The Hindu Business Line : HomeTown plans opening more stores

Ahmedabad June 11 Home Solutions Retail (India) Ltd, a group company of Kishore Biyani-run Future Group, is planning to set up at least 40 stores in its newly-introduced HomeTown format with a turnover of nearly Rs 7,500 crore by the year 2010.

"If we get the desired response, we may even open about 100 stores by 2010," HomeTown's CEO, Mr Mahesh Shah, told Business Line here on Friday.

The company is also introducing modular wardrobes in a month for the interiors of apartments. "These would be cheaper than what the carpenter-made wardrobes cost at present," he said.

HomeTown is also in talks with cement and steel-makers to market their products. Currently, it offers exhibitions, markets and services in three segments — furniture, home improvement and electronics. Besides, the format would also provide interior designing services, he said.

Mr Shah, who launched second HomeTown format store here (the first being in Noida near New Delhi), said the company is opening seven more stores in this format at Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Lucknow, Gurgaon, Thane and Kolkata this year, with an average investment of Rs 20 crore each.

The company expects turnover of Rs 200 crore from each of these stores this year. Besides this, it is also looking at another Rs 1,000 crore per annum as turnover from its institutional bulk business. The Ahmedabad-based HomeTown is spread over an area of 1.3 lakh sq.ft. In addition to retailing home products, it will provide services such as electrical, plumbing, painting and interior decoration to its customers.

It would also have counters by Money Bazaar, the recently launched consumer-financing format of Future Capital. Through `Future Money', the consumers would be offered fast and easy cash on their purchases at HomeTown, Mr Shah added.