Trent Limited (
portmanteau
In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together. of Tata Retail Enterprise) is an Indian
retail
Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholes ...
company, which is part of the
Tata Group
The Tata Group () is an Indian multinational conglomerate group of companies headquartered in Mumbai. Established in 1868, it is India's largest business conglomerate, with products and services in over 160 countries, and operations in 100 c ...
and based in
Mumbai
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
. Started in 1998, Trent owns and operates fashion and lifestyle
retail format
The retail format (also known as the retail formula) influences the consumer's store choice and addresses the consumer's expectations. At its most basic level, a retail format is a simple marketplace, that is; a location where goods and services ar ...
s such as Westside, Zudio and Utsa. The company also runs retail chains like Star Bazaar and
Zara through joint ventures.
History
In 1998, the Tatas sold off their 50% stake in
Lakmé Cosmetics to
Hindustan Lever for , and created Trent with the proceeds from the sale.
Simone Tata
Simone Naval Tata () is an Indian businesswoman, and a member of the Tata family.
Simone Tata was born in 1930, and brought up in Geneva, Switzerland and graduated from Geneva University. She visited India as a tourist in 1953, where she met ...
, the chairperson of Lakmé, went on to head Trent. The company began operations in 1998, after acquiring the only store of
Littlewoods
Littlewoods was a retail and football betting company founded in Liverpool, England, by John Moores in 1923. By the 1980s, it had grown to become the largest private company in Europe but subsequently declined in the face of increased compe ...
in
Bangalore
Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...
and renaming the store "Westside".
Trent operated only Westside stores until 2004, when it opened its first Star Bazaar
hypermarket
A hypermarket or superstore is a big-box store combining a supermarket and a department store. The result is an expansive retail facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, including full grocery lines and general merchandise. In ...
in
Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...
.
In 2005, Trent acquired a 76% controlling stake in
Landmark Bookstores, a
Chennai
Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
-based privately owned books and music retailer, and completed 100% acquisition in April 2008.
In 2007, Trent entered a franchisee agreement with
Benetton Group to set up Sisley stores in India. In 2008, Trent launched value fashion stores called Fashion Yatra. However, by 2012, the company shut down all Fashion Yatra stores and later terminated its Sisley agreement in an effort to shelve loss-making ventures.
In 2009, Trent and
Inditex
Industria de Diseño Textil, S.A. (Inditex; , ; ) is a Spanish multinational clothing company headquartered in Arteixo, Galicia, Spain. The largest fast fashion group in the world, it operates over 7,200 stores in 93 markets worldwide. The compa ...
established a 49:51
joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...
to run
Zara stores in India. Two years later, the two companies entered a similar agreement to open
Massimo Dutti stores in India.
In 2014,
Tesco
Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...
acquired a 50% stake in Star Bazaar for £85 million and became a joint venture partner. After the establishment of the joint venture, Star Bazaar started
supermarket
A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...
format Star Market and small
convenience store
A convenience store, convenience shop, bakkal, bodega, corner store, corner shop, superette or mini-mart is a small retail store that stocks a range of everyday items such as convenience food, groceries, beverages, tobacco products, lotter ...
format Star Daily, but discontinued the latter by early 2018 when it began its
online grocery service called StarQuik.
In 2015, Trent entered into a partnership with
Sonae
Sonae is a multinational business group headquartered in Maia, Portugal. It operates in 90 countries, working in various sectors, among which retail (food, electronics, and fashion), real estate, media and telecommunications, technology investme ...
to open and operate
Sport Zone outlets in India, but the venture was later dissolved.
In 2016, Trent opened its first Zudio store in
Bangalore
Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...
. Over the subsequent years, the number of Zudio stores grew at a faster rate than Trent's flagship format Westside, driven by high
turnover of Zudio's relatively inexpensive
fast fashion
Fast fashion is the business model of replicating recent catwalk trends and High fashion, high-fashion designs, mass production, mass-producing them at a low cost, and bringing them to retail quickly while demand is at its highest. The term ''fast ...
clothing.
In 2019, Trent acquired a 51% stake in
Booker India for .
After the
outbreak of COVID-19, Trent
repositioned Landmark Bookstores as a beauty and accessories retailer called Misbu. In 2023, the company started
occasionwear chain, Samoh.
In 2024, the company began operating internationally with the opening of a Zudio store in
Dubai
Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
.
Retail formats
Retail formats of Trent include:
File:Westside Store - Mani Square Mall - Kolkata 20180223154855.jpg, Inside a Westside outlet in Kolkata
Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...
.
File:Hyderabad at night in 2024 01.jpg, A typical neighbourhood Zudio store, Hyderabad
Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
.
File:Phoenix Marketcity (Mumbai) - Zara.jpg, Zara store in Mumbai
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
.
References
External links
*
{{Nifty 200 companies
Trent Limited
Retail companies of India
Companies based in Mumbai
Clothing brands of India
Retail companies established in 1998
Indian companies established in 1998
1998 establishments in Maharashtra
Companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange
Companies listed on the National Stock Exchange of India
NIFTY 50