IIIrd i, which currently operates five digital camera stores in Hyderabad, is planning to raise Rs 20 crore venture capital (VC) fund to fuel its proposed gadget retail stores chain concept ‘NowGadget’.
“We are currently in talks with a domestic VC player and expect to close a deal with them by January 2010,” Sanjay Bajaj, chief executive officer of IIIrd i, told Business Standard.
IIIrd i plans to open a NowGadget store each in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Kochi by May 2010. The store will offer gadgets like laptops, MP3 players, gaming consoles, security and global positioning systems, mobiles, high-end telescopes, binoculars and fashion watches.
“Each store with a carpet area of 5,000 sft will entail an investment of close to Rs 10 crore, 70 per cent of which will be funded through internal accruals. While the Hyderabad store will be opened in the first week of this December, outlets in the other three cities will be up and running in the next six weeks,” he said.
Organised retail in India for consumer electronics is currently pegged at Rs 3,000 crore, while there are no estimates on gadget retailing as it is more of a decisive shopping rather than impulsive.
Bajaj said the company had tied up with retail majors Aditya Birla and RPG Group to open shop-in-shops in their outlets across Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. With display area of 200 sft, six shop-in-shops will come up in each of these two states with an investment of Rs 6 lakh each by March 2010.
