Avenue Supermarts that owns and operates national supermarkchain D-Mart has continued to acquire properties as part of its growth strategy as the company has now purchased around 50,000 sq ft commercial space spread across four floors of a residential tower in Mumbai‘s Kandivali suburb.
The company has picked up over 17 commercial units through the ground to the second floor of the tower for over Rs 88.74 crore to set up a hypermarket store. It has purchased these properties from the project developer Gauri Land Developers LLP and others.
The billionaire Radhakishan Damani-promoted company’s management recently told analysts that it is planning to maintain its run-rate of opening 40 stores in the current financial year too as store expansion remains a key focus area for the retailer.
Earlier this week, the company opened its new store at Morbi in Gujarat taking its total number of supermarket outlets to 333.
The company has paid stamp duty worth Rs 4.04 crore for the registration of the transaction that took place on August 24, showed documents accessed through Propstack. As part of the deal, the company will also get exclusive access to 44 car parking slots in the tower Gauri Excellency.
During the financial year 2022-23, the company added 1.9 million sq ft retail space across the country and its sales per sq ft stood at Rs 31,000.
“All Covid19 related issues are behind us. We are very bullish on the brick-and-mortar business, and we continue to focus in this area. We believe that there is a huge opportunity to do better and better in the brick-and-mortar business,” Neville Noronha, MD & CEO, Avenue Supermarts, told analysts in the company’s investor call in July.
ET’s email query to Damani and text message to Noronha remained unanswered until the time of going to press.
Interestingly, the company usually picks up real estate assets needed for its retail business expansion on an outright basis, unlike other retail chains that base their expansion strategy on a standard leasing model.
Avenue Supermarts opened its first store in Mumbai in 2002 in Powai suburb of Mumbai and currently has 333 operating stores with a retail business across Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, NCR, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, and Rajasthan.
The Mumbai-headquartered company owns brands D Mart, D Mart Minimax, D Mart Premia, D Homes, Dutch Harbour, etc.
Damani and his family have been in the news recently for acquisition of properties including a Rs 1,500-crore portfolio of luxury residential apartments in central Mumbai and a bungalow worth Rs 1,001 crore in south Mumbai.
