Leading retail chain Future group is planning thousands of small stores that will act as a distribution channel for consumer products.

Currently, the group has 600 small stores ranging from 600-1,200 sq ft, and it is planning to have 3,000 more such stores in the next five years.

“We already have 250 large stores of Big Bazaar. Now we are focusing on small stores. About 70 per cent of the merchandise in these stores will be our own products,” said Future Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kishore Biyani.

He was speaking at the India Retail Forum held in Mumbai.

All its small stores such as KB’s Fair Price will be re-branded as Easyday stores, he said. Since Niligiris operate under franchisee model, it will continue in the same brand, he said.

Interestingly, Biyani’s upcoming acquisitions such as Sangam Direct and Heritage Fresh have small stores in South and North India. Aditya Birla Retail, with which he is believed to have held talks for a buyout, mostly has small stores.

Furher, Biyani stated that the chain was looking at an opportunity of managing fair price or ration shops across the country.

His group manages 5,000 such ration shops in Rajasthan and is in talks with Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh governments to give a facelift to local ration shops there too.

“We have introduced 250 SKUs designed for such ration shops in Rajasthan. Imagine 5,000 stores into 28 states, the opportunity is huge,” Biyani said.

Source: Business Standard

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