Senior group officials told The Financial Express that Musicworld would be the first of the Spencer & Company retailing companies to make an entry. This will be followed by Foodworld and Health & Glow. This is because a great amount of effort will have to be put in to manage the supply chain for Foodworld which deals in perishable food items like groceries, fresh fruits and vegetables.

The company has already marked a substantial presence in south India-in Chennai and Bangalore. It recently set up shop in Pune in Maharashtra. The group has been skeptical about entering the Mumbai market due to lofty real estate rates in the metro. However, company officials said that Mumbai as a market cannot be ignored for long. The company will work out a viable cost option for the Mumbai foray.

Officials said that the idea was not to mark its presence by opening one or two retail stores. It was necessary to saturate the market to have a viable presence, officials said.

Over the last five years Mumbai has seen a spurt in retail chains with premium malls such as Crossroads and Shoppers' Stop cropping up on the back of the basic retailing concept revolving around music, food and entertainment. The industry is expected to see a further growth, albeit in a slow-moving process, point our industry observers.

Foodworld, a major leap for the RPG group towards becoming a global player in retailing, is expected to clock a turnover of Rs 250 crore in the current fiscal. Foodworld's total turnover during 1999-2000 was Rs 138 crore. The turnover of Musicworld stood at Rs 19 crore during the year.

The group is now planning to introduce a new format in retailing called "hyper market" in Hyderabad. This will encompass massive areas of land - about 50,000 sq ft, against the conventional 3,000-3,500 sq ft - in the outskirts of the city to attract consumers by offering products at wholesale prices. The company would be operating on very low margins in the case of "hyper market" which is expected to come up next year. The company plans to invest close to Rs 20 crore in this retail chain.

Spencer & Company registered a net profit of Rs 95.65 lakh for the quarter ended September 2000, against Rs 67.20 lakh in the corresponding quarter last year. The company's net sales at Rs 83.82 crore during the quarter was marginally higher than that of the corresponding quarter last year. The company's total number of retail stores increased to 73 across 12cities.