News: Pantaloon launches Fashion Station in Kolkata

(BS 12/06/2006) Mumbai - Fashion Station, the apparel and accessories retail format of Pantaloon Retail India Limited, has opened shop in Kolkata.

Located on the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass, the selection at the outlet is primarily targeted at the young family, said Rajan Malhotra, head value retail. Value for money is the USP here, with T-shirts priced as low as Rs 99.

This is the fifth Fashion Station in the country, the other four being in Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad.

Pantaloon Retail has also brought in Gen-m, as a shop-in-shop within Fashion Station, its lifestyle telecom retail venture; m-bazaar, for the value segment, already has a presence in the Big Bazaars. Telecom retail segment alone has a potential to post a turnover of Rs 500 crore, the official said.

Malhotra also announced big plans for the group in Kolkata, the city from where Pantaloon Retail's success story started with the first Pantaloon in Gariahat. Kolkata is to get two more Pantaloons and four more Big Bazaars this year, he announced.

The group was also coming up with stores in Haldia, Bardhaman, Darjeeling, Siliguri in West Bengal. Further, another floor is to be added to the Big Bazaar in the Durgapur.

Then there is Kolkata Central, the large-format seamless mall, which will open in 2008. Kolkata Central will also being high-end lifestyle brands like Marks & Spencers, Guess and The Body Shop, to the city. At the moment, the company has 30-35 lakh sqft of commercial area in the city.

While the apparel business is a focus area of Pantaloon Retail, constituting 45-50 per cent of its EBIDTA, said Malhotra, the group was also diversifying into other areas.

Among these was futurebazaar, an e-portal, which is now being test-marketed in Pune. The company had also finalised the concept for smaller, 3,000 sqft-4,000 sqft stores, to take on the mom-and-pop stores.