The Hindu Business Line : R-Day spent in retail spirit

THE retail mania has caught on in the country. For Ms Kanaka Murthy and her family, this January 26 stood more for retail day than Republic Day. At 9 am she was out of a Big Bazaar store here exclaiming at the `unbelievable prices' and carrying three shopping bags containing a whole range of crockery, cutlery, clothes plus a full month's grocery.

It is estimated that till about afternoon today, about 10 lakh people like Ms Murthy spent their Republic Day rejoicing in the spirit of the "Sabse Sasta Din' (Maha Savings Day) being celebrated in all the Big Bazaars and Food Bazaars.

Mr Sanjeev Agrawal, President, Marketing, Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd, told Business Line that they had expected footfalls to range between 5-6 lakh, but the response has been significantly better than expected (about 10 lakh). "In fact, the response has been so overwhelming that we are extending the offer to Friday," he said.

Sales figures are also expected to be thrice or four times that of a normal day, though Mr Agrawal refused to name a figure. He said on pre-Diwali day, nine Big Bazaars across the country had recorded sales of Rs 1 crore each, a performance he expects to be repeated on the `Maha Savings Day.'

To make shopping and billing easier, additional staff and cash counters were deployed at all the hypermarkets, he said. The sale was kicked off at 8 am and went on till midnight.

The Maha Savings Day offer was on at all the 24 Big Bazaars and 38 Food Bazaars across the country. On offer were colour TV sets for Rs 5,900, a mobile handset for Rs 1,399, a pressure cooker for Rs 299, etc, in addition to discounts on everyday needs like grocery, pots and pans, crockery and cutlery.

Pantaloon Retail is a Rs 1,100-crore retailing chain with a presence in both lifestyle and value retailing stores spread across 2.6 million sq ft of space in 24 cities across the country.