Just to give a brief summary on how various stores stack up in the Trent’s Retail Business Model.
Westside: Lifestyle Store with a carpet area of around 20,000 sf. Consistent with the strategy, the Company has desisted from shrinking the format unless the location on offer was seen to be highly attractive and only as an exception.
LandMark: It is the “small-box” book retailing formats that get most impacted by the challenge posed by internet offerings. The “larger box” book retailers, offering a substantial number of titles in a store for browsing at leisure – Landmark and the proposition of a coupled coffee shop in many cases, tend to be far less impacted by the online retailing of books. In this context, it is relevant to note that Landmark operates only large format stores, mostly greater than 20,000 sf on an average per store.
Star Bazaar: It is seen desirable in near term to continue to focus on roll out of greater than 50,000 sf Star Bazaar stores, especially given the need to contain per square foot rentals. In order to capitalize on the growth opportunity in this space, the Company is exploring various alternatives including the possibility of tie-ups with other players in the hypermarket business, by way of franchise or other arrangements subject to prevailing regulations.