Reliance Retail Limited announces joint venture with Pearle Europe for optical Store chain

Mumbai: Reliance Retail Limited (RRL) today announced having signed a joint venture agreement with European optical products retailer Pearle Europe for the launch of a chain of optical stores in India.

Pearle Europe is a subsidiary of HAL Investments, the European investment subsidiary of HAL Holding N V an international investment company based in the Netherlands Antilles.

Pearle Europe 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.

Reliance plans to introduce a range of private label frames, lenses, sunglasses and contact lenses and solutions and market them through optical stores located within Reliance Retail formats such as hyper marts, super and wellness stores.

These optical stores, manned by optometrists and support staff, will be independent business entities from Reliance Retail's format stores.

Commenting on the launch of the joint venture, Bijou Kurien, president and chief executive lifestyle, said "This Joint venture underscores our commitment to bring world-class partnerships to India, to service the changing needs of the customer; blending the outstanding capabilities of Pearle Europe, a leader in the Optical retail industry, and Reliance Retail, which is seeking to transform the Indian retail industry."

Reliance Retail Limited, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited, operates over 500 stores in over 49 cities spanning, with the launch of its first store  in November 2006.