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Tata group enters retailing through Star Bazaar
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Thursday, 21 August, 2008, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Esha Shukla, Mumbai.
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Trent, the retail arm of the Tata Group, has opened its second outlet at Andheri in Mumbai recently, the first being at Dahisar. Starting from its first Star Bazaar hypermarket in Bangalore in the year 2004, Trent has strategically forayed into Mumbai, setting new benchmarks and standards in the city's retail market.
Smeeta Neogi, marketing head of Star Bazaar Mumbai, talks about the growth prospects of organised retailing in India and Star Bazaar's expansion plans, in an e-mail interview with Esha Shukla from Food & Beverage News.
What was the idea behind launching Star Bazaar in Andheri?
Trent has aggressive expansion plans for Star Bazaar. We chose Andheri as our destination to set up our new store because the consumers in the neighbourhood are evolved, upwardly mobile and have a knack for quality products available at reasonable prices. We wanted to tap the growing consumer base in the suburban areas of Mumbai and Andheri is the perfect place for that.
Who are your target customers?
We are not looking at a specific class. We look forward to cater to the needs of all sections of the society. Be it upwardly mobile class or the discerning consumer, Star Bazaar is for all and promises to provide an unmatched array of high quality products at extremely low prices.
What is the USP of Star Bazaar? How is it different from other hypermarkets?
Star Bazaar offers over 2, 50, 000 products to choose from. Star Bazaar has the largest live bakery installed in its hypermarket in Mumbai, a deli section, an international foods section and non-veg section. The store has the widest aisles to make shopping easier and over 35 cash stills for speedy billing.
Several players have entered the food retail segment. Do you think there is enough potential for Star Bazaar?
The retail industry in India is growing at a very fast rate. We believe there is enough space for everyone.
Do you think hypermarket / supermarket business will survive in India?
Yes, definitely. The lifestyle is changing. Consumers want all their shopping to be done under one roof. People are demanding more and more consumer-friendly supermarkets in India.
Will the organised retailing pick up in the country considering the fact that we have small time grocery stores in every nook and corner of the country?
We believe both hypermarkets and kirana stores can co-exist in the country. The target customers for both differ and there is a huge consumer base in India to be tapped. In such a busy life where people don't have patience to shop at different shops for their needs, they prefer to go to a place where everything is available under one roof.
Secondly, people are becoming hygiene conscious and they want an assurance that what they eat is being carefully procured. And in such a scenario, a system such as ours is best suited to balance all these needs.
How many more Star Bazar outlets in Mumbai ? Any expansion plan in other cities?
We have planned a store in New Mumbai. We also plan to invest Rs 2,000 crore in setting up 50 Star Bazaar hypermarkets in India in the next five years. We will initially set up our hypermarkets in all major metros, including five in Mumbai, followed by one each in Delhi, Bengalooru, Chennai apart from tier II and III cities like, Pune, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Kochi, Nagpur, Nashik and Hyderabad. We are currently in talks with Akruti Nirman, the real estate development company, to set up all the retail formats including Westside and Star Bazaar at its upcoming malls.
What more can we see happening in the food sector of Star Bazaar?
We keep evaluating the consumers' changing needs and accordingly change and upgrade our offerings. It's a continuous process.
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