Moving headlong to tap into the retailing potential in eastern India, Cosmos, the lifestyle retailing wing of Meghalaya-based RNB Group of Industries, is readying to perk up the shopping experience in the region. The company will start constructing a 2,500 square feet mini-mall in Shillong by May this year.
Cosmos has already signed an MOU with lifestyle retailer Loot India Pvt. Ltd to open the first ‘The Loot’ store in Shillong, and is in talks with several other retail majors.
“Our retail business is growing steadily, and we see good potential in the eastern part of the country. Though at a nascent stage now, we have good expansion plans for the region,” Gaurav Bajaj, director, Cosmos, told Indiaretailing, while discussing the company’s future plans.
The company has also chalked out plans to build a larger mall, to be spread across 12,500 square feet, in Shillong. The mall will also house the first multiplex of the city.
Other than Shillong, the company is also planning to extend its retailing business to Guwahati, in Assam, as it plans to build a mini-mall in the city. The mall, to be spread across 2,500 square feet, will house leading fashion and accessories brands.
The company ventured into the retailing business with the opening of a lifestyle retail store called Cosmos, in 2005. The store retails premium fashion brands including Rado, Longines, Calvin Klein, Police, Vogue, Ray-Ban, Infinity, Arrow, Satya Paul and Nike.
Cosmos, in 2006, had also introduced its first private label for ties called Ziva. Later, it introduced Cosmos and Sandhy, the t-shirt private labels for teenage boys and girls, respectively.
RNB Group is also extending the capacities of its cement and power plants in Meghalaya, and will announce an IPO by 2012.
– Ranjan Kaplish
