V Mart targets North and West India

The V Mart Group – a branch of flagship company V Mart Retail which operates a chain of stores in the mini-hypermarket segment -- is currently concentrating on states in the North and West. V Mart saw 50 per cent business growth over last year

with a profitability of around 300 per cent in that segment. With a strong presence in 52 stores in states like Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the company plans to come up with another four stores by March 2011 as a part of its growth policy. These new stores will be in smaller cities like Gaya, Gorakhpur and Faizabad, which are virgin markets with a dense population, hungry for fashion at the right prices.

The V Mart Group has 52 existing stores in 45 cities covering an area of four lakh sq. ft. They will complete 100 stores by 2010-11 and cover an area of 10 lakh sq. ft. All its stores are company-owned and managed. The group’s main forte is fashion merchandise, with around 70 per cent of sales coming from fashion.  It also stocks its own   private labels for different segments. About 30 per cent of its range is private labels.

“Whoever offers good fashion at good prices, we stock it. In menswear we have almost eight private labels. J White is formal, Charcol is casual wear, Appache is casual. We have Flick for semi casual wear. Then we have Jinxx for denim and casual wear. We have Cruxx for formals. For women we have Kool for western wear. Catch Her, also western wear and Adya, ethnic wear,” says Lalit Agarwal, Managing Director, V Mart Retail. “In apparels we dedicate around 40 per cent area to men, 30 per cent to children including infants and 30 per cent to women. As regards our manufacturing capacity, we make a million pieces a year. We have a factory at Ahmedabad and at Delhi. They develop men’s, women’s and kids’ garments. We also get a lot of things manufactured outside because it’s not possible for a retailer to have a lot of labor in-house,” he adds.

V Mart’s sale strategy is more honest price retailing rather than discount retailing. The company’s strategy is to stick to basic categories and improve its existing range with better fashion varieties and display patterns and services rather than widening its product range. For the autumn/winter season, it is displaying a variety of  casual wear, checked shirts, denim, formal wear, narrow fitted trouser and has already launched in-store  sweaters, shawls, infant wear sets, cardigans, pullovers, chequered jackets, fur jackets and sweat shirts. As a part of its brand building initiative, it has tied up with Action Replayy the new Bollywood flick for their marketing and promotional activities. It will be opting for an IPO in the next five years that will give their customers the
best service possible.