Jubilant Retail to expand base in south

BANGALORE: Bangalore-based Jubilant Retail, a division of the Rs 4,600-crore Jubilant Group, is gearing up to expand its footprint in the South. The company’s plans entail setting up of 50 hypermarkets and 250 supermarkets across three southern states, excluding Kerala, in the first phase of expansion spread over five years.

Jubilant Retail, which currently operates two Monday-to-Sunday supermarkets and two hypermarkets under the Total Mall brand, both in Bangalore, has earmarked close to Rs 2,500 crore for the proposed expansion.

“The investment will be funded through internal accruals and debt. However, the Jubilant Group could look at equity dilution in its retail subsidiary, Jubilant Retail at a much later date,” said Jubilant Retail’s CEO Dinesh Malpani. According to him, the company would generate revenues of about Rs 8,500 -10,000 crore during the five-year period.

Sixty per cent of the proposed expansion will take place in tier I cities. To begin with, the company will set up seven hypermarkets in Bangalore alone. Further, Jubilant Retail is looking to launch its private label in the apparel category, to be sold exclusively in its hypermarket chain.

In this context, it must be mentioned that the hypermarket will not offer any branded apparel and the same will, however, be available at its Total Mall. The company, said Mr Malpani, will increase the number of SKUs from the 65,000 to over one lakh with the planned expansion of hypermarkets.

Jubilant Retail is also in the process of re-branding its Monday-to-Sunday supermarkets. It acquired the store from Kochi-based Amalgam Foods in 2002. “The rebranding exercise will be completed within a month. The store would now figure under the Total brand architecture,” added Mr Malpani.