The Hindu Business Line : Landmark eyes Rs 500-cr turnover in 3 years

Landmark, the book and music store chain that was acquired last year by Trent Ltd, is targeting a turnover of Rs 500 crore in three years from the current Rs 100 crore, according to the company's Chief Operating Officer, Mr Himanshu Chakrawarti.

According to Mr Chakrawarti, there are plans to set up 20 more stores in the next three years in all the major metros and smaller towns, too.

By September this year, there will be Landmark stores in Gurgaon and Pune. In the next 12 to 18 months, the company plans to invest Rs 26 crore to set up new stores and back office systems.

Landmark currently has seven stores - three in Chennai and one each in Bangalore, Kolkata, Mumbai and Baroda.

The stores are large formats with floor plates ranging from 15,000 sq ft to 45,000 sq ft.

Besides books and music, Landmark retails stationery, magazines, gifts, toys and also has a home store. While the key drivers were books and music, other categories such as gifts and home furnishing added to the shopping experience, he said.

Landmark has over a lakh of titles across best sellers, theology, literature, management, information technology and cinema, to name a few sections.

Mr Chakrawarti said that Landmark's strength was the backlist of books of over 20 years. While English language books will continue as the core product, some efforts are being made to introduce Indian language books to the stores. In Baroda, for instance, six racks have been set aside for Gujarati books.

He said that the online store "landmarkonthenet.com,'' which is on the Sify platform is also being ramped up.

Last August, Trent Ltd, a part of the Tata Group, acquired 76 per cent in the privately owned book and music retailer, Landmark, and its subsidiary firms for a consideration of Rs 103.6 crore. (Trent Ltd operates the Westside chain and the Star India Bazaar, a hypermarket.)