Reliance Retail, Ahmedabad downsizes largest hypermart
No sooner had Big Bazaar downed shutters of two outlets in the city than the Reliance Retail Ltd has decided to downsize operations at India’s largest hypermart on SG Highway.
Reliance Mart, which opened over a 1.7 lakh sq ft area in Ahmedabad a little over a year ago, is now being reduced to around 1 lakh sq ft.
Sources said the company was also in the process of trimming its staff strength by cutting around 60 jobs out of the nearly 400 employees at the outlet.
The company is understood to be mulling either leasing out the remaining space on the ground and first floors to other retailers or bring some of its in-house brands or joint venture partners, sources added. Marks & Spencers is already understood to have finalised nearly 30,000 sq ft of space there.
However, when contacted, Reliance officials said this move was part of a rationalisation exercise and that the company was planning to open another 45-50,000 sq ft hypermart in Ahmedabad.
Raghu Pillai, president and chief executive (Operations and Strategy), said: “This is just a right-sizing operation. We are reducing the store size here based on requirement and opening another outlet at Ghatlodia belore Diwali. This will still remain India’s largest hypermart. We are not packing up and going home.”
Denying that there were moves to lay off staff, Parimal Nathwani, group president, corporate affairs, Reliance Industries Ltd, said that of the total staff strength of around 400 people, around 90 will be shifted to the new outlet at Ghatlodia , while some others would be accommodated at the inhouse brand outlets that would be opened there.
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