IndiaRetailBiz

Croma, the retail chain of large format consumer electronics and durables mega stores, owned by one of the Tata Group retail arms Infiniti Retail, launched two of its new mega stores in Pune on 30th August, 2007. The Pune stores are located at Ishanya mall (off Airport Road) and Krome mall (Solapar Road). Eventually, Croma has planned to set up  eight stores in the city.

This launch takes the tally of Croma stores in the country to eight. Apart from Pune, the retail chain has six stores operating in Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Ajit Joshi, CEO and Managing Director, Infiniti Retail, informed that Croma has planned to roll out 40 stores during the financial year ending 31st March, 2008.

Encouraged by consumer response, Croma wishes to expand its retail network at accelerated pace with plans to set up 100 stores in the next 30 months, by March 2010. Apart from Mumbai, New Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Pune where the company has already launched its operations, Croma wii also set up new sores in malls or at high street locations at Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Surat, Vadodara and Nashik.

A typical Croma outlet, typically occupying between 10,000 and 20,000 sq.ft. of retail stocks 6,000 products of about 180 national and international brands. These products are covered under eight product categories: categories of Home Entertainment, Small Appliances, White Goods, Computers and Peripherals, Communication, Music, Imaging and Gaming.

Working with a philosophy of ‘We help you buy’, Croma hopes to provide world class services through a team of highly qualified and trained staff, best products range and great prices.

Croma has roped in Woolsworths, which operates over 2,000 stores under 12 different formats in Australia, to provide technical and strategic sourcing support.

Infiniti Retail is one of the two retailing arms of the Tata Group. The other retailing arm Trent Ltd. owns and operates retail chains under Westside, Landmark and Star Bazaar brands.

The electronics and durables business, largely fragmented at present, has begun attracting big bucks from large format retailers. Apart from Tatas, Ambanis (Reliance Digital), Biyanis (e-Zones), and Dhoots (Next), among others, have also jumped into the fray. Going forward, they see a huge potential for organised retail in this category. A study of nearly 22.7 million households, conducted earlier by the Tata Strategic Management Group, had revealed that there is a low penetration of electronic items in the country.

There are a few regional retail chains like Vivek’s in the South and Vijay Sales in the West also operating in this space.