Tata owned star bazaar is planning to open 11 stores by the end of next fiscal (FY 11) taking the total number to 18. They are planning to hie about 4000 employees; each store will have around 300-400 employees. The major plan for expansion is in Central and Western India, after which they would extend it to eastern India.
Our View: Finally we are seeing some activity in the retail sector. The Spencer’s is also at advance level of talks with a PE firm to off load around 15-20% stocks. But the growth in any of these spaces need to be careful as in India it is still hard to achieve break-even store wise. Due to low consumption level and availability of cheaper, low cost substitutes for products.