Kishore Biyani, India’s Modern Retail King, founder of the Future Group, Pantaloon, and Big Bazaar

Indian businessman Kishore Biyani is an entrepreneur. He founded the Future Group, served as its CEO, and is also credited for starting stores like Big Bazaar and Pantaloon Retail.

Kishore Biyani, the head of the grocery industry, was born on August 9, 1961, into a middle-class business family in Nimbi Jodha, Rajasthan. Since his grandfather’s time, members of his family have worked in the company.

Kishore has graduated from the best HR College in the city with a B.com degree. Growing up, Biyani lived in Mumbai’s Malabar Hill neighborhood. Kishore never participated in school. He struggled in the classroom.

A few of Kishore’s buddies were sporting “stonewashed” fabric pants at the time. His first taste of business success came at his door when he tracked down a local fabric producer who produced that type of cloth and supplied it to a few discerning local retailers and garment manufacturers.

To sell attractive fabric to clothing makers, he founded his firm in 1983.

In 1987, he started his Menswear garment manufacturing company beginning by making and selling pants and then moving on to marketing his brand of clothing fabric.

He then founded his own business, Manz Clothing Private Limited. He also introduced a fabric for men’s trousers under his brand, “WBB – white, brown, and blue.”

In the past, pants were known as “Platoon” in Hindi, from which they derived their company name Pantaloon. Later, Kishore developed the Future Group to give his “Pantaloon” brand a fresh perspective. Using a franchise concept, he developed the “Pantaloon” brand in the retail industry.

Following this, Big Bazaar’s foundation was set in 2001. The Future Group introduced several brands, including Factory, Home Town, Food Bazaar, Central, Ezone, and Fashion at Big Bazaar.

To obtain money for store upgrades, growth, and marketing in 1992, Kishore listed 60% of his company on the Indian stock market. By 1994, the Pantaloon chain had a 9 million rupees revenue.

In Kolkata, Biyani opened his first department store in 1997 after renting and remodeling a 10,000-square-foot space initially. In Kolkata city, this department store was larger than any other store, and in just 22 days, he added two more.

His success was sustained in 2001 with the launch of a series of department stores operating under the Big Bazaar name. There were more than 100 Big Bazaar locations nationwide in 2009.

The Big Bazaar stores were purposefully created to have a slightly disorganized appearance, similar to the old bazaars his consumers were accustomed to.

More than two million people visit The Big Bazaar stores each week, while Pantaloon Retail employs over 30,000 people and has more than 12,000,000 square feet of retail space spread across 1100 outlets in 75 cities. One-fourth of the population, or more than 300 million people, visit or return to Big Bazaar stores each year.

Kishore has developed an interest in industries including insurance and the media. Through Future Agrovet, he has investments in agricultural, and financial services, such as the Future Capital company, and the electronics shop eZone. The brand’s Food Bazaar and Big Bazaar, which cater to budget-conscious shoppers, were contrasted with Wal-Mart.

With the Pantaloon brand, Biyani redefined fashion. He currently has assets of roughly 17,000 crores ($240 million). One of the top 100 richest persons in India is Kishore. Kishore Biyani’s success story began in a little sari shop, and he is still a business mogul today.