Spar Hypermarket to add 30% retail space in 12-18 months

Spar Hypermarket, operated by Dubai-based Landmark Group's Max Hypermarkets, is planning to increase 30 per cent retail space in India over the next 12-18 months.

Currently it has over one million square feet area under 18 stores across nine cities, the company's managing director Rajeev Krishnan said.

On Tuesday Spar announced the launch of the fourth store in Hyderabad spread over 65,000 square feet area at Nacharam. This was their first standalone store in the country, while all the other outlets are located in the shopping malls.

The retail chain has revenues of around Rs 1,000 crore last year. Targeting a double digit growth in the current year, Spar was planning to offer a wider range of products by adding new categories such as home furnishing, wooden handicrafts, kids play items, health and wellness products, according to Krishnan.

"Spar Hypermarkets also aims to enhance its private label business which contributes about 10 per cent of the overall business. The private label business has doubled during this year and we are going to increase more products in this space," he said.

Responding to a question on the impact of e-commerce on the brick and mortar stores, Krishnan said they have also started a pilot project to sell products online in Bengaluru. " We may extend this service to other cities in the next phase," he added.

Spar Hypermarkets has presence in more than 40 countries with over 12,000 stores. It is operating in India since 2007. The retail chain is serving more than 30 million customers a year. according to its chief.