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In what appears to be the repeat of dot common boom
of the previous decade, everyone with money and ambitions
wants to surf on this wave. "Spinach," which
currently operates 94 stores in three formats- Spinach
Super, Spinach Local and Spinach Express- has decided
to set up 1,500 stores in 93 tier I and tier II cities.
This 15-fold expansion, over the next three years, will
require a capital outlay of over Rs 12 billion ($300
million).
"By March 2008, we plan to add another 250 stores
at an investment of around Rs 300-400 crore," said
Dippankar S Halder, Chief Executive Officer, Spinach.
While the large format "Spinach Super" typically
occupies, 5,000-7,500 sq ft of retail space, the medium
sized "Spinach Local" occupies around 2,500-3,500
sq ft. The size of the smallest "Spinach Express"
stores is 1,200-1,500 sq ft.
"The company might enter other retail segments
at a later date but right now it would concentrate on
food and groceries," added Halder.
Apart from buying out "S-Mart" in Bangalore,
the group has also acquired the retail businesses of
Mumbai-based HUL owned Sangam Direct, Delhi-based Home
Market and Sab Ka Bazaar and Mumbai-based Maratha Co-operative
Store. The group is also scouting for more buy-outs
and may announce acquisition of two more retail chains
in coming days.
Source: www.indiaretailbiz.com
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