ANAROCK launches ANAROCK Retail to tap into India’s $700 bn. retail market

Partners with Faithlane PC to create India’s most focused retail advisory firm

Mumbai, 6 June 2018: India’s leading independent real estate services firm ANAROCK Property Consultants today announced the official launch of ANAROCK Retail, a new firm dedicated to tapping into India’s $700 bn. retail market via its expert retail consultancy services. The new firm is the result of a partnership between ANAROCK and Faithlane Property Consultants, headed by retail realty veteran Anuj Kejriwal who joins as CEO & MD – ANAROCK Retail.

“ANAROCK’s entry into the retail real estate domain was really only a matter of time,” says Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants. Mr. Puri is himself an acknowledged retail real estate expert who, in addition to his previous role as Chairman of a leading IPC in India, was also Chairman of its Global Retail Leasing Board. “We have a deep market reach in this domain, and the launch of ANAROCK Retail is aptly-timed. Despite the multitude of firms active in the retail real estate arena, the disconnect between retailers and the spaces they need has never been wider. Many mall owners have been unable to align their products and strategies to the new retail environment. With its team of highly knowledgeable market experts, Anuj Kejriwal’s Faithlane had successfully bridged the retail gap. By joining its resources to ANAROCK’s highly tech-enabled property consultancy services, we have created the ‘perfect match’.”

“2017 itself witnessed large-scale mall closures and nearly 5 million sq. ft. of retail space was wiped out. These malls can technically be considered ‘dead’ and the developers are now looking at opportunities to convert the retail spaces into offices, mixed-use, hospitals, etc.“ says Puri. “In most cases, developers did not invest in strategic research of the tenanting equation, adequate leasing expertise and the right mall management partners. It is, in fact, possible to revive a mall if a professional firm like ANAROCK reworks the equation at the DNA level. In other cases, the available space can still be turned profitable via focused mixed-use tenanting, ‘reverse modeling’ or a complete revamp of the business model.”

Prior to launching Faithlane in and its subsequent absorption into the avant-garde ANAROCK Group, Anuj Kejriwal was National Director for Retail Services at a prominent IPC. In this capacity, he set the strategic direction for its retail division and drove revenue growth for the West India market. Simultaneously, he oversaw the retail business in Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata, and was key relationship manager for several of India’s largest and leading retail chains and retail real estate owners. With a professional career spanning 13 years, Kejriwal also has deep expertise and experience in Retail Capital Markets, including strategic divestment of retail real estate assets to institutional buyers and HNIs.
As CEO & Managing Director for ANAROCK Retail, Kejriwal heads a team of 30+ retail real estate professionals and aims to ramp up the headcount to 100 over the next 12 months.

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“The speed of evolution in Indian retail has been so fast that the majority of mall developers and retailers have been unable to keep pace with the rapid change in trends,” says Anuj Kejriwal. “ANAROCK Retail’s services will have several highly positive market impacts, resulting in fewer ‘dead’ malls and more thriving ones. We ensure that specialized retailers get the exact spaces they require along with scalability options, that organized mall spaces are tenanted for optimal efficiency, and that the best facilities and event management firms are driving customer satisfaction and footfalls.”

The ANAROCK Retail team has extensive collective experience in achieving such targets for the most prominent domestic and global retailers and mall owners, and several leading brands are already on board as clients.

ANAROCK Retail has aligned the new business with the Firm’s first-in-industry business models to dovetail with the overall operations and consequently deliver a unique bouquet of services to its retail clients. The new retail division will be active across ANAROCK’s 10 Indian city offices and internationally in Dubai and will grow in tandem with the Firm’s expansion into new territories.