V2 Retail plans Rs 25 crore investments in expansion, to add 20 new stores

In a calibrated move towards a post-pandemic market, leading apparel chain V2Retail is zeroing in on high-street markets in tier 2 and tier 3 cities of UP, Odisha and Bihar for their further expansion. The company, which has its presence in over 100 cities across the country, is planning to open 20 more stores by shelling out of Rs. 25 crore investments to take the overall count to 120 over the next three quarters.

V2Retail, as per its growth strategy, is expanding into the smaller tier-II cities that have aspirations and an emerging consumption class. The deal sizes ranged from areas as low as 4000 square feet to 12000 square feet.

“We are excited as we are on the course to complete the milestone of reaching over 100 high fashionable stores this fiscal. Currently, we have 100 stores in over 100 cities. In these post-pandemic times, we have witnessed that the high-street markets have been doing very well. We are using our competitive advantage to come up with lucrative deals for expanding our footprint and gaining a larger market share,” says Akash Agarwal, Director, V2Retail Limited.

Various reports have stated that among the categories which closed high street leases, apparel had the largest share of deals with an over 23% followed by F&B with a 15% share, and jewellery with 12%.

Agarwal feels high streets offer a good opportunity with attractively low start-up time, lower cost of operations and less dependency on immediate adjacencies. High streets already have a considerable base of footfall traffic.

“India’s per capita income is increasing and people are more in the need of good quality products. It’s a huge market which has a bulk population with different needs and extensive purchasing power. So, Tier 2 and Tier 3 are very potential markets for us. The delivery is faster in those cities and there are no common area charges (CAM) involved, that’s also one of the primary reasons why we are going back to these clusters. The pandemic has shown us that our strategy was in the right direction,” he added.

While talking about the recovery of the business post lockdown, he says they are now witnessing visitors in stores and during the last festive season of Eid, all sections including the apparels and garments also recorded good sales.

“This is a good sign and the people continue to be price conscious and promotion conscious. People are checking the price and promotions before buying an item of their choice. People have also started to check the source of the origin of the products,” he adds.

The company recently opened its two new stores in Jhansi and Shillong.