Spencer's largest hyper store opens in Kolkata

Kolkata: Sanjiv Goenka, vice chairman of the RPG Group has unveiled Spencer's largest hyper store in India, at Kolkata. 

The thirteenth Spencer's hypermarket in India, and the first in Kolkata, Spencer's now has 400 outlets across 60 cities, including 20 in Kolkata.  Over 4 million customers visit Spencer's stores every month.

Speaking to the media prior to launch at the South City Hall, Sanjiv Goenka said, "We are proud that the most modern Spencer's hyper store has been located in our home city, which is also the headquarters of Spencer's operations." 

Located as an anchor store at South City Mall, 375 Prince Anwar Shah Road, Kolkata, the Spencer's hyper store has a trading area of 72,000 sq ft, displaying over 70,000 items under one roof.

According to Goenka, "The new Spencer's hyper, our largest hyper store so far, rewrites all shopping rules with offerings that Kolkata citizens have so far not experienced."

International retail design specialists and brand consultants have given the Spencer's hyper store a truly international look. The new Spencer's slug line is "Taste the world", embodying the best that the world has to offer in terms of food, fashion, home and entertainment. A bright, new and vibrant signage, wall colours, murals, graphics and outstanding visual merchandising embody a new look and feel, aimed to give customers an unparalleled international shopping experience.

The overall store ambience and décor elements, lighting, fixtures and fittings are internationally sourced, and the 70,000 SKUs at the Spencer's Hyper comprise 35,000 items of daily use, 25,000 books, and an unparalleled collection of music and DVDs.

Spencer's hypers are city destination stores for monthly groceries, weekly fresh and top ups, fashion accessories, home care products, toys, stationery, electricals, electronics and garments. 

Additionally, there is also a bakery, a delicatessen, meat, poultry and fish, a café, wines and spirits, specialty and international foods, live kitchens and a whole gamut of gastronomic experiences.  The speciality hypermarkets are comfortable, clean, bright and functional.

According to a Spencer's spokesperson, "At South City, the Spencer's Hyper store offers a 72,000 sq ft trading area, where the customer has a choice of 3,500 food items, including imported, speciality, organic products etc.  For instance, there are nearly 40 items of imported cheese, a large choice of chocolates and Haagen Daaz ice-cream. Also available are apparel for adults and kids, sportswear, fashion accessories, luggage, furniture, mobiles, electronics, electricals, home linen, kitchenware, glass / dinnerware, meat/fish with chicken from outside Bengal, cold cuts, as also live fish tanks, wines, a Flury's bakery/ café, take away meals etc. There is a special corner for diet and sugar-free products, as also a large range of breakfast cereals and organic food.  The speciality food corner will offer all the ingredients required to prepare Chinese, Thai, Japanese, American, Italian, Gujarati, South Indian and Bengali dishes. At live kitchens, well-known hotel chefs will teach customers latest recipes from different parts of India and the world.''

Brief history of Spencer's retail
According to a release by the company, India's first modern format hypermarket was opened by Spencer's in Hyderabad in January 2001. 

Located over an area of 1,20,000 sq ft, the store has a trading area of 36,000 sq ft.  The Spencer's hypermarkets, located across the country, are open throughout the day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Spencer's employs over 9000 employees across 60 cities, with roughly a third of the team being women.

Spencer's commenced operations in India in 1863. 145 years later, the Spencer's name still evokes special memory of authentic quality at affordable prices.

Currently, RPG's Retail activity comprises Spencer's Retail, RPG Cellucom, Books & Beyond and MusicWorld.  Spencer's currently has a national consumer base of over 48 million people, who walk into the store every year.

Spencer's has four formats - Spencer's Express, Spencer's Daily, Spencer's Super and Spencer's Hyper.

Spencer's Express
Spencer's Express stores are neighbourhood stores, at an arm's length for the convenience of its customers. These 800-1200 sq ft stores have groceries, fresh food, chilled and frozen products, bakery items and weekly top up shopping in a clean, comfortable, friendly atmosphere.

Spencer's accent is on personalised service at the most competitive prices. The central theme of the store is "the store next door.''

Spencer's Daily
The Spencer's Daily store is the friendly neighbourhood store for groceries, fresh food and weekly top-up shopping.  About 4,000-7,000 sq ft in size with a comfortable, clean, bright and friendly atmosphere, these stores have personalised service, and eye catching promotions across products and services. 

Spencer's Super
The Spencer's Superstore are locality store that shoppers visit for their monthly groceries and weekly top up of fresh requirements. These stores are around 8,000-15,000 sq ft in size and have more items than the Spencer's Daily stores. These are also comfortable, clean, bright and friendly, with wide aisles, and more than five cash checkout lanes. They also have a deli, fresh meat, chicken and fish products, a bakery and a café.

Spencer's Hyper
The Spencer's Hypermarkets are large in size, usually in excess of 25,000 sq ft, in multiple localities. These are the city destination stores for monthly groceries, weekly fresh and top ups, fashion accessories, home care, toys, stationery, electricals, electronics and garments.

Additionally, they also have a bakery, a deli, meat, chicken, fish, a café, liquor counters, specialty and international foods, a live kitchen, books, music, a pharmacy and a whole gamut of gastronomic experiences. People come to these stores for great value, and the fantastic deals they get. These Hypermarkets are comfortable, clean, bright and functional, and the range one finds here is extremely wide - almost everything under the sun is available here.