New Delhi: The Asia Retail Congress is Asia’s single most important and interactive global platform to promote world-class practices in retail. The focus of the Asia Retail Congress 2011 on 8th -10th of February was to discuss the issues for innovation and change. Quality up-to-date case studies from leading corporations provided a closer look at the improvements that the biggest companies in the market are currently implementing worldwide. There were 50 countries from Asia participating, including New Zealand.

According to Mr. Tim Miller, Global Chairman, Asia Retail Congress, “It is my privilege to inform you that the Global Council and Jury is extremely honoured to present, ‘Alpha G:Corp Development Ltd.’ with the 6 coveted Awards. We are looking at 50 Participants from different counties + 100 Participants from India and about 100 invited Guests, Speakers, Dignitaries and Award Winners. The Asia Retail Congress is governed by an Advisory Council that guides the strategic intent of the event and leads it to its success. Asia Retail Congress is a non-profit making activity and aimed at the professional cause of development, growth and improvement”.

Retail’s most successful and innovative leaders from industry to academia shared their strategies and best practices in an interactive and fruitful manner. Renowned delegates both Indian and leaders from other parts such as, Mr. John Torella, Senior Partner, JC Williams Group Limited, shared highlights with the delegates of the World Retail Congress held in Germany in December 2010. Besides, Mr. Bhaskar Chaterjee, Secretary to Govt. of India, Dept. of Public Enterprises, Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises + Chairman of Global HR Congress, Prof. Piyush Kumar Sinha, Prof. of Marketing & Chairperson – Centre for Retailing, IIM, Ahmedabad, among others were active participants.

At the Awards evening, Alpha G:Corp’s name was announced 6 times as winner of ‘Retail Marketing Campaign of the Year’; ‘Shopping Centre Award’; ‘Emerging Retailer of the Year – Mall’ all Awarded for AlphaOne, Amritsar; ‘Impactful Retail Design & Visual Merchandising’; ‘Emerging Retailer of the Year – Real Estate’ Awarded for AlphaOne, Ahmedabad and ‘Retail Leadership Award’, Awarded to Mr. Prodipta Sen, VP, Marketing, Corporate Affairs & Retail, Alpha G:Corp. Mr. Alok Bhardwaj, Chairman, Asia Retail Congress & Sr. VP, Canon India, along with Mr. Ashesh Amin, Director – Apparel & Retail, SKNL – S. Kumars Nationwide Limited gave Mr. Prodipta Sen the Award for ‘Retail Leadership Award’ who accepted on behalf of the company.

Mr. Prodipta Sen thanked the eminent Jury, Asia Retail Congress and all sponsors and organizers at the prestigious ceremony, “These honors show that the fraternity and media have yet greater expectations of us. Behind our success are well designed systems and processes that incorporate global best practices, transparency, a value-driven approach and reliability. I would like to express my humble appreciation and gratitude to my long-term colleagues and core team members, Col. Pickles Sodhi, Mr. S K Sayal, Mr. MukulKumar and Mr. Ashish Sarin, as also my most valuable team at Alpha G:Corp. The brand,‘AlphaOne’ was planned and built with an unanimous spirit of excellence by Team Alpha aided by the ever dynamic market feedback. A special thanks to all our retail partners for the ever learning experiences that have helped in shortening our learning curve and also made it a delightful one.”

During the Congress, Mr. Prodipta Sen Chaired the session, ‘Making Sustainability Good Business’. The session was inaugurated by Mr. Alok Bhardwaj, Chairman, Asia Retail Congress 2011 and included Mr. Ashesh Amin, Director, S Kumars Nationwide Ltd.(Comprehensive List of Delegates attached separately for reference)

The participants at the Asia Retail Congress were Pepsico, Shook Kelley, Ibibo Web Pvt. Ltd, Callison, Logic ERP Solution, NEC India, Portland Design Environments, The Mobile Store, Dalziel & Pow Design Consultants, Arvind Retail, Boston Consulting Group, 99p Stores Ltd, KPMG, Rahimafrooz Bangladesh Ltd, The Nielsen Company, Cmi Asia Pacific, Siyaram Silk Mills, Raymond Ltd, Barista Lavazza, Titan Industries, Globus, Reliance Trends, Gili India Limited, PVR Limited, Lite Bite Foods, The London School of Fashion, Centre for Retailing, IIM Ahmedabad, J C Williams Group, Reliance LG Consumer Electronics, Oxford Bookstore, Shopper’s Stop Ltd., Yum Restaurants and Jones Lang LaSalle Property Consultants India Pvt Ltd, who participated in the deliberations, among a delegate profile of the best national and international brands, organizations and retailers.

Alpha G:Corp’s AlphaOne, opened to the public in March 2010 and is the biggest retail, lifestyle and entertainment destination of Punjab, and a landmark in Amritsar with the best mix of International and National brands available anywhere. All delegates appreciated the Tabloid, ‘AlphaTimes’, (Feb issue) as a great initiative by Alpha G:Corp for the benefit of the whole retail community. Alpha G:Corp’s second mixed use twin development, AlphaOne in Ahmedabad will also comprise of Retail, Entertainment, Hotel, Spa and Service Apartments. The development will cater to daily shopping needs, varied cuisine, fine dining and entertainment. It will be ready for handover to tenants for fit-outs in the first half of 2011 and will be open to the public the same year.

www.alphagcorp.com, www.alphaoneamritsar.com

ASIA RETAIL CONGRESS 2011 – DELEGATES:

1. Mr. Thomas Verghese, Chief Executive Officer, Aditya Birla Group

2. Mr. Kedar Apshankar, Head Buyer, Aditya Birla – Madura Fashion & Lifestyle

3. Mr. Arun Sirdeshmukh, Chief Executive, Reliance Trends Limited

4. Mr. Bhaskar Chaterjee, IAS Secretary to Govt. of India, Dept. of Public Enterprises, Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises & Chairman of Global HR Congress

5. Mr. Mark Gascoigne, Principal, Gascoigne Associates Limited

6. Mr. Virag Joshi, President & CEO, Devyani International Limited (Costa Coffee, KFC and Pizza Hut)

7. Mr. Sandeep Dhar, CEO, Tesco

8. Mr. Mahesh Shah, CEO – Home Town, Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited

9. Mr. Amitabh Mall, Principal, The Boston Consulting Group

10. Mr. Debashish Mukherjee, Partner & Vice President, A.T. Kearney Limited

11. Prof. M.S. Pillai, Founder & Principal Director, Sadhana Centre for Management & Leadership Development

12. Mr. Pankaj Marthe, Global Product Manager – Retail Solution, SAS Research and Development (India) Pvt. Ltd

13. Mr. Niaz Rahim, Managing Director, Rahimafrooz Superstores Ltd. of Dhaka, Bangladesh

14. Mr. Sushant B. Karnad, Director- Advisory Forensic Services, KPMG

15. Mr. Arun Arora, Chairman, Edvance Learning Pvt. Ltd.,

16. Mr. Shirish Kotmire, Vice President, Mumbai International Airport Pvt, Ltd.

17. Mr. Narayanan Ramaswamy, Executive Director – Advisory Services, KPMG Advisory Services Pvt. Ltd.

18. Prof. Piyush Kumar Sinha, Prof. of Marketing & Chairperson – Centre for Retailing, IIM, Ahmedabad

19. Mr. John Torella, Senior Partner, JC Williams Group Limited

20. Mr. Manmohan Bhutani, Vice President – People & Operations, Global Services Fiserv India Pvt. Ltd.,

21. Mr. Ashesh Amin, Director – Apparel & Retail, SKNL – S. Kumars Nationwide Limited