India’s Bharti Retail is taking a lesson from the proverbial hare and rolling out its retail stores at a rate of about one a month, according to The Economic Times.
The company has only established seven outlets so far in the six months since it began setting up its stores, compared to competitor Reliance’s 700 stores in two years.
Bharti’s retail stores will be supported on a backbone of the company’s joint venture with Wal-Mart – the Barti-Wal-Mart cash and carry wholesale outlets.
The Bharti-Wal-Mart endeavour is also taking a slow and steady approach, with no wholesale outlets established despite the JV being announced two years ago.
Some observers think the delays with Bharti-Wal-Mart are slowing Bharti’s retail rollout, but the company’s president Vinod Sawhny disagrees.
“We are not dependent on Bharti-Wal-Mart nor are they dependent on us,” he said. “We plan to have pan India presence, but are in no hurry to roll out stores everywhere.”
“Our aim is to understand the dynamics of retail and evolve the right model. We are not here to prove anything in a year or two, but looking at five to ten year period.”
Bharti stores get about 40 per cent of their stocks from a distribution centre established by Bharti-Wal-Mart.
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