Spenser's Retail to pump in Rs 1,500 cr for expansion

By Shereen Bhan, CNBC-TV18

Spencer's Retail is talking to international brands to set up stores in India and is looking at pumping in Rs 1,500 crore for expansion.

After Pantaloon, Reliance Retail and Vishal Retail, it is now the turn of RPG’s Spencer's Retail to leverage its private labels not just to build brand loyalty but also maintain depleting margins. In a new brand positioning effort, the company on Friday launched its own labels in apparel and food, taking the total number of products under private labels to 450. Discount retailer Vishal Retail already gets 15% of its total turnover from own labels and for Pantaloon and Reliance Retail also the contribution is upwards of 20%.

While the company has 31 large format stores, it plans to take this number to 75 by March 2009, taking the total number of stores from 400 to 650. RPG is also in talks with several international brands for "multiple" tie-ups for both single standalone retail chains and in-house shops in Spencer’s. The combined group retail revenue during 2007-08 was over Rs 1,000 crore and the company aims to take it to Rs 1,800 crore in 2008-09.