The Indian organized retail industry came with the promise of a total paradigm change in the retail scenario of the country. Soon global consultancy majors like AT Kearney, Mckinsey came up with loads of reports prophetizing great prospect of the industry in the future citing different factors. Indian giants like the TaTas, Ambanis, Birlas, Goenkas came up with gigantic plans for the retail sector The recession proved to be a reality check for the retailers. Footfalls came down. Retailers started fighting with the different challenges. Experts started telling that the Great Indian Retail Story was nothing but a myth. Is it really so?
This paper has carried out an intensive research to find out whether it was a myth or a reality. Was it a hype created by developers to sell retail spaces? Is the current situation a correction period or an inflection point? What is the future ahead for the sector? What are the probable changes in the dynamics of the sector once FDI through multibranded retail starts coming? Lastly, the paper has discussed steps for retailers to utilize the learning curves of this recession so that the challenges can be converted into opportunities.