Leisure store chain Odyssey has stepped up its expansion drive to reach a sales turnover of Rs 100 crore by the end of the financial year 2007-08 when it intends to be present in 32 locations across 11 cities, occupying floor space of 1.20 lakh sq ft. The wholly owned subsidiary of media group Deccan Chronicle Holdings that largely sells books, computer and multimedia games and toys, is also planning to extend its formats to express stores and outlets at the country's airports. T S Ashwin, managing director, Odyssey India, told media persons on Thursday that the company has signed up 13 locations in additions to its 19 existing stores. The new stores will be operational by March 2008, giving a sales turnover of Rs 100 crore by that time, he said. From just five stores in the first decade of operations, that is a high number of outlets which will offer the company a sound base from which to ramp up the operations, Ashwin said. Many locations that we sighned up in the last few months will be available in the next year, which will be even better in terms of sales, he added. Odyssey currently has five stores in Chennai, four in Hyderabad, two in Bangalore and one each in Coimbatore, Nagpur, Noida, Vashi (Navi Mumbai), Salem, Trichy and Varanasi. The proposed stores are in Pune, Mumbai, Nagpur and Kolkata, Ashwin explained. Along with the regular high street format stores, the company is planning to open smaller, 2500 sq ft, stores in an 'Express' format to cater to the needs of the customers located in suburbs of different cities, Ashwin said.Another opportunity, he said, is the booming air travel sector which has triggered the company's plans to open outlets at the country's airports. Odyssey is planning to open stores at the Bangalore airport as well as in the departure lounge of the Hyderabad international airport, he added. Ashwin informed that Odyssey is the first company to open stores in IT parks in the country. One such store is opened in RMZ Infinity IT park and the company is in talks with construction major DLF to open stores in all the IT parks constructed by DLF nationally. He said the company has prepared itself for offering facilities like online purchasing and other e-commerce formats as the ERP system is in place, awaiting front end integration. Odyssey will also offer loyalty schemes and home delivery options, he said.
