Salora launches electronics retail chain under Terminal brand

Salora Retail Ventures Ltd, a part of consumer durables maker and distributor, Salora International Ltd, launched a retail electronics chain called Terminal, initially with nine stores in the national capital region. Salora claims its retail mod- el—a neighbourhood store for- mat—will help it stand out by being convenient for the cus- tomers and also cost-effective for the company. “The cost of setting up one store will be at least 25-30% lesser than the average invest- ment made by other players in the retail industry,” said G.K. Jiwarajika, vice-chairman and managing director. “In the next five years the plan is to open 300-500 stores across In- dia with an investment of Rs150-200 crore.

The expan- sion, however, depends on real estate prices.” “Our model is such that we are expecting to break even in the next 12 months as against other players which take two- three years,” added Sanjive Sethi, chief executive officer, Salora Retail. With an average size of 900 sq. ft, a Terminal store sells LCDs, mobile phones, digital cameras, camcorders, laptops and home theatres. Salora Retail has previously been a single brand retailer with partnerships with Sony Ericsson and Virgin mobile in north and east India. Salora International is a conglomerate with interests in sourcing, manufacturing, sup- ply chain management, distribution, marketing and retail in consumer electronics, tele- com, information technology and lifestyle.

The consumer durables and electronics retail segment is “growing fast and there is a lot of scope, going ahead. There are different formats existing at the moment. Since conve- nience does play an important role when it comes to shop- ping, neighbourhood stores do have a potential,” Anil Rajpal, vice-president, consumer goods and retail, KSA Technopak, said. Reliance Retail Ltd and a Tata group company, Infiniti Retail Ltd, as well as Future Group’s Home Solutions Retail Ltd are the key retailers operating big format retail stores under Reliance Digital, Croma and E-Zone brands. Small for- mat retail chains include Videocon Industries Ltd’s Next Retail, Subhiksha Mobiles and Hotspot Mobiles.

Sources:- Mint