IndiaRetailBiz

“Once the concept of forecourt retailing gets imbibed among the masses, Vishal may look at expanding this business to other parts of the country as well.” — Manmohan Aggarwal, CEO (Corporate Affairs), Vishal Retail.

Vishal Retail Ltd, which recently scored a century in terms of number of stores, with the opening of its 100th store in Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh), has recently forayed into forecourt retailing.

For this purpose, the retailer, according to a Business Standard report, has tied up with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL). The forecourt (front court of a building) retail stores chain, which has been branded as “Vishal Corner Mart” will set up convenience stores at fuel station outlets of HPCL.

The Vishal Corner Mart stores apart from offering convenience products, as a ‘one stop solution’ for petrol pump customers would also offer travel solutions and other facilities.

While, the first such store has already been opened in Delhi, about four more are on the anvil by this month-end.

According to Manmohan Aggarwal, CEO (Corporate Affairs), Vishal Retail, who spoke to the news paper recently, the company would initially launch forecourt stores in 4-5 cities only as pilot projects, since, the forecourt retailing concept has yet to evolve in the country. Globally, non-fuel products’ business accounts for 40% of the fuel station sales.

Earlier, Apollo Pharmacies had tied up and set up ‘convenio’ stores at IOC fuel outlets for dispensing medicines and groceries. However, the experiment did not succeed, perhaps, on account of problems in revenue sharing model. Kishore Biyani-led Future group had about a year or so back had tied up with IOC to set up fuel pumps in Big Bazaar premises and Big Bazaar stores in IOC premises. However, nothing seems to have emerged so far.

Currently, Planet Health, a Gujarat-based pharmacy and wellness retail chain, has set up a few stores in Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, and Vadodara. These stores are operating inside the premises of IOC, IBP, and HPCL fuel stations. Apart from this, food and beverage and leisure product retailers like Cafe Coffee Day and Crossword have also experimented with fuel station retailing.