New Delhi: Popular international retail giants are now heading towards India for setting up their stores. Yet another addition to this list is Big Apple, the Indian version of the popular US retail chain 7-Eleven. The retail company plans to foray big time in India.
It plans to launch 100 convenience stores in the national capital and surrounding areas by August to cater to the urban consumers With shopping becoming another casualty of long working hours. Express Retail Services Pvt Ltd is rapidly expanding its Big Apple chain of convenience stores with 25 stores already merchandising 2,500 products including FMCG, grocery, fruits and vegetables, company managing director Munish Hemrajani told PTI.
"I have a kitty of Rs 100 crore which I have to exhaust by March 31, 2008," he said. "We just opened our 25th store in Delhi and by August we will be 100 stores,” he added.
The stores will remain open round the clock from 7:00 hours to 23:00 hours IST. After August, Big Apple will expand into cities adjoining the national capital to double the number of stores to 200.
In the second phase, expansion is planned in Karnataka and Gujarat, he said.
The company's stores are doing an average sales of Rs 16 lakh per day and it is just six-month away from break- even.
"We are just two per cent away from break-even." A typical Big Apple store is 1,500 to 1,800 sq feet and stores over 2,500 product merchandise, he said and claimed it was way ahead of competition from Reliance Retail's neighbourhood stores and Subhiksha. "We change product line every 90 days based on customer acceptance and demand."
The Rs 40 crore company has a direct tie-up with farmers in Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
With inputs from PTI
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