lolz.
Rajiv Bajaj - Class leader of 12 B and the school representative.He had one of best communication skills in our school because of which we guys used to win the AD-Zap competition most of the times.
Ajay Hirawat - An excellent dancer and very punctual..Lolz.Very good in number crunching.Most of the gurls had crush on him.Used to jell well with everybody in the class and a complete gentleman.Kapil used to love his hairstyle!