The ugly side of the retail onslaught

The opening of the retail outleft of Reliance - Reliance Fresh - had to face the brunt of the local vegetable vendors at Ranchi.

News sources say that the vegetable vendors of the town gathered outside the Reliance Fresh outlet and started should slogans and throwing stones. They even damaged the glass panes and decor of the shop. The outraged people were asking Reliance to concentrate on their other businesses. Their main protest was that why is such a big business house trying to sell vegetables and deprive them of their only livelihood.

Till now the focus of this blog has been the effect the influx of the large business houses into the retail foray have on the millions of mom-n-dad stores across the length and breadth of this big country. This is a reaction from the tiny shop-keepers.

The vegetable vendors are generally tiny shop-keepers who don't even have shops. Most vegetable vendors squat by the street-side to sell their wares. They can be seen on all busy commercial and residential areas, where they spread a small plastic sheet on the ground and display their goods on it. They generally buy in the morning from the mandi and try to sell it off by the end of the day.

Obviously the retail onslaught is not going be easy. In proceeding on this track, the big business houses are treading on unchartered territory and there is no saying what kind of resistance or support they may face along the way.