Rakesh Biyani on mission to keep group's 'future' bright

It lost its flagship brand Pantaloon in a desperate attempt to reduce debt. But the Future Goup is now working to ensure this does not happen with its other retail brands, reports CNBC-TV18's Farah Bookwala.

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Rakesh Biyani has been saddled with a mammoth mission - keeping the group's retail's 'future' alive. Having lost flagship brand Pantaloons to Aditya Birla Nuvo to stave off a crushing debt of Rs 5,000 crore, Biyani has implemented a major restructuring and consolidation process across Future Group's retail divisions. And he's adamant that Big Bazaar will not leave the group's retail stable.
Rakesh Biyani, director, Future Group, "There are lot of revival plans that we have implemented to build Big Bazaar. The new stores are looking very good. The assortment strategy there is working very well. There's also been quite a lot of consolidation that has happened within the team structure."
This also means more stores. "We're at 165 stores today and plan to add 35 stores which in the next 12-14 months," says, Rakesh Biyani, director, Future Group.
The home-furnishing retail business -  Hometown, which has been hit by weak demand -is also set for an overhaul. Biyani says this will now operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Future Group. He also says that a slew of JVs to fuel growth and a new product portfolio.
"We are also trying to overcome the import issue and the depreciating rupee by working on getting a lot more production done locally in India," says Rakesh Biyani, director, Future Group.
 
Biyani is also cutting flab. He has shut down 11 electronics retail outlets under the E-zone brand, exiting Delhi and Chennai completely.
Also, the thrust on apparel is not over. More stores under the Big Bazaar banner will open doors this year. And Biyani hopes this will keep the cash registers ringing.