New Delhi: Salora Retail Ventures Ltd, a part of consumer durables maker and distributor, Salora International Ltd, launched a retail electronics chain called Terminal, initially with nine stores in the national capital region.
Salora claims its retail model—a neighbourhood store format—will help it stand out by being convenient for the customers and also cost-effective for the company.
“The cost of setting up one store will be at least 25-30% lesser than the average investment made by other players in the retail industry,” said G.K. Jiwarajika, vice-chairman and managing director. “In the next five years the plan is to open 300-500 stores across India with an investment of Rs150-200 crore. The expansion, however, depends on real estate prices.”
“Our model is such that we are expecting to break even in the next 12 months as against other players which take two-three years,” added Sanjive Sethi, chief executive officer, Salora Retail.
With an average size of 900 sq. ft, a Terminal store sells LCDs, mobile phones, digital cameras, camcorders, laptops and home theatres.
Salora Retail has previously been a single brand retailer with partnerships with Sony Ericsson and Virgin mobile in north and east India.
Salora International is a conglomerate with interests in sourcing, manufacturing, supply chain management, distribution, marketing and retail in consumer electronics, telecom, information technology and lifestyle.
The consumer durables and electronics retail segment is “growing fast and there is a lot of scope, going ahead. There are different formats existing at the moment. Since convenience does play an important role when it comes to shopping, neighbourhood stores do have a potential,” Anil Rajpal, vice-president, consumer goods and retail, KSA Technopak, said.
Reliance Retail Ltd and a Tata group company, Infiniti Retail Ltd, as well as Future Group’s Home Solutions Retail Ltd are the key retailers operating big format retail stores under Reliance Digital, Croma and E-Zone brands. Small format retail chains include Videocon Industries Ltd’s Next Retail, Subhiksha Mobiles and Hotspot Mobiles.