Local players in market

India is the land of opportunities. With 28 states and population of more than 100 Crores, the country has so much diversity in every walk of life. From early morning cup of tea to late night dinner, from hustling bustling life of Mumbai to silent by-lanes of Belagali [1]& Sansuddi[2](where my parents spend their childhood) and from kurtas to business formals , Indians enjoy them all. And I believe, we are still missing local retail barons in such a country. ASDA and Safeway of UK had started with developing their chains in fixed parts of UK. And when market grew, they had either acquired other local players or spent time developing by themselves.
But still I don't see such a beginning in India . Take any retail chain and it has opened or is trying to open store in each state with same format.

Its right time for someone to open a store in each district of a particular state and capture the market. When WALMART or any big giant plans to enter that district, it will surely think of acquiring the local chain rather than starting from ground zero. Also local traders know the taste of local people and this will help develop local economy. This reminds me of an interesting story my dad told me about a retailer in Belagali and story dates back to early 1960s. A local jobless person in Belagali started a shop which had every service in it : Snacks, tea, clothes,footwear and vegetables. C'mon I just love the way we Indians earn our bread and butter. This guy with no job, got some little space in village's prime locality(free of cost cos it was road side) and he had everything in it. When it started, people never liked the system cos food was kept in close quarters with footwear . But the guy earned well and his was a one stop shop in 1960 Belagali. Nothing has changed in retail since then but its just that people are investing crores in this business !

[1] : Belagali is a village in Bijapur district of Karnatak,India. It has a population of around 15000. It is known for famous poet Ranna.
[2] : Sansuddi is a village situated in Belgaum district of Karnataka, India. It has population of around 15000.

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