Staples To Enter India

Staples is not the only retailer looking to open its doors in India, considered by many to have the potential to be one of the world's largest retail markets. Wal-Mart has formed a similar joint venture in the country, though it does not yet have any stores there.

"India is booming," said Wal-Mart chief executive officer H. Lee Scott last year during one of the company's recorded quarterly results discussions. "We look forward to the Indian government making more progress on opening its retail sector to direct foreign investment."

Staples and Pantaloon plan on opening stores called Staples Future Office, which will also offer delivery service. Pantaloon operates about 140 stores in cities across India, including fashion, food and mass-merchandise concepts.

The key to Staples entering the country was probably its relationship with Pantaloon, says Karen Scott, a senior associate in the Orlando office of real estate services firm Greeby Cos., who spoke on marketing and design trends last year at an Indian Retail Federation meeting in Mumbai.

"It is not going to be an easy market for an American retailer or developer to break into," she tells GSR, explaining that having the second-largest population in the world and a poor infrastructure could make distribution in India daunting.

Scott says Staples will likely do well in the country because there is likely a high demand for their products. But mass-merchandise retailers from foreign countries, like Wal-Mart, could have a tougher time because of the value the government puts on the many small-business retailers operating there.

Staples currently has a presence in 22 countries. Last year the company signed an agreement to enter the Taiwan market. In all, the retailer operates 1,800 superstores, most of them in the US.