Trinethra Super Retail (TSRL), a Hyderabad-based retail marketing chain, will invest Rs 100 crore over the next two years in order to expand business and open more outlets in south India.The number of retail outlets would be increased to 205 by the end of current fiscal from the existing 170, Pranab Barua, CEO of the company, said here today.The number of outlets in Andhra Pradesh would be increased to 90 from the present 73 and 50 would be opened in Karnataka. TSRL will open 40 retail shops in Tamil Nadu and 25 in Kerala by the end of FY07.The first outlet in Kerala will be opened at Fort Cochin tomorrow. The company, that had a total turnover of Rs 240 crore in FY06, has targeted Rs 360 crore by March 2007 and Rs 650 -700 crore by FY08."Our aim is to become the largest chain supermarket in south India by 2008 and now we are implementing an expansion plan to achieve the target. We are not catering to north Indian market currently since we target a consolidated top spot in south India," Barua added. As part of the four-line strategy of shops, the company will open 4-5 hyper markets in southern states and the first of its kind will be opened in Mysore in December.Hyper markets will provide almost all products under one roof which will have an area of 100,000-plus square feet. One such shop will be opened at Kochi and all the stores in Kerala will be opened under the Fabmall brand, which is a 100 percent subsidiary of TSRL. Apart from the outlet at Fort Cochin, Trinethra will open 5 more shops at Thrippunithrura, Kaloor, Edappally, Kadavanthra and Angamali in September itself. Apart from the supermarket format, the group also intends to open stores in the Quickshop and super centre format. He said that the group had tied up with Ann's Bakery, one of the largest chain bakery in Kottayam district, to provide bakery products. Supermarkets will also be opened at Kottayam and Aluva and Fabmall super centre will be opened at Kakkanad near Kochi."We will increase the number of outlets in Kerala to 25 by the end of March 2007. We are rolling out a plan for the purpose, but Kerala has the biggest problem - availability of suitable land in most of the towns. Our immediate expansion plan in Kerala covers Kolenchery, Muvattupuzha, Kottayam, Mavelikkara, Allappuzha, Thrissur and Palakkad," he added. The group will also start a processing centre exclusively for the Kerala market.
