Pantaloon's Depot aims to double turnover

Depot, the books, music, gifts and stationery retail business of Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd (a part of Future Group), has set a target to double its turnover by the present financial year.

Preeti Vyas, business head, Depot, said, "We aim to double turnover by the end of this fiscal." The company has a turnover of Rs 50 crore for fiscal 2006-07 in the first year of its first year of operation.

On Sunday, Vyas unveiled business plans in Gujarat at the inauguration of its new standalone Depot outlet at Ahmedabad. She also announced that two more outlets would be opened in Ahmedabad. The company have chosen Gujarat as the first state in the country to foray in to smaller cities like Anand, Bhavnagar, Vapi and Jamnagar.

Vyas adds, "Depot has been growing at an aggressive pace over the last few months. In less than a year, Depot has increased its retail presence from three stores to 57 stores. The company believes that there is significant untapped potential in tier -2 cities in the country.

Of the 57 stores, the company has eight standalone stores and will add another 10 standalone stores in next six months. However, by the end of this fiscal the company plans to have a total of 100 stores nation wide.

At Depot, customers can find an extensive range of books, music, and gifts galore. The store has books across various subjects, music CDs and cassettes spanning all genres, home video, and multimedia.

Presently, in Gujarat, Depot has three outlets in Ahmedabad, one at Rajkot, two each at Vadodara and Surat.