Loot plans 8 more stores

The Loot, a multi-brand retail chain owned by Mumbai-based Loot India Limited, has planned to roll out eight more stores in Orissa by March next year.

“We are looking to set up our stores in cities like Sambalpur, Berhampur, Rourkela, Jharsuguda, Anugul, Balasore and Jeypore as we believe that there is a huge potential for our products in these small cities. The second Loot store in Bhubaneswar, spread over an area of 1500-2000 sq ft will come up by December this year”, said Nitin Kedia, regional head (East and North-East) of Loot India Limited.

All the upcoming stores in the state will be set up on a franchisee model with a built-up area ranging from 1,000 to 2,000 sq ft.

The company is eyeing a sales figure of Rs 25 crore from its operations in the eastern and North-Eastern region and an overall business of Rs 100 crore throughout the country by the end of 2008-09, Kedia added.

He was talking to reporters at the inauguration of the maiden Loot Store in Bhubaneswar and the 52nd store in the country. Earlier, Loot had set up its first store in Orissa in Cuttack during last month. On a pan-India basis, Loot is aiming at a total of 100 stores by March next year out of which 35 stores will be established within the next two months.

These stores are planned to be set up in cities like Bangalore, Indore, Patna, Kutch, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Nagpur, Pune and Guwahati.

Loot which commenced operations in India in 2004 as a value retail chain has 52 stores in the country and has presence in as many as 49 cities.

Loot stores have four formats depending on their built-up area - small (below 2,000 sq ft), medium (2,000-4,000 sq ft), large (4,000-8,000 sq ft) and extra large (over 8,000 sq ft).