Biyani shuts unviable Big Bazaar stores

To improve profitability, the Kishore Biyani-led Future Group shut nine Big Bazaar stores last year and revamped some existing ones. It also shut five Food Bazaar supermarkets.

Future Group chief executive Kishore Biyani said as the group had opened 18-20 Big Bazaar stores in the last year, net store addition stood at 10. "We have got rid of unviable stores and rebooted existing ones to make those more relevant to customers," he said.

Big Bazaar stores were shut at Bangalore, Kharghar and Sangli in Maharashtra, Tinsukia in Assam and Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh.

The stores in Pune, Kolkata, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Indore and Ludhiana, among others, were relocated.

Big Bazaar is the largest and one of the oldest hypermarket chains in India. Starting operation in 2001, it popularised organised retail in the country. Currently, it has 166 stores. The number of Food Bazaar stores stands at 43.

Abneesh Roy, associate director (institutional equities, research), Edelweiss Securities, said, "If a store is not profitable even after great efforts, it is better to close it than allow it to be a drag on your profits."

Biyani said the group had revamped about 90 Big Bazaars, which now had a better look, increased cash counters, improved visual merchandising, etc. These stores were recording double-digit growth in same-store sales, he added. Same-store sales growth is the sales growth at stores in business for at least a year. "In the coming quarter, we expect same-store sales growth at high teens," Biyani said.

The Future Group isn't the only one to shut stores. Retailers such as Aditya Birla Retail, and Spencer's Retail shut a number of loss-making stores last year.

Aditya Birla Retail shut 50 of its loss-making supermarkets in Mumbai, Pune and Gujarat, while Spencer's closed nine supermarkets in Pune, along with some in Tamil Nadu.