Piramyd plans 5 Delhi megastores

Firm to open one store in Ludhiana also

Piramyd Retail Ltd, the lifestyle retail division of the Piramal group, is planning to open five megastores in Delhi by the end of 2006-07.

The Mumbai-based company will also open one store in Ludhiana in September and is exploring the possibility of opening stores in Chandigarh and Lucknow.

"We see the north as a virgin market with untapped potential. We will have the first mover advantage in all these cities," Piramyd's chief operating officer, Bipin Gurnani, told Business Standard.

Two Piramyd stores, one Delhi and another in Ludhiana, will start by the end of December, while four stores, three in Delhi and one in Gurgaon, will be operational next year.

Each Piramyd store would have a floor area of 80,000"�90,000 square feet and involve an investment of Rs 30 crore, including inventory costs where the properties are leased ones.

"We are also looking at purchasing properties, like we did in Ahmedabad. In that case, the investment could go up to Rs 80-90 crore for each store," Gurnani said.

These stores would house apparel, jewellery, watches, footwear, optical products, books, music, electronics, etc. The company has its own merchandise division for a number of products, and also for certain products it has tied up with specialist vendors on a revenue sharing basis.

The specialist vendors for Piramyd include Jasn for sarees, Crossroads for books, and Bhandare for optical products. "We provide them space in our stores, for which we charge a minimum guarantee and a share of the revenue," Gurnani said.

Piramyd, which has at present nine stores in Mumbai, Pune, and Nagpur, has a turnover of Rs 69 crore. It targets to achieve a revenue of Rs 220 crore in 2005-06 and a Rs 2,500 crore turnover by 2010.

Riding high

• Two Piramyd stores, one each in Delhi and Ludhiana, will start by the end of December
• Another four stores, three in Delhi and one in Gurgaon, will be operational next year
• Each Piramyd store, with a floor area of about 80,000 square feet, will involve an investment of Rs 30 crore
• The stores will house apparel, jewellery, watches, footwear, optical products, books, music, electronics
• Piramyd, with a current turnover of Rs 69 crore, targets to achieve a revenue of Rs 220 crore in 2005-06 and a Rs 2,500 crore turnover by 2010