Spencer Express promises cheaper greens

Potato at Rs 8.50 per kg, onion at Rs 9 per kg and mango at Rs18 per kg "�all Re1 to Rs 2 less than the normal market price--were some of the top items in "today's offer" at the newly opened Spencer Express store in Kolkata on Friday. At least placard in front of the store claimed that.

But customers are not going to benefit for long from such a discount, as the offer is just an introductory marketing strategy, according to Ramesh Menon, senior vice president, operations, Spencer Retail Limited.

Also the company would not indulge in a price war with retail marts like Big Baazar to woo the consumers as convenience rather than low-price would be the growth driver for Spencer, which recently announced opening 25 stores under different formats, including three hypermarts in Kolkata over the next few months. The group plans to book area close to two lakh square feet in the city for expansion.

"We are in the business for more than 11 years. We are not discount retailers. We are targeting the upper-middle and upper class consumers," said Menon, adding, "also, we are not agri-retailers as our core activity is consumer goods. Fruits and vegetables accounted for only five per cent of our retail trade last fiscal."

"The store is offering incentives like 5 kg of sugar and 200 ml of Garnier shampoo bottle free of cost on purchases above Rs1,999. Apart from this, we are also offering discount up to Rs 10 on some of the products," said the store manager of the Express Store.

Spread over an area of 800- 1,200 square feet, the central theme of Spencer Express Stores is "the store next door".

The company had recently launched its two daily format store in Kolkata.

RPG group, which owns the Spencer Retail Limited currently has 369 stores across the country. The group plans to have 2,000 store by 2009 and 4,000 by 2011. By the end of this year it plans to open nearly 800 stores across the country.

"Except Jharkhand, the north east, Bihar and Orissa, we are planing stores all over India in the next few months,"said Menon.