The Hindu Business Line : Khadim enters lifestyle retailing thru Egaro

Kolkata May 8 Khadim India Ltd, with a pan-India presence in the footwear sector through 250 plus sales outlets in as many as 22 States, has launched a chain of department stores under the brand name of `Egaro' (a Spanish word, meaning Feel Free).

Announcing the company's diversification into the lifestyle retailing business, covering items such as apparels, footwear, cosmetics, gold ornaments, fashion jewellery, home needs and grocery, the Managing Director, Mr Siddhartha Roy Burman, said two stores would be opened in the city this month - at Bhowanipore and Howrah - the first covering an area of 28,000 sq ft and the other 30,000 sq ft, in two phases.

He said three other outlets at Asansol, Bardhaman and Sodepur have been signed up and will start operations soon. Asked on the fate of the company's `Khadim Kahazana' shopping mall at Kanchrapara, launched some two years ago, Mr Roy Burman said the venture would continue, as it catered to a different market segment in the semi-urban areas.

The Egaro chain, he clarified, was for the upwardly mobile in urban centres, looking for a one-stop shopping experience. On the financials, Ms Ishani Ray, CFO of the company, said the plan was to invest Rs 120 crore on new projects in the next two years, out of which the Egaro chain will account for an investment of about Rs 50 crore.

Pointing out that a third Egaro store is expected to be opened by the year-end, she said the total investments during 2007-08 would be around Rs 25 crore. She said that the company was also planning an IPO, sometime later this fiscal, to raise Rs 60 crore.

Mr Roy Burman said the company planned to add 4 to 5 such multi-brand department stores every year in the next two years. Some 50 per cent of the stock would comprise private labels carrying special prices, with the balance being both national and international brands.

Upbeat on turnover

He expects the new venture to net a turnover of around Rs 45 crore in the current financial year. Khadim India, which closed 2006-07 with an annual turnover of Rs 150 crore, expects to close the current fiscal with a turnover of Rs 240 crore.

Sounding upbeat, he said the management was confident of achieving a turnover of around Rs 180 crore in the lifestyle retailing segment alone within a three-year time frame.