Spencer's Retail shuts Mumbai store, exits western market

Spencer's Retail, promoted by RP-Goenka Group, has pulled the shutters of its flagship

store at Inorbit Mall in Mumbai. The hypermart format store spread across 40,000 square foot, is currently nit operational indicating a complete exit of the retailer from the western market.

The space would be replaced by a bouquet of retail brands who have been in talks with the mall management. Of late, Spencer’s has been resizing its stores, by opening smaller sized ones and may relook at other options in the state. However, for now it’s a complete closure of business in the western region.

On the other hand, the company plans to invest at least Rs 250 crores to open 80 new hypermarkets across the country over the next four years. The company may mull an initial public offering sometime next year to fund its expansion plans. Aim is to aggressively expand to take the store count beyond the 200 mark from the current figure of 127. The 80 stores that are planned in north, south and east India will be compact hypermarts.

Last financial year, Spencer's added 11 stores and it plans to add the same number of outlets this year. Also to improve margins, company has decided to increase its apparel and general merchandise mix. At present, 80 percent of the revenues are generated from food, a low margin business. The chain will try to increase the higher margin non-food business, particularly casual wear and kitchenware, to 25 percent in a couple of years.