Tata's Infiniti Retail puts acquisitions on the backburner for now

Bangalore: Tata Group''s retail arm Infiniti Retail is reported to be planning a fast paced ramp-up of its electronic retail chain store Croma by March 2008. The company has reportedly put local acquisitions on the backburner for now, opting to make a fresh start at each of its new locations, rather than inherit the pros as well as the cons of an existing player who could possibly be taken over. The first Croma store in Bangalore was launched on Wednesday, and the company is reported to be planning a chain of 30 stores by March 2008, going up to a 100 stores by 2010, located across malls, and stand alone stores. Croma currently has 6,000 stock keeping units (SKUs) or items, across eight product categories, covering over 180 national and global brands. The average size of a Croma flagship store is planned between 15,000-20,000 sq ft, which typically needs an outlay of around Rs1.5 crore covering the store and its ambience, plus another Rs2 crore odd in terms of inventory. Croma''s Mumbai stores, according to reports, have current footfall levels of around 2,500 visitors during weekdays, and 3,500 on weekends, with a conversion rate of around 25 per cent. Croma has also launched a small format store under the name ''Croma Zip'' in the Mumbai airport.