Reliance Retail, British shoemaker Clarks terminate 2-year old JV

New Delhi: The country's leading retailer Reliance Retail and British Shoemaker Clarks have terminated their two-year old joint venture, an industry source said. Differences between both partners have emerged regarding certain terms of engagements, following which they have decided to part ways, said the source. While an e-mail sent to Reliance Retail seeking comments remained unanswered by the time of filing of the story, Clarks Global declined to comment on the development. "We won't be commenting on this,” said the Clarks spokesperson while responding to PTI's e-mail.

The JV, Clarks Reliance Footwear Pvt Ltd operated over 30 exclusive Clarks-branded brick-and-mortar stores in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Lucknow, Hyderabad, and Chennai, according to the company's India website. As the partners have drifted away, these stores are getting closed, the industry source added. Earlier, Clarks had a partnership with Kishore Biyani-led Future Group. It had entered India with a 50:50 joint venture deal with Future Group.

However, the JV, Clarks Future Footwear was terminated after Future Group started facing financial difficulties. Clarks has also partnered with Reliance Brands Ltd (RBL), a unit of Reliance Retail, which operates with a host of foreign partner brands. RBL began operations in 2007 with a mandate to launch and build global brands in luxury-to-premium segments across fashion and lifestyle. It has a portfolio of brand partnerships of leading global brands including Armani Exchange, Burberry, Canali, Coach, Diesel, Dune, Emporio Armani, Gas, Giorgio Armani, Hamleys, Hugo Boss, Jimmy Choo, Michael Kors, Versace, Villeroy & Boch and West Elm. Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL), the retail arm of billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries, crossed Rs 3 lakh crore in revenue in FY24.