V-Mart plans to invest Rs 3 bn to double store count to 400 stores

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Value fashion and lifestyle products retailer V-Mart Retail plans to invest Rs 3 billion (Rs 300 crore) to double store count and treble its turnover to Rs 35 billion (Rs 3,500 crore) in the next five years.

V-Mart, which primarily operates in tier II, tier III and tier IV cities and follows a cluster-based model approach to expand, plans to add more than 200 stores in the next five years to create network of 400 outlets. It currently operates about 180 outlets in 14 states in India.

"We plan to invest (Rs 3 billion) Rs 300 crore to more than double our store count to 400 stores. We are aiming to treble our turnover to Rs 35 billion (Rs 3,500 crore)," its chairman and managing director Lalit Agarwal told PTI.

In 2017-18, the company had reported a revenue of over Rs 12 billion (Rs 1,200 crore).

V-Mart, which has very low debt on its books, will fund expansion through internal accruals, Agarwal said.

When asked if the company will continue to focus on smaller towns in India to expand, he said, "75 pet cent of our stores are located in just four states -- Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Bihar. Consumption levels are much higher in the markets we operate in. These markets are under-served. We will continue to go deeper and focus on tier II, III and IV towns as we expand".

When asked if the company is looking for acquisition opportunities, he said, "We are open..we have enough cash and we want to expand. But there is nothing on the table as of now".

V-Mart, which has a distribution centre located near Gurgaon to service all its stores, has also roped in a consultant to understand if the company requires another distribution centre as it expands its footprints across India.