Reliance Retail to open optical chain stores

July 08, 2008 16:47 IST Reliance [Get Quote] Retail on Tuesday said it will launch the first outlet of its optical chain stores Vision Express, under a joint venture with Pearle Europe, by September this year in Bangalore. "We have already got the necessary approval from FIPB. The first outlet will be opened by September," Reliance Retail President and Chief Executive (Lifestyle) Bijou Kurien told reporters on the sidelines of the Ficci symposium on retail in New Delhi. The first store would be launched in Bangalore, he added. On the sizes of the outlets Kurien said: "It will be smaller than our jewellery stores." Earlier, Reliance Retail had announced the optical chain would comprise independent stores and stores within Reliance Retail's other formats such as Hypermart, Super and Wellness. The new entity would bring world class retail optical stores to India, with a range of private label frames, lenses, sunglasses, contact lenses and solutions. Pearle Europe is a subsidiary of HAL Investments, the European investment subsidiary of HAL Holding NV, an international investment company based in the Netherlands Antilles. It operates 2,200 optical retail stores in 21 countries across Europe and the Middle East. HAL Investments also owns a number of optical retail chains in emerging markets, such as China, Russia, Turkey and Brazil..

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