Spencer's to open 12 big-format stores

Spencer's, the retail arm of the Rs 15,000-crore RPG Enterprises, is planning an investment of Rs 100 crore to open 10 to 12 large format stores across the country during the current financial year. "These stores would be hypermarts and supermarts of the size of 10,000 sq ft to 30,000 sq ft and would be located in Chennai, Bangalore, Andhra Pradesh, Kolkata and NCR," said Sanjiv Goenka, vice-chairman of RPG Enterprises, on Tuesday.

The Kolkata-based group is planning to launch private labels and tie-ups with foreign brands for its apparel brand. It is planning exclusive stores on a B2B format, as well as supply to other franchisees, for Beverly Hills Polo Club (BHPC). It is also planning to launch new brands in the high-fashion space in the coming months. "We are in discussions with three international players from the apparel category and are hopeful of bringing them to the country soon," Goenka said. He, however, refused to divulge more details, including names of the brands or nature of the likely tie-ups.

Spencer's Retail had shut down over 100 of its unviable outlets last year because of low footfalls and sales and high rentals. "That period is now over. We have opened five large format stores in the past three months and all have reported sales to the tune of Rs 1,000 per sq ft a day, more than double the normal sales rate. So we are optimistic about revival," Goenka said.

"We are ready to launch more such brands under exclusive agreements. Our tie-up with BHPC has shown good results and we plan to have a total of 10 outlets of the brand in the Delhi NCR region within the next six months," said Goenka.

With Spencer's, Goenka is exploring the option of revenue-sharing model with realty owners for its new stores. "The realty players should also consider this option seriously. Though rentals in many markets are down by 20% to 25% than the peak rate two years back, I believe there is still scope for correction in rentals by another 15%," he said.