KOLKATA: Close on the heels of spinning the flagship Pantaloons chain of stores into a strategic business unit (SBU), Kishore Biyani’s Future Group is all set to scale up its presence across the country. Expansion plans will involve doubling of the number of Pantaloons stores by December and entail an outlay of nearly Rs 400 crore.
Speaking to ET, Pantaloon Retail India (PRIL) CEO-Pantaloons Sanjeev Agrawal said: “By December 2007, we will have some 50 Pantaloons outlets across the country. The focus will be on tier II and tier III cities. However, the stores located in the metros will continue to contribute nearly 75% to the company’s topline.”
PRIL is the retail arm of the Future Group. Following this, total square feet area covered by Pantaloons stores will increase to 2 m sq ft from 0.5 m. A Pantaloons store typically on an average occupies 20,000 sq ft and entails an investment of Rs 2,500 per sq ft. The group operates 26 stores across the nation.
Incidentally, the Future Group has just completed restructuring its retail business. Each of the retail formats, including the likes of Pantaloons, Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar and Central will now operate as separate SBUs within PRIL and have separate management teams led by separate chief executive officers.
Elaborating on the growth plans, Mr Agrawal said the Pantaloons store already has operations in second-tier markets like Mangalore, Vadodara, Pune, Lucknow and Kanpur and has already identified properties for expansion in Agra, Surat, Bhubaneswar and Siliguri.
In line with the new positioning as Fresh Fashion, the stores will target the upper-middle class (SEC A and B1) consumers. “Unlike in other cities, Pantaloons stores in the east will continue to have a different lineage. It will maintain a departmental store format with substantial non-apparel merchandise as well,” he added.
writankar.mukherjee@timesgroup.com
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