British retailer Tesco, in a joint venture with Tata group’s Trent, plans to open six to eight outlets in Maharashtra and Karnataka under Star Bazaar, Star Market and Star Daily formats this fiscal, according to an official source, mentions a leading daily.
The UK based retailer is the only player which has applied for multi-brand retail after the UPA government approved 51 percent FDI. Opening of new stores will take the number of Tesco-Trent outlets in India to 20. Tesco and Trent entered a JV this March with the UK retailer buying half the stake, 50 percent, in Trent Hypermarkets Ltd (THL) and invested Rs 850 crore in the venture.
Currently operating 12 outlets across Maharashtra and Karnataka, THL will open 1,000 sq.ft. to 30,000 sq.ft. stores in Pune, Mumbai and Bangalore, the report mentions.
The Star Daily Express format will have stores spread across 1,000 to 5,000 sq.ft while the Star Market stores will range between 5,000 to 20,000 sq.ft. Star Bazaar, the flagship store format will comprise 20,000 to 30,000 sq.ft stores, states the report.
After the joint venture, THL has decreased the large-sized stores from 40,000-80,000 sq.ft. to 20,000-30,000 sq.ft., the paper said.
