Reliance Retail to launch chain of 7-Eleven stores from Saturday

Mumbai: The Reliance Group is all set to launch a chain of 7–Eleven retail stores across India, beginning with Mumbai on Saturday.

The development comes after the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Retail Ltd. secured the pact with 7-Eleven soon after troubled supermarket operator Future Retail Ltd. ended its own agreement with it.

The first 7-Eleven store will open on Saturday in a Mumbai suburb, followed by a further “rapid rollout”, starting Mumbai, Reliance Retail said in a statement Thursday.

Indebted Future Retail this week said it ended the agreement it had inked with 7-Eleven in 2019 by mutual consent after it could not open the brand’s stores or pay franchise fees.

Reliance is fighting a court battle with Amazon.com Inc. for the assets of Future Retail, one of the biggest brick-and-mortar retail chains in India.

Reliance Retail is expanding its foothold at a rapid rate, adding 1,500 new stores last year to nearly 13,000, according to media reports on Thursday.

“India is the second-largest country in the world and has one of the fastest-growing economies,” 7-Eleven’s President and Chief Executive Officer Joe DePinto said in the statement. “It’s an ideal time for the largest convenience retailer in the world to make our entry into India.”

7-Eleven’s entry comes at a time India enjoys a relative lull of Covid-19 infections after a devastating wave battered the country early this year.

(VP)