Reliance Retail unveils its 'Footprint'

Hyderabad: Having launched its ''Wellness'' format just a few weeks ago, Reliance Retail has come up with another ''new'' format, branded ''Footprint'' in Hyderabad and Bangalore ahead of Diwali, which will retail footwear.

Footprint is Reliance''s sixth retail format, after Fresh, Wellness, Trends, Digital, and Mart.

The store opens to the public from Thursday, 8 November, though it was open to employees of Reliance on the inaugural day.

Reportedly, the US-based retail design and architecture consultancy Pavlik has helped Reliance with its ''Footprint'' store, which will retail numerous top brands such as Reebok, Puma, Nike and Adidas, alongside Reliance''s private label offerings such as Mancini, Tosca, Viviana, Monza and Hi-Attitude.

According to sources, the next ''Footprint'' stores will come up in Bangalore, followed by Kochi, Ludhiana, New Delhi and Noida within the next few weeks. Reliance is reportedly planning a chain of around 100 such stores over the next five year period, with the basic aim to corner at least 10 to 12 per cent of a market that is reportedly estimated around Rs25,000 crore in size, and estimated to be growing at a compounded annualised growth rate (CAGR) of around 11 to 12 per cent. Reports suggest that the Indian footwear market is still under-penetrated with a number of segments available.

Each Footprint store will span 10,000 sq ft of retail space, with at least 20 per cent of the product mix being private label brands. Each metro city will reportedly see around 6 to 7 stores being set up.