Reliance Retail targets Coimbatore, Madurai and Salem

Reliance opens 12 retail stores in Chennai, Now the company operates 40 outlets nationwide.

Reliance opened its retail campaign in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, launching 12 Reliance Fresh stores across Chennai. This is the company's first foray into a metro city; it has already opened stores in Hyderabad and Jaipur. With the 12 stores in Chennai, the total number of the company's outlets nationwide has gone up to 40.

The stores, which have an area of 1,200 to 3,500 square feet each, will carry a variety of food items, including fresh fruits and vegetables, staples, groceries, dairy products and processed foods. An innovative feature is a distinct enclosure for meat items with separate entrances and exits. "In fact, the processing and distribution of vegetarian and non-vegetarian items will be kept separate... throughout the supply chain," said Gunender Kapoor, president, agribusiness, Reliance Retail.

Reliance officials say 100 stores will be opened in Chennai by the year-end, with the next launch by February-end. Besides the Fresh format, supermarkets and hypermarkets will be launched across Tamil Nadu as part of the company's Rs 25,000-crore nationwide retail effort. Salem, Coimbatore and Madurai can be the next targets.
Reliance Retail is open to all modes of expansion, from buying and leasing land for construction to transforming kirana stores into franchisees to the acquisition of the existing retail chains. "Real estate is key [to expansion plans]. We can launch new stores as soon as we identify and develop the right sites," said V.V. Naga Prasad, Reliance Retail's chief executive for operations in Tamil Nadu.
The company has also launched its own label Reliance Select, initially for staples. It will cover other items later. Going by the prices at Reliance Fresh's Ashok Nagar outlet on the opening day, Reliance Select charges premium prices for rice and dals, at Rs 2-5 per kg more than the unbranded packaged variety on their shelves. On the other hand, onions, tomatoes and cauliflowers are being priced Rs 2-5 per kg less than the rates charged by a rival vegetable market across the road.
Shoppers can earn loyalty points through the "RelianceOne" programme and will ultimately be provided free home delivery of all items, including milk. A customer service desk functions in all outlets, which are owned by Reliance Retail, but operated by `franchisees'.
One thousand people have so far been employed in Tamil Nadu, of which 25 per cent have no retail experience, said B. Venkataramana, vice-president, human resources. In fact, the stores at Velachery and Anna Nagar are run by housewives-turned-managers. They have been given at least 80 hours of training. The company intends to set up retail institutes offering degrees in retail management.

Source: The Hindu

Info: Major Retailers like Subhiksha, FoodWorld (Spencer's Daily) are already have their presence in Coimbatore. Bigbazaar also opened it's first store in Coimbatore. Others like Trinethra Super Retail, Metro are also planning to open their shops at Coimbatore.

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