In order to reinvent the format with mostly its own brands and labels that it debuted in India as a licensee partner, Reliance Retail is temporarily closing outlets in its department chain Centro.
Following the Future Group’s property surrender, Reliance Industries’ retail division transformed Future Group’s Central into Centro in the areas where it had assumed the lease.
According to executives of companies that have been ordered by the nation’s largest retailer to return their merchandise and fixtures, claiming remodelling and repositioning of the format, Reliance Retail has closed three shops and plans to close another two dozen by the end of the month.
The plan is to use the space for its own brands as a shop-in-shop format, though it is yet unclear if Reliance Retail would house current local and international companies once the stores reopen. In addition to owning its own brands like Azorte and Yousta, the retailer has partnered with or purchased about 80 international brands including Gap and Superdry.
