Spencer’s to build world-class hypermarkets in India

Making a comeback in true sense, RPG group-led

Spencer’s Retail is all set to change the organised retail scenario in India by introducing world-class, sprawling hypermarkets at select locations. The company will expand offerings on the service side, bringing them closer to what is offered in the West, in terms of the wide range of products and services. The company is looking to add 10 new stores, totalling around 3 lakh square feet in 2013. The new stores would be opened primarily in the eastern and southern parts of the country.

Apart from food, apparel and other goods, Spencer’s will offer an array of services like florist, pharmacy, in-store cafe, barber shop, laundry among many others. The services will also include small bookstores and quick service restaurants to trigger impulsive purchases among consumers. Spencer’s Kolkata store will be the first one to undergo the change followed by similar hypermarkets elsewhere in the country.

While in-store cafe and bakery have by now become integral to some other supermarkets, other offerings like electronics, car accessories and jewellery are slowly making an entry onto the retail scene making it more competitive. But in terms of space, they are still small to be called hypermarkets. Spencer’s ‘hypermarkets’ will be spread over just 29,000 square feet.

On an expansion spree, 56 new Spencer’s marts will open in the next three years. Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, West Bengal, Delhi NCR, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra are among the states that will host Spencer’s hypermarkets. Besides state capitals and major cities, Spencer’s will also foray into Tier-II, III towns. Spencer’s, meanwhile, has appointed KPMG and Ambit to float an IPO after the consultants submit a detailed project report by the end of March or early April this year