IndiaRetailBiz

“Out of one billion Indians, 160 million (16 per cent) are children below seven years and another 190 million (19 per cent) are in the 7 to 14 year range. There is a large potential in the toy market which is still left untapped.” — Sanjiv , Goenka, Vice-ChairmanRPG Enterprises and CEO of CESC, the owner of Spencer’s Retail.

Spencer’s Retail, the retailing arm of Goenkas’ owned RPG Enterprises, launched its first outlet of ‘Chad Valley’ toys and related products, located in a Spencer’s store in Kolkata on Saturday.

Chad Valley is the first of four global brand tie-ups lined up for the year by Spencer’s. Three more such global tie-ups will be unveiled this year. “It is the first global tie-up of Spencer’s, and there will be many more. This year, we will tie up with three more international brands,” said Sanjiv Goenka,

The shop was unveiled by Simon Brown, International Head, Woolworths, UK, and Sanjiv Goenka, Vice Chairman, RPG Group. Chad Valley brand is owned by Woolworths, a UK-based general retailer and entertainment distributor.

“This is our first venture into Asian market,” said Simon Brown on the occasion.”We are planning two to three standalone Chad Valley stores within the next 12-18 months through this exclusive tie-up with Spencer’s,” added Simon.

While, Spencer’s is planning to offer Chad Valley products in all its 400 retail stores in 65 cities across the country, depending on the response in the next five years, Chad Valley could look at setting up 15 stand-alone stores across the country.

Chad Valley, a key toy brand in the UK, offers toys, games and complete play solution for all children of up to ten years of age. The first retail shop of Woolworths was launched a century ago in 1909 in London.

Woolworths Group, having a turnover of US$ 5,848 million (GBP 2969.6 million) in FY 2008, employs around 30,000 persons and services needs of a whopping four million customers every week. It operates 818 stores and occupies over 7.55 million sq ft of space at an average of 9,240 sq ft each. 17 of these stores are out of town, large format, stores occupying an average 50,763 sq ft each of space.

Apart from Chad Valley, the group also owns ‘Ladybird’ (Childrens clothing) and ‘Worthit!’ (entry level items) brands.