 Mumbai: Noel Tata, a leading personality in Tata Group, India is planning to close the Hyper Books discount stores that sell books and music. This is a part of a restructuring of the Tata group’s book and music retail business.
Noel is also planning to shut some non-profitable Landmark lifestyle retail stores which sell books, music and movies. The decision is taken at a time when book and music retailing in India continues to be under pressure for both volumes and profits.
Hyper Books, launched in the middle of last year, runs two stores, one in Mumbai and the other in Bengaluru, each around 5,000 square feet in size.
A senior group official said, “We are suspending all expansion under the Hyper Books format so as to focus our energies on the Landmark store format.”
The official added, “We may also close some Landmark outlets in tier-II towns, which have not done well, such as Baroda and Lucknow.” The stores cover an area between 13,000 and 14,000 square feet of space.
However, Himanshu Chakrawarti Landmark’s chief operating officer denied any such move to shut Hyper Books. He said, “We are evaluating ways to continue and grow Hyper Books,” he told FC, unwilling to reveal more. Nor had any decision been taken on the Baroda and Lucknow stores.” The Hyper Books store in the Mumbai suburb of Andheri is in the same building as the group’s Star India Bazaar hypermarket.
According to industry experts, Ahmedabad’s Landmark (5,600 square feet) was also in danger of being closed. But its prospects have improved as its chief competitor, Crossword, has shut in that market. Hyper Books sells bestsellers at discounts ranging between 10 and 20 per cent across.
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