The era of rural retail industry could be categorized into two formats: weekly markets and village fairs. Primarily, weekly formats catered to the daily necessities of villagers. Village fairs were larger in size with a wide variety of goods sold from food, clothing, cosmetics and small consumer durables. The traditional era saw the emergence of the neighborhood 'Kirana' store to cater to the convenience of the Indian consumers. The era of government support saw indigenous franchise model of store chains run by Khadi & Village Industries Commission.
The KVIC has a countrywide chain of 7000 plus stores in India. This period also witnessed the emergence of shopping centers with car parking facility. The modern era has a host of small and large formats with exclusive outlets showcasing a complete range of products. The department stores and shopping malls targeting to provide a complete destination experience for all segments of the society. The hyper and super markets are consistently trying to provide the customer with the 3 Vs (Value, Variety & Volume). Over the last three years, this sector has witnessed an exorbitant growth due to the establishment of numerous international quality formats to suit the Indian purchase behavior, the improvement in retail processes, the development of retail specific properties and the emergence of both domestic and international organizations has witnessed the emergence of malls. it is not just the north of the country that is seeing a furious construction of malls. Visakhapatnam, a fast-growing city in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, is witnessing a huge demand for