Reliance Retail scripts ambitious growth plans

Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Retail Ltd (RRL) today unveiled plans to put its expansion drive back on track.

Amidst signs of rising consumer spending, the retailer is looking to add 900 new stores over the next five years to its existing 1,000-odd outlets.

RRL also outlined a four-point strategy to drive growth. The focus will be on strengthening presence in multi-format and hypermarket models, taking leadership position in fresh foods and putting in place world-class infrastructure through distribution centres, fresh processing centres and retail academy and customer innovation centres.

In 2006, Reliance Industries Ltd, the parent company of RRL, talked about an investment of Rs 25,000 crore in the retail space and a presence in 1,500 cities and towns, but had to put its plans on hold due to the slowdown.

It shut over 50 loss-making stores and almost stalled expansion during the slowdown.

At the ‘Let’s Talk Growth’ meeting with around 700 key employees of the chain’s Mumbai and Pune operations today, Ambani is learnt to have vowed to make RRL “a world-class retailer”.

“I never give up. I want to make world-class retail chain and I am committed to this cause. I will support the venture throughout,” Ambani said at the meet.

“We have prepared a robust, sustainable and deliverable business plan that will help us achieve the ambitious growth and returns that we have set for our business. We have also built a very strong and experienced top leadership team to ensure we can implement the plans,” RRL CEO for value formats, Gwyn Sundhagul, said. Sundhagul also unveiled a five-year strategy for the employees, but its details could not be ascertained.

The chain would also sharpen its focus on sourcing and procurement from farm-gate and deploy new technologies at farmers’ end, a company executive added.

The chain, which employs around 22,000 persons, plans to hold similar meetings in Bangalore, Delhi and other cities to boost employees’ morale and unveil growth plans, according to an executive who attended today’s programme.

RRL had to rope in Sundhagul and four other key employees of Tesco Lotus from Thailand to revitalise operations after key staff, such as president and CEO Raghu Pillai and Gunender Kapur, CEO of fresh business, put in their papers.

RRL made a net loss of Rs 20.24 crore on total revenue of Rs 622 crore in the 2009 financial year. Reliance Industries is yet to publish the annual report for the 2010 financial year.