Aditya Birla Nuvo plans Pantaloon growth push

EXPANSION DRIVE To open 18-20 outlets a year; renovate old stores and overhaul apparel brand portfolio

MUMBAI: A year after taking over Kishore Biyani-led Future Group’s apparel retail chain, Aditya Birla Group-owned Pantaloons Fashion and Retail is speeding up expansion plans of its stores.

Aditya Birla Nuvo in Aprilend last year completed the deal to acquire a majority stake in Pantaloon Retail, which was demerged by Future Group.

“In 2012-13, six stores were added, that is one store every two months. In 2013-14, around 13 stores were opened, which is close to one every month. Going ahead, we plan to open 18-20 outlets each year, which would be one store every three weeks,” Shital Mehta, chief executive, Pantaloons Fashion, told HT.

At present, Pantaloons has 80 outlets spread across the country. It will incur a capital expenditure of around ` 4 crore to set up each new store.

Apar t from focusing on expanding its footprint, the company is also renovating old stores and overhauling its overall portfolio of apparel brands.

Unlike other rival department stores like Shoppers Stop, which predominantly focus on selling big brands, at Pantaloons the idea is to build its own apparel labels and stock only a few top brands in each category like Louis Philippe, Peter England and Biba, said Mehta.

Most retailers have their own line of private brands, which is essentially products the companies get made from third par- ties and retail in their stores. Pantaloons doesn’t call them private brands, but says they are exclusive brands. It has its own design studio, with a team of people to design its products, Mehta said.

“We are launching 2-3 new brands this season, and 2-3 more brands will be launched next season. We have accelerated exclusive brand building and the new advertising campaign will also reflect our brands and the overall new look of the stores,” he said.