Dabur to invest Rs 120 cr in lifestyle retail biz

Home grown FMCG major Dabur India today said it will invest Rs 120 crore in the next three years on its beauty and lifestyle retail initiative - H&B Stores.

"We are looking at about 100 H&B stores by 2010 entailing an investment of about Rs 120 crore," Dabur India Vice Chairman Amit Burman said on the sidelines of India Economic Summit here.

The retail initiative is not necessarily meant for distributing only Dabur products, he said adding, "products of other brands would also be retailed through the stores along with our product."

Burman said H&B Stores would be going on its own for back-end supply chain. It has also stepped up hiring as it plans to open stores from mid-January.

The company plans to expand its retail outlets to over 1,000 stores by the 10th year of operation and is looking at establishing stores ranging from 1,500 sq ft to 6,000 sq ft in size.

Dabur India has already appointed two expatriates at senior management positions and have hired a host of Indian managers to spearhead various verticals.

Recently, the company roped in Graeme Fraser to head its sourcing, buying and merchandising. Fraser joined from Li & Fung Trading of Hong Kong, where he held the position of Vice President.