Following the smooth entry into retail sector through Mom & Me stores, Mahindra Retail now aims to open 150 more outlets by the end of this fiscal year.

Mahindra Retail, a unit of Mahindra & Mahindra group, has a clear vision towards the section to be focus in retail that deals with the needs of mothers, infants and children, according to K. Venkataraman, CEO of Maindra Retail
In an interview to a newspaper, he said investment in retail stores had already crossed the Rs 100-crore mark and by the end of this month, the company would have more than 100 Mom & Me stores and 25 Beanstalk stores He expected the number of stores to reach 150 by March.

The company showed a mixed response towards the expansion of stores which includes company-owned stores or franchise route of expansion. It was made clear that out of the 150 stores expected to be running by March 2013; nearly 10-15 of them would be franchise stores.

Venkataraman said that Mahindra Retail had ‘worked out on fine- tuning the model that would enable success in franchising’. In the next two-three years, the proportion of franchised stores would go up to 30-40 per cent from the ten per cent proposed to be achieved by the end of the current fiscal.

Elaborating on the advantages of the franchise model, he said it would help the company to have more stores within a short time and also ‘bring the local expertise of business required in smaller towns’.

Though no business was entirely recession proof, this business segment was recession proof, Venkatraman said, as mother and child category was essentially emotional and functional, ‘this business is moderately recession resistant’. The turnover this year would cross Rs 200 crore. The company was also recording a ‘healthy double-digit same-store-sales growth’.

When asked whether the company was looking at inducting an equity partner, he said ‘there are no plans at present’. He said it appeared that ‘FDI is making a limited entry’ in multi-brand retail. FDI in single brand retail was already permitted. This would provide new opportunities for investment and growth for every retailer, he said.

The Mahindra Retail CEO said his company had recently launched a toy store format under the name ‘Beanstalk’ and the company was now ‘focused on Mom & Me and Beanstalk only’.
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