Reliance Retail forays into jewellery business

Bangalore, Nov 15: Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Retail today entered into the jewellery business with the launch of their first jewellery specialty store 'Reliance Jewels'.

Spread over three floors, the 6,000 feet store offers 10,000 designs of exquisitely crafted jewellery from across the country to make it a one stop shopping destination.

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The store will offer gold, diamond, platinum and silver jewellery.

''It has always been a endeavour of Reliance to provide customers with a range of high quality products at a competitive price,'' company's President and Chief Executive Bijou Kurien told reporters here.

Another store will come up in Hyderabad next month followed by Ludhiana in Januaray next year, Mr Kurien said.

One of the floor of the store is reserved exclusively for bridal collection sets.

''We are waiving customers of the making charges in gold jewellery for the first 15 days of the launch. They will be esentially paying Rs 10,000 for 10 grams,'' he added.

Mr Kurien said that the first store was preferred in Bangalore as the retail and lifestyle business is headquarted here.

Reliance is the second corporate after Tata's to enter Rs 70,000 crore Indian jewellery industry, which is dominated by almost three lakh traditional family jewellers.

The company has entered into a sourcing agreement with Rosy Blue, one of the largest jewellery manufacturers for operations.

The jewellery foray is part of the company's lifestyle retail, which includes books and music, cosmetics, lifestyle accessories and home solutions.

The jewellery market will be hotting up soon with a round of weddings taking place between November 21 to December 2 and a second round from December 21.

Gold prices have been hitting all time highs with the wholesale market seeing a buying in the range of Rs 9,500-10,000 per 10 grams.

UNI