Pantaloon Retail (India) is planning to more than double the Big Bazaar stores to reach the 100-mark from the present 41 stores, while substantially increasing its presence in the South besides tier-II cities.
Addressing a press conference in connection with the opening of second Big Bazaar store in Hyderabad, Rohit Malhotra, head of south zone operations of the retail arm of Pantaloon, said the company was planning to increase this number to seven stores, besides adding an equal number of standalone Food Bazaars in the city in the next 6-8 months.
The company has invested Rs 15 crore (Rs 150 million) in the second store, which has been set up after a gap of five years, and is expected to gross Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) turnover in the first year, Malhotra said.
"Locations for the remaining stores in the pipeline for Hyderabad have also been finalised," he said.
He added that the number of Big Bazaar stores would be increased to 30 from 11 in the entire South. Close to Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) is being invested in the country-wide expansion plans this year, he said.
According to him, the Big Bazaar stores currently have combined sales of about Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) annually. Besides increasing the number of stores in the existing cities, the company is planning to cover 15 more cities, including tier-II cities such as Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam.
The motto of nobody sells this cheaper and better and everything is available under one roof continues to represent our sales strategy. Besides keeping 1.6 lakh (Rs 160,000) products under one roof, the company is offering huge price discounts of up to 60 per cent on various products," he said.
Set up in a 52,000-sq. ft. area, the company's second store in the city is strategically located at the busy RTC crossroads, which houses a number of cinema theatres besides being one of the important junctions in the city.
