HyperCity Retail (India) Ltd, the large-format store of Shoppers Stop, plans to introduce more private labels at its stores even as it expects to open three more stores by December 2011 and focus on the southern region for expansion.

The company currently has 10 stores, including the recently opened large-format store in Bangalore, and is preparing to open stores in Ahmedabad, Pune and Mumbai.

“We believe that south India has immense business potential. We plan to have at least four-five such large-format stores in each large city/ metro, which will enable us to cover the whole city, serving the respective catchment areas,” Mr Ashutosh Chakradeo, Head — Buying and Merchandising, HyperCity Retail, said.

He told Business Line that the company has about 8 lakh sq ft retail space at its ten stores. “We now have two stores in Bangalore and one in Hyderabad, and plan to add more in the South, where there is potential for large-format stores. We closed 2010-11 with a growth of about 80 per cent, logging revenues of Rs 600 crore, and expect to take this up to Rs 900 crore this year,” he said.

Higher footfall conversion

“We have about 10 broad categories of private labels covering food items, general merchandise, electronic goods etc. We expect to take the contribution from private labels up to 23 per cent this year and 25 per cent next year. With sourcing being direct, we have better margins in private labels,” he explained.

Month-on-month data shows the retail sector has put the slowdown behind it and is seeing increasing footfalls. Even the footfall conversion rate is close to a high 50 per cent, with average billing of about Rs 1,100, he said.

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