Star Bazaar to increase store count to 200 in 3yrs, launches Tata Star Card

Company will focus on opening smaller format stores that offer convenience of being in neighborhood

Multi-format grocery retail chain Star Bazaar, a Tata-Tesco initiative, plans to expand its store count to over 65 stores by the end of this year, and 200 stores by 2020, a senior company executive said today.
 

"We plan to scale up to over 65 stores by the end of this year, and touch 200 stores in three years," Jamshed Daboo, managing director of Trent Hypermarket, that operates Star Bazaar, told reporters.
 

"We will open in one more city in the south, after Mumbai, Pune and Bengaluru this year," he added. Going forward, the company will focus on opening smaller format stores that offer the convenience of being in the neighborhood.

At present, there are 41 Star Bazaar outlets of which 10 are the large format of approximately 25,000 to 50,000 sq ft. The new stores will be Star Market, which is more a mid-size format at an average size of 7,500 sq ft, Daboo said.
 

Besides the entire range of grocery and some kitchen items, the new stores will feature live counters for meats and fish, he explained. Currently, a majority of Star Bazaar sales come from its Clubcard members. The retail chain has over a million customers, of which 800,000 are active, Daboo pointed out.
 

Star Bazaar today revamped its loyalty programme and collaborated with SBI Card and Tata Capital to offer more rewards on the shopping experience at its stores. Designed for the growing segment of consumers who buy grocery and departmental category items from organized retail stores, Tata Star Card will give consumers 3.5 per cent cash back at all Star Bazaar outlets and an additional Rs 500 bonus through Star Bazaar's loyalty programme.
 

The card is launched in Platinum and Titanium variants and offers accelerated rewards on dining and international spends as well.