The expansion plans of retail companies have taken a hit due to the rising real estate rentals.
Talking to media persons, K Dasaratharaman, president (specialty retail), Spencer Retail, the retail arm of the RPG group, maintained that the real estate prices are a critical aspect while choosing the location of new stores.”
Dasaratharaman said that while they were planning to open another 50 specialty stores by this fiscal end, the rentals would be a critical element, while choosing the new locations.
Dasaratharaman added, “We definitely want to add another 15 ‘Book and Beyond’ store and 40 Music world Store by this fiscal end but the location of the upcoming stores would be decided keeping the real estate prices in mind. We are in talks with the real estate developers for opening the new stores, but it would be too early to comment about the location of the next store”.
K Dasaratharaman was in Chandigarh to announce the opening of a new vertical of the Spencer retail “Book and Beyond”. This is the sixth outlet of ‘Books and Beyond’, specialty store by the RPG retail group.
Commenting on the new store opened at IT Park, Dasaratharaman said that the store would offer wide selection of reading options and entire gamut of art and stationary related merchandise for home and office use.
The store with a collection of around 35,000 books and magazines would be a part of the initiative to make brands accessible to all book lovers in the city.
The store, besides housing music store for entertainment seeker, would also store academic text book, exclusive Punjabi literature section books on religion and spirituality.