The Hindu Business Line : Welspun Retail to invest Rs 150 crore on store expansion

NEW DELHI: The Welspun Group's retail venture is embarking on a major expansion with plans to invest Rs 150 crore over next three years for setting up 160 new stores under different formats, while it gets ready for supplying overseas.

Welspun Retail, the group's retail arm, is planning to increase the number of its WelHome (targeted at the middle segment) and Spaces (in the high end range) stores.

“The plan is to open 100 additional WelHome and 60 more Spaces stores across the country, up from the present figures of 220 and 25, respectively,” Ms Dipali Goenka, Director, Welspun Retail said.

She said with the expansion plans afoot, the company is looking to increase annual turnover to Rs 200 crore during the current fiscal and reach a figure of Rs 1,000 crore by 2011-12. It had recorded a turnover of Rs 85 crore last year.

While the new WelHome stores would mostly be set up in Tier II and III cities, the company's expansion of the Spaces' format would focus on the metros and major Tier I cities, Ms Goenka added.

The two formats have a presence in 116 cities in India. Asked about the funding for the expansion, she said it would come entirely from promoters.

“We have no plans for venturing into any IPO or private equity route in the near future,” Ms Goenka said.

Commenting on reports of Welspun Group's plans to hive off the retail arm, she said: “It is also not true for the immediate future. We will wait and watch for sometime before taking any action.” - PTI

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