Reliance Retail turning hypermarkets into cash-and-carry stores

Reliance Retail is converting some of its big hypermarkets into wholesale cash-and-carry stores, in an apparent sign of modern retail’s inability to effectively take on neighbourhood stores in India. The Reliance Mart hypermarket in Bhopal’s Aashima Mall is currently under renovation and getting refitted to be reopened in February in a new avatar, as a cash-and-carry store. This 44,000-sq-ft hypermarket is among Reliance’s big-box stores, including one in Ludhiana and another in Aurangabad, that are being converted into cash-and-carry formats. This new expansion move of the retail giant will bring a fresh business opportunity for the signage players whose activities involve in in-shop branding, displays and others.