Big Bazaar opens shop in Coimbatore

Big Bazaar, the value retailing store of Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd and a part of the Future Group, has made its entry into Tamil Nadu by setting up its first store in the State at Coimbatore.
The Group is planning its next store at Chennai before the close of this calendar year, before gaining footprint into other happening towns such as Salem and Trichy.
Addressing presspersons after inaugurating a 50,000-sq-ft store at Oppanakara Street in the heart of the city, its Business Manager, Mr Venkateshwar Kumar, said there would be special offers and discounts on the 1.60 lakh products available off the shelf all through the year.
Stores Investment
The multi-level store now offers 43,000 sq ft shopping area. "We have set aside another 10,000 sq ft for entertainment and food court. This would come up on the fourth floor and is expected to be ready within the next two months." The Group has, since setting up its first shop in Bangalore five years back, opened eight malls of which six have been set up in Karnataka and two in Andhra Pradesh. The ninth Big Bazaar outlet has come up in Coimbatore. The investment on each of these stores ranged between Rs 12 crore and Rs 15 crore, he said.
The company has stores in 30 cities across the country. The company is planning to open a store in Palakad in neighbouring Kerala next month. "We have identified places like Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Kasargud for setting up the store. At least three more outlets would come up in Kerala by January next," he said.
More Stores
The company is planning to open at least 15 Big Bazaar stores in the South over the next one year. According to Mr Kumar, the food court, entertainment zone and health care beauty saloon were exclusive to Coimbatore. When asked about the possibility of opening a second store in Coimbatore, he said "it can happen, not immediately though."
Answering a query, he said all Big Bazaar stores had come up only in rented/leased premises. "We have never looked at acquiring the building or developing the property on our own land. We are focused on addressing the home maker's endeavour of optimal saving while giving the shopping convenience by serving quality products at unbelievable rates."
On location of the store, he said the company's study revealed that a majority visited the bazaar area in the city to pick their requirements at the cheapest rate. "So we decided to locate our store here and give a stiff fight (on pricing and quality) to the vendors in this area."
The numbers
On business growth, Mr Kumar said the company registered a turnover of Rs 250 crore during the last year from 4 outlets. "We are hoping to cross the Rs 1,000-crore mark this year from about 15 outlets. We are expecting the turnover from this outlet to touch Rs 50 crore in the next 12 months."
The company is sourcing most of the items from local vendors. "The procurement is not centralised," he said.