Shoppers Stop - ‘We have positioned ourselves as house of brands’

After a rough patch through most of 2009, Shoppers Stop did fairly well in the December 2009 quarter to post a net profit of Rs 13.6 crore on revenues of Rs 393 crore. However, the retailer, which now has close to 2 million sq feet of space across formats, reported a same-store growth of just 2% during the three months to December 2009. Govind Shrikhande, CEO, Shoppers Stop, admits there are challenges, but is convinced that sales should pick up as new stores are rolled out. Speaking to Shobhana Subramanian, Shrikhande explains that, going forward, the retailer’s strategy will be to increase penetration by rolling out more shops in cities where it already has a presence so as to capture a larger marketshare. Excerpts:
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