Wadhawan Food Retail plans expansion

Bangalore: Mumbai-based food and grocery retailer Wadhawan Food Retail (WFRL) is planning to expand its footprint.

The company, which owns three food and grocery (F&G) retail chains including Spinach, Sabka Bazaar and Smart, and a home decor and lifestyle chain, The Home Store, has 200 stores across India at present. The plan is to take the number of stores up to 800 in the next couple of years, said Ashok Bhasin, managing director, WFRL.

WFRL operates about 100 Sabka Bazaar multiple F&G stores in Delhi NCR, 50 Spinach stores in Maharashtra and Kolkata, and 50 stores under the brand name Smart in Karnataka. The 50th Smart store was inaugurated here on Thursday.

Smart offers a range of products including vegetables, fruits, bakery items, processed food, diary, non-vegetarian products, home, personal care and household use items.

The other brand, The Home Store has presence in Delhi NCR, Jaipur and Bangalore with five stores selling home decor and lifestyle products.

All the stores are owned by the company and going forward, the company may also consider the franchisee model for expansion, said Bhasin.

The global recession has not really impacted the F&G sector as domestic consumption has remained stable despite slowdown in other sectors. Since realty prices are seeing downward correction, the company considers this as a good time for expanding, he added.

Smart F&G stores are located in Bangalore, Mysore, Hubli, Belgaum and Gokak. The company is also exploring opportunities in other southern states to open more Smart stores, said Bhaskar Rao, CEO, Smart Retail.