TMCnet News
Titan's Bijou Kurien to join Reliance's retail venture(Ecomonic Times, The (India) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Mar. 17--NEW DELHI -- Bijou Kurien, chief operating officer (COO) of Titan Industries, has quit the company to join Reliance's retail venture. A long-timer at Titan, Kurien will be heading the lifestyle division of the retail venture. He will be joining the list of high-profile CEOs in the country from different sectors who have already been roped in by Reliance for its mega-entry into the retail sector later this year. Though he had been denying it for a while, Mr Kurien today confirmed the development, "Yes I am leaving Titan to join Reliance. I would be heading the lifestyle vertical of the venture." He added that the actual date of joining Reliance has not been fixed, but he is most likely to join by the end of April or early May. The overall product portfolio he would be responsible for is not clear as of now, but it would include cosmetics, fragrances, pens, watches and jewelry, among others. Mr Kurien has been serving as COO of the watches division of Titan Industries for the past three years. An XLRI (Jamshedpur) product, he started his career at HLL and moved to Titan in 1987. In an 18 year-long career at Titan he worked in various capacities, including regional management, marketing controller and vice-president (sales & marketing). Titan is yet to announce a replacement for him. The company operates under Titan, Sonata and the newly-launched premium brand Xylus in the watches segment. Its jewellery division is under Tanishq. |