V2 chain to open hypermarkets

Vishal Retail which had been in the news for the troubled times it was going through and had

reemerged in a new avatar called V2, has opened four new stores in Delhi-NCR recently. With these four stores, V2 now has a total of seven stores. With nearly in a total of one lakh sq. ft, retail space V2 now primarily sells apparels. A chain of stores would be opened under the V2 brand within the next two to three months. Five hypermarkets would be set up to begin with, in states like Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, UP and Jharkhand at an initial investment of around Rs 8 crores.

It may be recalled that in 2009 Vishal Retail got into financial trouble and piled up debt of around Rs 730 crores. It was forced into a corporate debt restructuring (CDR) program. In March this year, Vishal Retail sold off the wholesale and franchise business to private equity firm TPG and the retail undertaking to Chennai-based Shriram Group for a total of Rs 70 crores. The transaction also included rights to all trademarks and intellectual property for brands like Vishal, Vishal Retail, Vishal Megamart and Vishal Fashion Mart. At present, the company is funding its expansion plans through internal accruals and the sale of properties.