Reliance to spend huge for new fashion outlets

After the aggressive focus of Reliance Group on its telecom business under the Jio brand, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries is looking to significantly scale up the retail operations once again following a phase of consolidation. Reliance Retail, the largest retailer in terms of revenues and stores, is planning to grow across all formats — fashion, food and grocery as well as wholesale. The chain is expected to open 200 fashion stores under Reliance Trends, a similar number of food and grocery stores in its Fresh and SMART format. The move is an added business opportunity for the signage companies whose activities revolve around in-store branding and design projects.