Specialty Store In Chennai Gains A Nation-Wide Following
Progressive Grocer|May 2018

Founded in 1999, Chennai-based Nuts ‘n’ Spices is a Specialty store that sells a large variety of products such as dry fruits, spices, herbs, health products, sugar-free products, imported chocolates and biscuits, imported dairy products, imported ice creams, frozen foods and many more gourmet products. The 33 Nuts ‘n’ Spices stores have an average store area of 1,200 sq. ft. with total retail area spanning 40,000 sq. ft. In the last fiscal, the chain grossed a turnover of Rs. 82 crore, which is impressive taking into account its Rs. 57 lakh revenue in the first year of operation.

Progressive Grocer traces the incredibly successful journey of Nuts ‘n’ Spices since its inception as a small Specialty store to attaining its current cult status as a destination food store for the health-conscious cosmopolitan crowd.

Sanjay Kumar
Specialty Store In Chennai Gains A Nation-Wide Following

Nuts ‘n’ Spices was founded in June 1999 with its first store measuring 600 sq.ft. opening in Nungambakkam, Chennai. With over three generations of experience in the food and grocery business, the retailer currently operates a chain of 33 outlets, all across different locations in Chennai barring one store in the neighboring city of Coimbatore. Its 34rd outlet will open in Pondicherry by the end of May.

Nuts ‘n’ Spices current owner Sunil Sanklecha had envisioned a store that had a lucrative business in the country considering the numerous change in trends in consumer behavior. Though he had thought of the idea of a specialty store during the early 1990s, his vision only came into reality by 1999. When the moment came, Sanklecha confidently branched into launching a specialty store as he chose to move away from his grandfather’s and father’s traditional grocery business model. “It is a more specialized category where we have 3,500-3,600 SKUs across products like dry fruits, spices, orthodox tea, imported chocolates and biscuits, health foods, etc,” says Sanklecha, adding that Nuts ‘n’ Spices own store label contributes about 45-50 per cent of the overall sales today. It has categories like dry fruits, spices and tea. These are our main categories where we do an average of 30-40 per cent sales. The rest are gourmet food and health products.”

This story is from the May 2018 edition of Progressive Grocer.

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This story is from the May 2018 edition of Progressive Grocer.

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