Spencer’s, the Rs 800-crore retail arm of the RPG Group, is set to roll out the international Ladybird range of children’s wear, owned by the British high-street retail chain Woolworths in India in the next two weeks.
Spencer’s has entered into a tie-up with the $6-billion UK retailer Woolworths to exclusively sell its select products through its nation-wide chain in the country. The Indian retailer has a slew of private labels in the garment segment that include Island Monks and Mark Nicolas in the men’s and women casual/formal wear, Puddles for infants and Little Devils for kids below 14 years.
“We expect to have the Ladybird range of kids’ wear in our outlets in the next ten to 15 days,” Mr Harsh Goenka, Chairman of the RPG Group, told Business Line. This is part of Spencer’s move to increase focus on the apparel segment, which is domestically growing at a brisk pace.
Spencer’s has also tied up with Woolworths for exclusive distribution rights of the UK retailer’s international toy brand, Chad Valley. Initially, the company will be displaying Chad Valley toys in its hyper stores and in the next two months, the essential range would be available at the convenience stores.
Mr Goenka said the company has recently tied up with the US bakery café, Au Bon Pain, to unroll a chain of standalone outlets in the country. “This will be introduced by the end of this year,” he said.
Spencer’s has formed a joint venture called Novel Confectioners, which will be the master franchiser of Au Bon Pain (which means the place of good bread) in India. The Boston-based casual dining and bakery chain has more than 225 outlets fanned out across the US, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. The joint venture will set up 100 stores in the next 18-24 months with an outlay of Rs 50 crore, the first being planned in Bangalore over a 2,000- sq ft area by December this year. The stores will serve an assortment of breakfast and lunches such as soups, stews, sandwiches, sales, bread & bakery items, confectionaries and beverages.
Spencer’s currently has 400 stores across India with a total retail space of 14.27 lakh sq ft. It plans to increase the number of stores to 1,000 with a total retail space of 30- lakh sq ft by the end of the current fiscal, involving an investment of Rs 1,500 crore.
A company official said the focus would be more on large format stores. “Currently, we have 15 hyper stores and 12 supers, which are to go up to 45 and 30 respectively by the end of this fiscal. In terms of turnover, we are currently at Rs 800 crore and planning to touch the Rs 2,000-crore mark by this fiscal,” he said
Spencer’s will be sharpening its focus on private labels this year. In the private label programme, the retailer sources directly from the manufacturers and sells through its stores, which enables him to offer the products at lower price points. “We plan to increase the share of private label contribution from 25 per cent to 40 per cent in the next two years,” the official said.
August 5, 2008
Source: Hindu Business Line
