60 Hemantkumar P. Bulsara and Manita Matharu Introduction No power on earth can stop an idea whose time has come Dr Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister of India has quoted Victor Hugo while presenting the Union Budget 1994-95, making a reference to the Indian economy’s unlimited potential. If Dr Singh were to use the quote again today, he would probably apply it in the context of the promise contained in the Indian retail industry, and in particular, organised retail in India in the days to come. An Overview of Retail, Retailing & the Retail Industry Retail is the new buzzword/magic word in India. The Etymology of the word Retail comes from the French word retaillier which refers to "cutting off, clip and divide" in terms of tailoring (1365). It first was recorded as a noun with the meaning of a "sale in small quantities" in 1433 (French). Its literal meaning for retail was to "cut off, shred, paring" Harper, Douglas (2001). According to Philip Kotler, Retailing includes all the activities involved in selling goods or services to the final consumer for personal, non-business use. A retailer or retail store is any business enterprise whose sale volume comes primarily from retailing. The North American Industry Classification System (NICS) specifies that the retail trade sector comprises establishments primarily engaged in retailing merchandise, Hemantkumar P. Bulsara 1 Manita Matharu 2 RETAILING AND BRANDING OF VEGETABLES AND FRUITS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY Abstract Indian economy has been witnessing significant changes in last few years in the retail sector. We have seen major technological advances transformed business practices. Emergence of new formats and changing customer preferences provided an opportunity for people to serve and get served better. Even the next few years will indeed bring even more changes than the last decade. This paper is an attempt of authors to understand and study the present Indian retail industrys transition driven by organised retail sector with respect to fruits and vegetables in a detailed manner. This is basically an exploratory study to understand the retailing of vegetables and fruits in Indian context. Keywords: Retail, Organised and Unorganised Retail, Retailing of Vegetables and Fruits 1. Assistant Professor, Economics & Management & In charge - Management, S V National Institute of Technology, Ichchhanath, Surat, Gujarat. 2. Faculty, K.R. Mangalam Institute of Management, New Delhi.