To meet the rising demand, Reliance Retail, the country's largest retailer and owner of the historic British toy brand Hamleys as well as the homegrown toy brand Rowan, has launched a joint venture with a Haryana-based firm for local manufacturing.

To vertically integrate its toy business, the company has created a joint venture with Circle E Retail of Sonipat, Haryana.

"We also had a JV with Circle E retail for toy manufacturing for vertical integration for our toys retailing business," said Reliance Retail CFO Dinesh Taluja during an earnings call last week.

According to industry sources, the company is currently developing a plan to unify processes from design to shelf.

 

Under this, Reliance Retail would have control over the entire aspects of the toy ecosystem, right from designing and manufacturing to retailing of the product. This will also help Reliance reduce dependency on third-party manufacturers in phases.

This new venture will cater for both the toys brands - Hamleys and Rowan, which Reliance Retail owns, the sources added. Besides, Reliance Retail is a major player in the B2B toy segment, where it operates through Rowan.

An e-mail sent to Reliance regarding the development remained unanswered at the time of filing of the story.

Last year, Reliance Retail expanded its brand Rowan from the B2B wholesale to the normal retail market also. The idea was to tap the fast-growing affordable branded toy market with smaller shop floors.

Reliance Retail acquired Hamleys, the world's oldest toy retailer, in 2019. This was the first acquisition of a global retail brand by Reliance Retail.

With both brands in its portfolio, Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL) is one of the leading toy distributors. Hamleys mainly operates in the premium space, while Rowan plays in the mid-premium and mass segment with its affordable offerings.