News: Pantaloon eyes Rs 700 cr revenue via vendor fairs

(BS 24/04/2006) Mumbai - After doing business worth Rs 100 crore in the first round of its 'Saathi' initiative at a fair in Ahmedabad, Pantaloon Retail is hoping to achieve deals worth over Rs 700 crore in phase one of this initiative targeted towards mid-sized vendors.

After Ahmedabad, the company is planning a similar two-day fair in Delhi towards May end followed by Kolkata and Hyderabad.

Kishore Biyani, managing director, Pantaloon Retail, said, "We are eyeing a large number of Delhi firms for such a deal. In terms of business, we expect to do transactions worth Rs 200-300 crore during the two-day fair there."

However, there is a possibility that this figure could be far higher, possibly Rs 500 crore or more, going by the number of companies that are located there and their business potential.

Damodar Mall, president - foods, Pantaloon Retail, said that the company was looking at product sourcing deals (from such categories as apparel, food and general merchandise) for all its formats - Pantaloon, Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar.

"We would help these companies in terms of cost saving and product development," he said.

For instance, as part of its alliance with Amul, Food Bazaar would become a distributor of the company and set up parlours within its stores and aid product development. In Ahmedabad, the company has signed such deals with Rasna, Bharat Vijay Mills and Ankur Salts.