Hyderabad has once again became the launch pad for another retail foray - Reliance Wellness - of Reliance Retail, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries (RIL).Reliance Retail is planning a chain of 1,200 health and well-being product stores offering a whole range of health and lifestyle products to be set up in 51 cities over the next three years.The company's first Reliance Wellness store, spread over 2,500-sq ft, featuring 8,000 products including pharmaceutical drugs, was formally launched in the city today. The company's first major food and grocery retain chain, Reliance Fresh, was also launched in Hyderabad on a pilot basis before expanding to other states in the country."We are targeting the country's Rs 38,400 crore health and medical products market and the Rs 16,000 crore personal care and beauty care products market through this new retail venture," Ninu Khanna, president & CEO (FMCG & wellness division), Reliance Retail, said.The range of health and medical products offered at the stores covers all systems of medicine. There is an optical section also with free eye testing facilities and other personalcare products featuring both domestic and international brands. The stores will also feature a wing for books on health.According to Khanna, the company would independently evaluate each product and manufacturing facility, especially with regard to drugs and medical products, before allowing them to be sold at the stores. Products that come under the Drugs Control Act will comprise only a small portion of the total assortment at the stores.Although the company would generally offer products at MRP, except in cases of special discount offers, Reliance Wellness plans to attract and retain customers by providing services like health insurance, free medical compliance programme -- a reminder service, and catering to other requirements based on tracking purchase data by way of an electronic card, among others.While refusing to divulge investment plans for the proposed 1,200 stores, Khanna, however, said it was going to be a huge investment since the company was offering a world-class shopping ambience and world-class products under one roof. While the company proposes to open two more stores in Hyderabad by the end of this calendar year, its second store is planned to open in Bangalore soon.Reliance Wellness is the fifth retail format from RIL's stable - the other four being Reliance Digital, Reliance Mart, Reliance Trends and Reliance Fresh.
