Croma debuts in Bangalore

Infiniti Retail Ltd, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Tata Sons, which operates the Croma brand of large format multi-brand consumer durables and electronic goods store, is debuting in Bangalore.

The company is expanding using this as a launch pad in South India even as its other stores have attained a 25 per cent conversion from footfalls.

According to Ajit Joshi, CEO and Managing Director, Infiniti Retail, "Presently, we are experiencing 2,000 to 3,000 footfalls in Mumbai and 6,000 to 8,000 in Gujarat during weekdays and 20 per cent higher footfalls during the weekends."

"When it comes to conversion from footfalls to sales it is around 25 per cent," he added and declined to disclose the sales turnover per store. The company presently operates 11 stores in the country of which six are in Mumbai, two each in Ahmedabad and Pune, one in Surat and a Croma Zip store at Mumbai's domestic airport.

Ajit Joshi, said Infiniti Retail is opening its first Croma store in Bangalore on Friday and expects it to be launch pad in south India. The company is opening its store at Eva Mall on Brigade Road spread across 20,000 square feet.

The store on Brigade Road will house 6,000 products 180 national and global brands in eight product categories like home entertainment, small appliances, white goods, computers and peripherals, communications, music, imaging and gaming software.

The company plans to open a store each in Koramangala and Marathalli Ring Road by 2008 and enter tier II cities like Mysore and Mangalore in the state by 2009.

As for the expansion, Ajit Joshi said Croma stores will open in Chennai, Hyderabad and Delhi by December.

Infiniti Retail has entered into a technical and sourcing agreement with Australian retail major Woolworths.

Explaining the relationship with Woolworths, Ajit Joshi said, "Infiniti Retail will own and run the retail operations in India, while Woolworths will provide the technical support and strategic sourcing facilities from its global network."