Dabur retail arm to set up three warehouses

H&B Stores, the health and beauty retail subsidiary of FMCG company Dabur, will set up three warehouses to cater to its 350 stores, to be rolled out by 2010.

The company, which announced a Rs 140 crore retail expansion plan in three years, has already set up one warehouse at Manesar in Haryana, to take care of its north Indian stores.

"Initially we were looking out to outsource the warehousing to a third party, but we could not find one who could fit into our strategy and hence we decided to go on our own," H&B Stores CEO Peter Baker told PTI.

He said one warehouse can cater to about 80-100 stores and the company was looking to set up another two more as part of the overall pan India expansion programme.

"In the first year of store roll out, our focus will be north and south India and the warehouse have to be set up accordingly," he said.

Baker said setting up of the warehouses would not incur additional investments and the overall investment plan would remain the same.

H&B Stores today kicked off its retail roll out with the first store at Rajouri Garden in West Delhi.

In the next fiscal year, the company is targeting about 30 store openings with 7-8 stores in the NCR region, four in Hyderabad, six in Bangalore and the rest in others places, including Panchukla and Ludhiana. Baker said the company expects to touch a turnover of around Rs 34-35 crore in the first year itself.

Besides well known brands in the health and beauty segment, H&B will also be introducing its private labels.

"By June this year we will be introducing our private labels in the FMCG personal care space," he said.

The company had tied up with labs in Italy, the UK and Thailand for developing some of its private labels.

Asked if the company planned to go overseas, considering its parent Dabur's presence in international markets, Baker did not rule out the option.

"We are not ruling out that but in the foreseeable future our focus is on India," he said.

H&B has set aggressive target of targeting Rs 1,000 crore revenue in the first three years of operation and break even during the period.