News: Pantaloon gears up for eastern push

(BS 25/05/2006) Kolkata - Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd will be expanding significantly, both in terms of outlets and product mix, to achieve annual growth of 15-20 per cent in the eastern market.

Suresh Sadhwani, area manager-east, Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd told Business Standard that within 2008, the company will be opening three new centres in Siliguri, Guwahati and Bhubaneshwar.

In the current year, two more centres would be coming up in Kolkata itself, one in Kankurgachi and other in South City, he added.

Each of these centres would spread over 60,000-70,000 square feet, confirmed Sadhwani.

Meanwhile, Pantaloon will also be expanding its product mix.

"We are planning to set up three new departments-mobile department, electronics department and, book and music section," he added.

The company has already set up furniture section recently and was expected to generate sales in the range of Rs 50,000 and Rs 60,000 every day, claimed Sadhwani.

The store was yet to put up its full range of products in this segment.

During 2005-06, the average monthly sales in Pantaloon centres in Kolkata was around Rs 7.5 crore including sales from Food Bazaar, he informed.

"This year, we are expecting to achieve around 15-20 per cent growth in sales from these centres," said Sadhwani.

Pantaloon was focusing on fashion conscious young customer segment for boosting up their sales further, he noted.

The Gariahat Pantaloon outlet that got renovated completely before the Pujas last year was experiencing tremendous response.

"We doubled the area by adding another 12,000 square feet (sq.ft) at our Gariahat unit. The response to this new look has been tremendous," he claimed.

The investment on the renovation was to the tune of Rs 3 crore. According to him, the Gariahat unit has registered year-on-year growth of 30-40 per cent as on April, 2006.

It is expected to grow at around 25 per cent, Sadhwani hoped.