Transfers Star Bazaar to Trent Retail

Tata Group's retail venture Trent has transferred Star Bazaar, its hypermarket format to the proposed wholly owned subsidiary, indicating yet another sign of the revamp mode. It recently acquired the remaining 24 per cent stake in Landmark chain of bookstores.

The company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that the Star Bazaar business will now be handled by Trent Retail Ltd, the proposed wholly owned subsidiary of the company. Trent had launched Star Bazaar hypermarket at Ahmedabad in 2004 and had recently entered Bangalore. When contacted Trent officials were not available for comments.

A few days ago Trent took control of the entire stake in Landmark by buying the additional 24 per cent stake from its original promoters. It had acquired 76 per cent stake in Landmark in 2005 for Rs 103.6 crore. Currently Landmark operates 10 stores in the country.

Trent also operates Westside chain of apparel stores. Recently it partnered with three emerging fashion designers and roped in popular designer Narendra Kumar to develop dedicated collections for the Westside stores.