Department store chain Shoppers Stop on Wednesday said that it was at the end of its store closure cycle that had been initiated over the last few months to improve profitability.
In an earnings’ call on Wednesday, which came a day after it reported a 41% rise in Q3FY25 net profit and 11% rise in revenue, MD & CEO Kavindra Mishra said the retailer was looking to add up to 15 stores in FY26. “In the first nine months of FY25, there were 7 department store closures and three stores that were renovated and resized. We are more or less at the end of this cycle and should look at healthy 12-15 store additions in FY26,” Mishra said.
Among the stores that were renovated included Shoppers Stop’s popular Malad store in Mumbai, which was resized to about 65,000-70,000 sq. ft from 110,000 sq. ft earlier, retail industry sources said. Mishra said that the firm had looked at metrics such as revenue and profit generation apart from footfalls to decide on stores to be shut. He did not specify which regions were part of the culling exercise. But store rationalisation for Shoppers Stop comes amid a “topsy-turvy” October-December 2024 period. Most retail experts have pointed to a slow retail market, something Mishra also alluded to on the earnings call.
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“The festive season was good up to Diwali, but November was slow and December has been mixed. There were some signs of improvement in December because of the wedding season,” Mishra said.
At the end of the December 2024 quarter, Shoppers Stop had a total of 284 stores including 109 department stores, 59 InTune value fashion stores, 11 HomeStop stores, 20 stores at airports and a total of 85 beauty stores. Mishra said that by the end of FY25, the retailer was aiming to have a total of 316 stores, with 6 department stores and 26 InTune new stores planned in Q4.
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