Shoppers Stop bullish on retail expansion

Shoppers Stop is bullish about its retail expansion plans.

It recently launched its 49th store spread over an area of 75,000 sq. ft, at R City Mall in Ghatkopar, Mumbai. The company plans to increase the store count to 66 by the end of 2013. At the inauguration of the new outlet, Govind Shrikhande, Customer Care Associate and Managing Director of Shoppers Stop said that though the rise in apparel prices affected footfalls, they managed to tackle the slowdown by undertaking initiatives like introducing new collections and brands in women’s segment, which witnessed descent sales during crucial times.

He also pointed out that if the retail sector gets an industry status, it would be able to garner young talent. Talking at the industry-academia symposium organised by McDonald`s, he said, “There are about 33 million people working in the retail sector, of which six million work in modern retail. The opportunity in the retail sector is huge and modern retail, which currently constitutes only 5 per cent of the $450 billion sector, is growing at 25-35 per cent.”

Shoppers Stop is looking forward to a turnover of at least Rs 2,200 crores by the end of this fiscal and will soon open the doors of its 50th store in Bangalore.