Barua draws plans for Birla’s retail business

In the next few years, Pranab Barua who serves as the

Head of Apparel and Retail Business at Aditya Birla Retail and known for his turnaround artistic skills could well be leading one of India’s largest organised retailing ventures. According to sources, he has set an internal target of achieving $2 billion for the group within two years. The group’s retail operations - Madura Fashion & Lifestyle (MF&L)and the food & grocery retail chain More recorded a topline of Rs 4,700 crores in the last year. The retail revenue would be of Rs 6,200 crores if added Rs 1,500 crore of Pantaloons, in which Aditya Birla Nuvo acquired a majority stake in a Rs 1,600 crores deal in May 2012.

Barua plans to shut down 27 loss-making More stores in Mumbai and open them in places where real estate is less expensive. In the year ending March 2011, More chain had reported a net loss of Rs 423 crores on net sales of Rs 1,637 crores. Barua’s plans also include adding 70-80 supermarkets and 5-6 hypermarkets with a focused approach to geographies.

Being known for his business tactics, Barua in fiscal year 2010 had turned around MF&L at the operating level in a year, after two years of losses because of soft demand conditions. He had turned its business to a positive direction by shutting down loss-making stores, re-negotiating rentals and opting for a rapid expansion in a depressed market. This way, Barua has set up the business for huge growth in the future. As a result, MF&L grew well above 30 per cent in the next few years.

Barua has also done the assessment to see if Pantaloons could fit in the company’s long-term plans. The Madura portfolio has four segments: premium fashion; mid-priced menswear, value retail and exports. According to him, the Biyani-built brand will help Birla move beyond menswear into casual, ethnic, formal, party and sports wear for all categories. Pantaloons chain has a retail network spread across 35 cities with 65 stores and 21 factory outlets.