CBRE Names India Top Emerging Market, Tiffany’s Plans Location There

An announcement today by Tiffany’s to locate its first stand-alone store in India reinforces the findings of a new report from CB Richard Ellis Inc. identifying India as the most sought-after emerging retail market in the world. CB Richard Ellis’ just-released Global Emerging Markets Survey indicates that 27 percent of retailers polled plan to open stores or are in the act of opening stores in India.  The most active emerging retail markets following India include the Ukraine, with 24 percent of respondents actively looking in that market or first opened there in 2007. Russia follows with 22 percent, Malaysia with 19 percent and Turkey with 15 percent.The report also showed that China and Thailand also present compelling opportunities, as 19 out of 20 retailers who first considered these markets later choose to open stores there. “Generally, retailers are always looking in the future for what the next wave will be. Mature markets like the U.S. and Europe don’t show long term future growth, but the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries show high growth and high annual retail sales growth,” Naveen Jaggi, senior managing director with CBRE – Retail Services in Houston, told CPN today. “BRIC countries are very attractive markets. One reason India is so attractive is that it is growing with an English-based democracy. The barriers to entry are more infrastructure than governmental or cultural.” “The Indian population in the U.S. spends a lot of time traveling between the two countries, so it is a very natural place to develop,” Jaggi (pictured) added. “There is already a brand awareness between the two.” The Ukraine, on the other hand, is an extension of Eastern Europe. The country is going through a big boom because of petroleum, Jaggi added. The demand of energy from India and China has Ukraine flushed with cash, he said. “Retail comes to growth areas,” Jaggi said. “No retailers have made major announcements, but they’re planning.” Another source indicated that Tiffany’s announced that it has an agreement in place to locate its first store in India without making it a co-operative effort. The CBRE survey showed that 40 percent of retailers expect emerging markets to provide their main source of growth during the next five years, while only 25 percent expect to see growth concentrated in their home market.