The world’s largest retailer WalMart Stores Inc. has decided to go without its globally recognized brand name for business in India. Bharti Wal-Mart Pvt. Ltd, the 50:50 venture between the Bentonville, USbased retailer and Bharti Enterprises Ltd, will name its upcoming chain of cash-and-carry stores BestPrice Modern Wholesale, said the two partners in a statement issued on Monday. Bharti Wal-Mart had said it was conducting a consumer research to figure out whether it should use the WalMart brand for wholesale stores or use another name. Analysts said that given the increasing outcry against the US retailer’s entry into India, the two partners may decide to drop the WalMart name in branding. After years of lobbying with the government to allow it to set shops in India, Wal-Mart in 2007 teamed up with Bharti Enterprises for a cash-andcarry venture, an area where India allows up to 100% overseas ownership.
Meanwhile, Bharti Wal-Mart will roll out its first BestPrice store near Chandigarh later this year. BestPrice will sell up to 10,000 products from food to furniture, and the retailer has already started the process of enlisting business members, according to the statement. The store in Punjab will cater to about 65,000 retailers, restaurants, hoteliers and other businesses.
Bharti Enterprises also operates about two-dozen convenience stores called EasyDay outside this joint venture.