Shoppers’ Stop lines up $350m retail spread

MUMBAI: Shoppers’ Stop Ltd intends to double the number of stores to 50 by the end of 2010 with an investment of $350 million.

The first phase of raising money for the purpose has begun with the company filing for a rights issue on March 28, 2008, for $120 million.

B S Nagesh, managing director, Shoppers’ Stop, said, “The total amount required for expansion is $350 million and a part of this will be raised through a rights issue. The rest will come through debt and internal accruals.”

Nagesh is currently in Barcelona, Spain attending the World Retail Congress where Shopper’s Stop was awarded The Emerging Market Retailer of the Year.

The entire Shoppers’ Stop group is on an expansion spree, including specialty formats such as Crossword, Mothercare, MAC, Arcelia, Home Stop and even café Brio. The group also has a stake in Hypercity, which is in the process of opening more hypermarkets post the success of the first in Malad, Mumbai.

Analysts Anirudha Dutta and Prakhar Sharma of CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets said in a report on February 12, 2008, that Shoppers’ retail space measures 1.5 million sq ft across 88 stores in 12 cities (not including Hypercity stores). “The group plans to operate 6 million sq ft by 2011,” they said.

s_tanvi@dnaindia.net