Trent Limited (a portmanteau of Tata Retail Enterprise) is the retail hand of Tata group based out of Mumbai, Maharashtra. Started in 1998, Trent operates Westside, one of the many growing retail chains in India based in Mumbai, and Landmark, a bookstore chain with brick and mortar stores in various locations of India. In 1998 Tata sold off their 50% stake in the company of the cosmetic products  and created Trent from the money it made through the sale. All shareholders of Lakmé were given different shares in Trent. Simone Tata, the chairperson of Lakmé, went on to head Trent. The reason behind the sale was that Tata saw greater growth potential in retail, and believed that it would be much more difficult for an Indian company to release new cosmetic products in a market that had opened up to global companies. In Aug 2005 Trent acquired a 76% controlling stake in Landmark, a Chennai-based privately-owned books and music retailer, and completed 100% acquisition in April 2008. Read More