The Hindu Business Line : Trinethra plans to open hypermarket in Mysore

Trinethra Super Retail Ltd (operating under the brand name Fabmall in Karnataka), will throw open its first hypermarket in Mysore next month. To be called Fabcity, the 50,000-sq-ft hypermarket will offer food and grocery items, cosmetics, personal care products, electronics, home appliances, apparel and home products.

Mr Pranab Barua, CEO, told Business Line that apart from 3-4 hypermarkets in cities such as Bangalore, Coimbatore and Chennai, the company is looking also at tier-II towns for its next stage of growth. "We're looking at suitable properties in these cities," Mr Barua said.

Trinethra , funded by India Value Fund, currently has 86 stores in Andhra Pradesh, 35 stores in Karnataka, eight in Kerala and 26 in Tamil Nadu. The retail chain's expansion plan, intended to create more consumer touch points, is drawn up to have 103 stores in Andhra Pradesh, 56 stores in Karnataka, 43 stores in Chennai and 28 stores in Kerala by March 2007. Trinethra, which posted a turnover of Rs 170 crore in March 2006 expects to touch the Rs 360-crore mark by the end of this financial year.

Apart from hypermarkets, the company is also considering a foray into the quick shop format to enable daily top-ups by consumers. Pilot projects for the same are on in Hyderabad and Kochi, Mr Barua said.

Trinethra recently set up a mechanised processing unit in Hyderabad to ensure hygienic sorting and packaging of groceries. The company has also set up two collection centres (Mettuplayam and Hoskote) for fruits and vegetables to service the needs of all its outlets. This will enable the company to pursue its private label strategy in food items, Mr Barua said.