Diversify, retail and expand… this seems to be the growth mantra. It’s not just oil major Reliance or a telecom king Bharti who are trying to cash in on the retail rush for department stores. Footwear retailer Khadim’s, too, has fine-tuned its blueprint for expanding its chain of department stores called Egaro.
The third largest footwear retailer in the country, Khadim’s is all set to penetrate potential markets that have not yet caught the eye of organised retailers. The first Egaro store was opened about two months ago in Howrah, West Bengal. A good number of footfalls at the store not only compelled the company to expand the store size, but have also motivated it to move to other parts of the state.
“We have even had 7,000 footfalls per day at the Howrah store. Sales, too, have been beyond expectations. We are planning to take Egaro to other districts in West Bengal. The populace in the area has good buying power, but major organised players have not entered these markets. We will have the advantage of getting in first,” Joydeep Basu Roy, general manager, marketing, Khadim’s, told Indiaretailing.
Commenting on the company’s plans to move out of the state, Basu informed, “We have a three-year plan for establishing our presence strongly in West Bengal. As of now, we are looking at 11 stores, of which three will open this fiscal. Once this target is achieved, we’ll definitely move to other eastern parts and penetrate markets like Guwahati and Orissa.”
When asked about the finances, Basu said, “The required investment in each Egaro store is in the range of Rs 7-8 crore, and overall, we will require around Rs 80 crore.”
Basu hinted that most part of these investments will come through self-funding and some might be generated through private equity. When quizzed on the company’s plans to go public, Basu said, “Every company wants to come up with an IPO, and if we do well with our three-year plans, we will wish to expand further and definitely consider an IPO.”
Egaro stores offer products under multiple segments including apparel, footwear, cosmetics, gold ornaments, fashion jewellery, home and grocery.
– Ranjan Kaplish
