V-Mart Retail to open 40 stores in FY21, invest Rs 70 cr

Value fashion and lifestyle products retailer V-Mart Retail plans to invest up to Rs 70 crore to open around 40 stores in 2020-21, a top company official said.

The company already has 260 stores in almost 195 locations across the country, largely in tier-2 and 3 cities.

"Even as we are talking about the economy witnessing a slowdown in consumption, it is a temporary phase. Rather, this is the best time for organised retail players to be present in this market," V-Mart Retail Chairman and MD Lalit Agarwal told PTI on the sidelines of Retail Leadership Summit 2020 here.

He said the company will invest in expanding its network and will add around 40 stores to take the count to 300 outlets in next fiscal.

"We will be investing Rs 60-70 crore for this expansion. We will use the funds for enhancing our back-end support as well as for revamping some of the existing stores to meet the changing needs of the consumers," Agarwal added.

About growth expectation for the current fiscal, he said the company is hoping to close the year with around 20 per cent growth in topline.

"Our strategy to expand in the under served tier-2 and 3 markets has helped us in our growth. Also, since 70 per cent of our offerings are private labels, (it) has contributed in margin improvement, despite the slowdown," he added.

In 2018-19, V-Mart posted a revenue of Rs 1,433.75 crore.

A report by KPMG, released during the summit, said private labels have the potential to develop into self sustaining brands with a loyal consumer base and grow beyond the captive platform.

"Between 2019-22, private labels are expected to grow 1.3-1.6 times faster than e-commerce platforms and continue to generate 1.8-2 times higher margins than external brands," the report said.