Posted on: 23/05/2008 

Trent Ltd, Tata Groups retail company, is adopting the franchise route to enter into the Tier II and Tier III cities. The lifestyle retail major will open 80-90 Westside stores in the next five years, of which around 25 will be opened using the franchisee route. The company said that this scheme will also increase its annual income.

Trent Ltd, Tata Groups retail company, is adopting the franchise route to enter into the Tier II and Tier III cities.  The lifestyle retail major will open 80-90 Westside stores in the next five years, of which around 25 will be opened using the franchisee route.  The company said that this scheme will also increase its annual income.

Ms. Neeti Chopra, head of marketing at Trent Ltd, said: 'We have been operating a test franchise store in Mysore for more than a year now. It has proved successful and now we want to replicate this model elsewhere in the country. We would be targeting the young, upcoming families in these towns.'

The franchise-run stores will be half the size of the company-owned stores at around 10,000 sq ft and will entail an investment of around Rs 1.5-2 crore. The company will manage the human resources, IT, marketing and stocks for these franchises and Trent and franchise holders will agree a proportional divide of profits from the stores. 

For retailers who have been confronted with increasing costs, particularly in realty, the franchise mode is a cost-efficient method of extending their brand. In this model, rents and related costs will be suffered by the proprietor of the franchise.

Ms. Chopra said that the company is looking at partnering foreign companies for their retail forays in the Indian market: 'We are associated with Benetton for the Sisley brand of stores. Going forward, we will look at a couple of more similar partnerships. We are in talks with several players.'

Trent also owns the Star Bazaar Hypermarket and Landmark Stores. A fourth Star Bazaar is expected to open in Mumbai.