The Hindu Business Line : Croma adding 34 stores; to invest Rs 300 crore

Mumbai, June 29 Croma, the large format, multi-brand consumer durable and electronics store from the Tata group’s 100 per cent subsidiary, Infiniti Retail Ltd, plans to add 34 more such stores with an investment of around Rs 300 crore, spending Rs 9 crore per store by March 2008.

The stores will be spread across cities of Pune, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Delhi. The amount would include the inventory as well as the store setting up cost.

The company unveiled its sixth store in India with a 14,000- sq ft property in Navi Mumbai here on Friday. “We would be coming up with a store at Surat and Vadodara very soon and are looking at having more stores in and around Mumbai like one more at Vashi, Navi Mumbai and around four at Thane,” said Mr Ajit Joshi, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Infiniti Retail Ltd.

With Croma, Infiniti Retail Ltd has entered into a technical and sourcing agreement with an Australian retailer, Woolworths Ltd.

Speaking about the market for such stores in India, especially in tier-II cities, Mr Joshi said, “There are no more tier-I and tier-II cities in India. A housewife in Surat is no different from the one in Mumbai because she also wants a front loading washing machine. The consumers, all across, are more brand-conscious and there is huge potential for us.”

In terms of competition, “We believe that there is no competition for us in all the categories that we have. We have products starting from music systems to laptops, to cameras to various other products and in all possible brands. A consumer can find all brands in one store, or whichever item he or she needs,” he added.

The store houses 6,000 products, spanning over 180 local and global brands across eight categories such as home entertainment, small appliances, white goods, computers and peripherals, communication, music, imaging and gaming software. It will also facilitate EMI system through its arrangement with Bajaj Finance and GE soon, Mr Joshi said.

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