Aditya Birla Retail plans 500 outlets nation-wide by March

Mumbai: Aditya Birla Retail Limited plans to take the number of outlets across the country to 500 by March this year, its chief executive Sumant Sinha has said.

"From the current 350 we will be scaling up our supermarkets to 500 by March 2008", Sinha told a news conference in Bangalore.

The news conference was called to announce the rebranding of Fabmall grocery supermarkets to 'More', following the acquisition of the Trinethra Super Retail that includes retail brands Fabmall, Trinethra and FabCity by Aditya Birla retail in January 2007.

The integration would bring 68 Fabmall stores in Karnataka under the 'More' banner, and provide Aditya Birla Retail a strong presence in South India, with 275 stores across Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala where it is the leading food and grocery retailer.

Currently, Aditya Birla Retail has 60 stores in Bangalore, eight in Mysore and 10 in Mangalore.

All Fabmall stores will be re-branded to 'More' by January-end. The company is looking at 100 stores in Karnataka by the end of this year, he said.

The 'More' stores will offer a range of products, including fresh fruits, vegetables, personal care, homecare and grocery and dairy products, basic apparels and pharmacy.

The firm is looking at an investment of Rs8,000-10,000 crore in next three to five years over 1,500 supermarkets and 50-100 hypermarkets across the country, Sinha added.