Hypercity to set up 68 stores in India Published by Newsroom August 10th, 2007 in City Scape and Newsbytes.

Mumbai based real estate developer K. Raheja plans to invest a

whopping Rs 1500 crore for development of 68 hypermarket stores

to come under the ambit of Hypercity. A part of investment will also

be used for setting up 250 convenient stores named Expresscity across the country in 5 years.

The group will bet on big retail ventures, thereby contributing to the success of retail revolution

which is sweeping through India, says Andrew Levermore, CEO, Hypercity Retail.

The group will also introduce a third retailing format in India with the main focus on serving hi-end

customers only. They would be first-of-their kind stores. Of these, the first would be developed over

an area of 10,000 sq ft inMumbai and is likely to be completed by May 2008. To be developed as a

gourmet store, it would feature the international standard packaged food, an interactive kitchen

with super speciality chefs. The store will have all dishes from spicy Italian to South Indian cuisine.

Staying a step ahead than other supermarkets, Hypercity will offer customers with the value added

services like consumer finance ATM facility, telecom services, pharmacy, bakery and restaurants in

so serving as one stop shop for everyone, where customers can shop in comfort in a large, modern,

and moving environment.

Hypercity is also considering broadening its horizons in tier-II and tier-III cities for rapid expansion.

Enjoying the advantages of sheer size and population, metros and tier- I cities are naturally the

prime choice of any retail player. Mr. Levermore envisages to serve as anchor for development in

tier II and tier III cities like Jaipur, Amritsar, Aurangabad and Lucknow etc.

With such a great size, Indian retail market can easily accommodate global retail players across

the country. The sector has something in store for everyone, adds the South African CEO of

Hypercity Retail (India) Ltd

After Hypercity, here comes Expresscity

August 20, 2007

Ashish K Tiwari

MUMBAI:  Having tasted success with its hypermarket foray with Hypercity in Mumbai, K Raheja

Corp is all set to launch another retail format under Hypercity Retail (India) Pvt Ltd.

The new format is modelled on convenience stores and the management is all set to launch three

such outlets starting from Jaipur this weekend.

Hypercity CEO Andrew Levermore said: “Another four Expresscity outlets will be launched within

this financial year taking the total to seven in Jaipur itself. We will also have a one Hypercity

operational in the city by then. A hub and spoke kind of a model we will follow this structure for our

roll-out in every city as it also optimises logistical support for our hypermarket and convenience

store format in these locations.”

Chalking out an ambitious roll-out for their Expresscity stores, the management is looking at 250

stores in five years. “Not restricting to any particular geography, we will follow this structure in

every market where real estate players are a little more realistic with the lease rentals,” Levermore

said.

The size of Expresscity stores will vary from 2,000 to 4,000 sq ft and will have a product mix that is

slightly different from what is available in supermarkets like Spinach, Foodland Fresh, Reliance

Fresh, Spencer’s etc. Expresscity has been positioned itself as the convenience neighbourhood

store, offering variety of fresh produce, grocery, meals-to-go, dairy products, bakery items among

others.

“Besides offering pre-sorted, graded, freshly cut and hygienically packed fresh produce, what we

are doing different in our stores is storing these products in a refrigerated equipment that keeps

the product fresh for a longer period. Another interesting aspect of our larger format stores is that

these will also cater to household needs and personal care requirements in addition to all of those

we just spoke of earlier,” Levermore said.

Levermore said the the math being worked out at the company’s end is that an average size of the

store has been taken as 4,000 sq ft with a lease rental of Rs 2,200 per sq ft and the targeted

number of stores as 250 outlets.

“The expansion will be financed through a mix of internal accruals, debt besides exploring other

means of funding,” Levermore added.

The company is targeting some 68 Hypercity destinations across the country in the next five years.

The management has already frozen real estate for 28-odd locations as of today. These

destinations will be spread across 120,000 to 165,000 sq feet area inviting per sq ft lease rental of

around Rs 1,500 per sq ft.