The Hindu : Kerala News : The retail war

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Friday, Jul 20, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala

The retail war

Seventy-year-old Kunjulakshmy walks a few kilometres every day in the afternoon carrying a small basket containing a dozen eggs, about 10 packets of dried fish, a few kilograms of tomatoes, a handful of jackfruit seeds, a few drumsticks and some curry leaves.

She reaches Vyttila Junction,Kochi, by evening and sets up shop on the small roadside market. She has enough takers for the vegetables she sells. The profit, though meagre, helps her make ends meet. But the number of customers has dwindled in the past few months and it worries her. The day may not be far off when Kunjulakshmy will find no customers at all.

Sebastian, 55, took a shopping space on lease and set up a grocery shop at Vaduthala six months ago. Before long, a modern margin-free shop came up half-a-kilometre away and Sebastian began to lose his customers. His income dwindled and he decided to shut down the shop a fortnight ago.There are many like Kunjulakshmy and Sebastian who have been finding the going tough with the entry of the big retail chains into the city.

Spencers, Fabmall and Reliance have entered the city, which boasted modern stores such as Varkeysand Mitra. More competitors are poised to enter the retail scene even as the existing ones are evolving strategies to withstand their onslaught. The small and medium traders in the city took out rallies and organised meetings in protest against the entry of the big chains into the sector. But retail chains won the battle in the end.

R. RAMABHADRAN PILLAI

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