India’s largest supermarket chain DMart is set to enter the national capital, a move that is set to enhance millionaire founder Radhakishan Damani to widen his brand’s footprint outside of western and southern Indian markets.
Its Mumbai-based-parent has set its house at Avenue Supermarts Ltd which took about 50,000 sq ft of space in east Delhi’s Karkadrooma Court area for its first outlet in the national capital, the report stated, citing a person familiar with the development.
Another person reiterates, “They are scouting for space for 4-5 stores in Delhi NCR.”
Neville Noronha, managing director of Avenue Supermarts, declined to comment.
Avenue Supermarts are known to operate at about 200 supermarket stores primarily in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
DMart operates stores in Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab.
A recent report by brokerage firm ICICI Securities said DMart has opened about seven outlets in the third quarter which has ended in December.
“More importantly, average size of 67,000 sq ft for new stores (versus 34,000 sq ft company average) augurs well for long-term revenue growth as well as margin expansion,” the ICICI Securities report said.
It needs to be mentioned here that, Shares of Avenue Supermarts have rallied 31% so far this year, adding about ₹36,000 crores in market capitalisation and making founder Damani the country’s second-richest person after Mukesh Ambani who owes a net worth of $17.8 billion.
