Pantaloon sews up Rs 150 cr spread plan

Pantaloon Retail, the leading retail chain, which owns the brands Pantaloon, Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar and Central, has chalked out a Rs 150 crore (Rs 1.5 billion) expansion plan.

It plans to add 13 Big Bazaar stores and 17 Food Bazaar stores, eight Pantaloons and three Central brand of stores across the country.

Currently, the company has 36 stores in all, which cover 1.1 million square feet. It has 13 Food Bazaars, nine Big Bazaars (the 10th is opening next week in Nashik), 13 Pantaloons and one Central.

Kishore Biyani, managing director, said, "By the end of next year (December '05) we expect to have 30 Food Bazaars, 22 Big Bazaars, 21 Pantaloons and four Centrals."

Pantaloon Retail plans to expand its operations in 11-12 new cities in 18 months, mainly mid-size towns across the country. The company plans to enter mid-size town including Nashik, Bhubaneshwar, Durgapur, Indore, Varanasi, Lucknow and Amritsar with its chain of stores.

Under the proposed expansion plan, the company is planning to lease out additional two million sq ft and reach a total leased area of 3 million sq ft by December 2005 for its retail stores under the brands.