The company has arrived at an operating structure where the retail division’s chief executives will head vertical functions, and report to Manoj Modi.
MUMBAI: The outlines of Mukesh Ambani’s proposed retail empire are now visible. The generals are in place, and the fact that so many of them were recruited from the competition has left the latter bruised and bloodied even before the first shot has been fired.
Rival retailers now face the daunting task of matching Ambani’s bottomless war-chest, as he continues raiding them for managers at various levels, making them offers they just can’t refuse.
The company seems to have arrived at an operating structure where the retail division’s chief executives will head vertical functions, and report to Mukesh’s right-hand man Manoj Modi.
Raghu Pillai, an experienced hand, who kicked off retail ventures like Food World, Music World and Health & Glow for the RPG group over the last decade, will spearhead front-end operations at the Reliance stores.
Pillai was enticed away from Kishore Biyani’s Pantaloon Retail. Lending his expertise to the lifestyle division will be Bijou Kurien, the erstwhile marketing head of Titan watches.
Commodity procurement, setting up a supply chain and ensuring quality control are some of the critical functions in a retail outfit. For these, once again, Ambani has laid his hands on men with experience and dipped into the multinational talent pool.
D Saravanan was the big daddy of supply chain and quality control at burger king McDonald’s. With an agriculture degree, Saravanan is said to have been responsible for working on the right grade of potato for French fries at the double arches. He will head those same functions at Reliance retail. He will also be responsible for the linkages of backward integration.
Sanjeev Asthana, who was the business head for grain at Cargill India, will cater to grains and oilseeds in the venture.
While the consumer electronics vertical will be headed by Rajeev Karwal, ex-Onida, LG and Electrolux, the apparel and clothing vertical will be overseen by Sriram Srinivasan of Indus League.
The food and grocery beachhead will be headed by former Hindustan Lever (HLL) man Gunender Kapur. Kapur was earlier seconded to Modern Foods, HLL’s first public sector acquisition, and was later shifted to Unilever Nigeria.
Since Reliance wants to enter into every big and small retail format, including malls, Suresh Singaravelu, the former chief executive of Prestige Constructions and Forum, the south Indian mall venture of the Prestige group, will push the same here. He is responsible for the setting up and development of malls.
The company will also have a state-level CEO, who will be the owner of the geography and the store formats therein. These include hypermarkets, supermarkets, convenience stores and malls. The heads of the business verticals will drive profits at their respective product groups, whereas the geography owner will be accountable for individual store and geographical performance.
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