The infectious swine flu, is now impacting retail sales, with the Future Group subsidiary Pantaloon Retail witnessing as much as 20 per cent fall in sales, at its Pune and Mumbai stores, the regions which have come under severe grip of the pandemic.
The company has temporarily shut down one of its outlets in Pune, while sales in Mumbai have also been affected, according to a senior official.
"Sales in Mumbai are down by 6-8 per cent, while in Pune they are down by around 20 per cent," Future Group Chief Executive Officer Kishore Biyani told CNBC TV 18.
He said the company has shut down one of its stores in Pimpri locality of Pune.
Biyani, however, said the company is witnessing almost normal operations in the rest of the country and is aiming to clock Rs 250 crore during the five-day long Independence Day promotion offer period.
"We are seeing decent business but we are not seeing the rush as we normally see... But we are still expecting a sales of around Rs 250 crore and whatever our yesterday's numbers suggest, we are on track," he said, adding that Pantaloon stores in the north, south and east have done better than expected.
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Asked if there is any likelihood that government may directive to shut down outlets in view of the swine flu, Biyani said: "We sell daily necessities and our stores need to remain open."
Biyani said Pantaloon Retail is looking to achieve a sales growth of 30 per cent this fiscal and plans to add 35-40 lakh sq ft of additional retail space during the year.
"We are confident of 30 per cent growth in terms of overall revenue," he said.
While the company expects double-digit growth in same store sells, Biyani said the additional retail space will also contribute to its performance.
He added that the company will also close in on its fund raising plans within the next 6-8 weeks, but did not give details regarding the amount sougth to be raised or the likely modalities.