IndiaRetailBiz

“We have ambitious growth plans. While we now have two megastores (hypermarkets), more are on the anvil.” — Kumarmangalam Birla, Chairman, A V Birla group.

Aditya Vikram Birla Retail, which entered the booming retail sector about a year ago with the mission of “to change the way India shops” according to Mr. Birla is well set to unveil 500 supermarket stores by the end of this month (March, 2008). This includes 275-odd Hyderabad-based retail chain of food & grocery stores called Trinethra acquired about a year ago by the group. The group had also acquired Trinthra group’s sister brands FabCity and Fabmall.

K M Birla was speaking to media persons in Vadodara on the occasion of the launch of its second hypermarket. The first hypermarket of the group (earlier known as FabCity) is located in Mysore.

The group has planned to invest about $2 to $2.5 billion (Rs. 8,000-10,000 crore) in retail operations over the next three years. This would result in A V Birla group’s retail footprint scaling up to 1,500 supermarkets and about 100 hypermarkets.

Currently, the group is operating 430 ‘MORE’ supermarket, including 275-odd Trinethra (now renamed ‘More’) stores, operating across the country.

Retail venture, according to Birla, is well positioned with presence in metros and mini-metros like Vadodara, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mangalore, Pune, Mysore, Vizag and Vijaywada.

The Group has identified various sites and work is in different stages of development, Birla said.

Megastore at Vadodara is a one-stop shop for the entire family offering 60,000 products catering to every need of a household, added Birla.

Of an estimated retail market size of $300 billion, supermarkets and hyper markets have less than four per cent market share, added Birla.