Retail war move from high street to High Court

By Nachiket Kelkar with Vivin Mathew, CNBC-TV18

The retail wars have moved from high street to High Court. That's because Shoppers Stop and Lifestyle have taken Kishore Biyani's Pantaloon Retail, to Court. This, over an advertisement that was published by Pantaloon.

Pantaloon’s unit Central had announced a 30% discount sale at its store in Gurgaon. It also promised an additional discount for customers who had loyalty cards of rivals - Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle and Westside. It’s this additional discount that has got Pantaloon's rivals angry. They say Pantaloon was luring their customers in an unfair manner and was using their trademark.

This is not the first time that pantaloon has angered its rivals. Last year it ran an advertising campaign, where large hoardings were put out on city streets with the catchlines like Keep West Aside and Change your Lifestyle, clearly aimed at its rivals.

When contacted, a spokesperson from Central said, "We don't see this as an issue at all and view it as simple marketing initiative. We believe that customers hold multiple loyalty cards and they have the right to chose where they want to shop or which brand they would like to patronise."

But Shoppers Stop and Lifestyle clearly don't see it as just a marketing initiative and have dragged Pantaloon to the Delhi High Court. Tata's venture Westside too has sent Pantaloon a notice. The Delhi High Court will hear the case on July 31. But in the meantime it has issued an injunction against Pantaloon from using its rivals names.