Walmart to expand in the city

Hyderabad: Walmart India, the world’s largest brick and mortar retailer’s local arm, is planning to expand its operations in Hyderabad by adding more stores, a top official of the company said. Our existing Best Price store in Hyderabad is doing well. So we are confident of putting up another three to four more in the city. As we speak, we have identified two sites in the city already. We are in the process of negotiating and are confident of closing something,” Walmart India president and CEO Krish Iyer told this newspaper recently.

Though the official refused to identify the locations, the company appears to be looking at the western and eastern parts of the city. Currently, Walmart India has a wholesale store at Shivrampally in the city. After selecting the site, it takes two years for the company to start the store. Each store is typically expected to do business of around Rs 150 crore per annum. Apart from Hyderabad, the supermarket major is looking at setting up 5 to 6 stores in other cities of Telangana such as Warangal, Nizamabad, Khammam and Ramagundam in the next five years. AP also appears in a major way on its radar. “We have plans to set up around 10 to 15 stores in AP.”

Already the company has three stores in the state. Apart from these, Mr Iyer said that “Vijayawada as it becomes the next capital can take one store. Vizag, which is expected to be one of the smart cities, has great potential. We are looking at Kurnool, Tirupati, Nellore, Chittoor, and Kakinada.”

Across the nation, Mr Iyer said Walmart plans to add 50 new stores to the existing 20. Of this, around 30 per cent will come up in two Telugu-speaking states. Explaining the reasons for his bullishness about these states, he said these states have an evolved and mature retail market, good talent, and good land parcels at decent prices.