Guardian Lifecare spreads reach, plans 50 stores by March

MUMBAI: Guardian Lifecare, a health store chain, is spreading its reach. The company plans on opening 50 stores across the country by March this year. It currently has 15-20 stores in the pipleline, two of which will be opening shortly in Mumbai at Phoenix Mills and Inorbit Mall at Vashi. The company will also be opening two stores in Bangalore, 12 in Delhi, six in Noida, six in Gurgaon among others in the next two months.

With plans to tap into the southern market, stores will open in Hyderabad and Chennai in addition to Pune post March.

Ashutosh Garg, Chairman and Managing Director of Guardian Lifecare, told ET, "We expect revenue to cross Rs 100 crore by March 2009. By March 2010 we expect that it will go to Rs 300 crore. In the next 12 months we plan on opening 400 stores across the country and expect to spend Rs 100 crore on this."

The company still has funds left over from its last fundraiser and has enough to carry it through till mid 2010. With a no franchisee policy, all the stores are proprietary.