Bright Future

The Future Group plans 4,000 physical stores by 2021, demonstrating its determination to broaden its horizon. Meanwhile, Kishore Biyani is looking at more online acquisitions too By C. H. UNNIKRISHNAN.

- C.H.Unnikrishnan

KISHORE BIYANI has made some mistakes in the past and is candid about it too. As his favourite one-liner − “A manager always fears making a mistake and that is where he differs from an entrepreneur,” – suggests, each of those mistakes were great learning experiences for him, of which the best was learning what not to do.

Since inception in 1989, Biyani’s Future Group has undergone many changes, involving both large-scale expansion and pruning, acquisitions and divestments, diversification and streamlining, debt creation and reduction. But this time around, when the country’s retail and retail businesses are on the verge of convergence, the group’s moves are both steady and cautious.

The never-say-die retailer is focused on the most imminent change in the retail industry − large-scale consolidation, just when the world’s e-commerce giants are seriously exploring big bang entry into India. The retail industry is rumoured to be readying for the most strategic offline- online synergy.

Focused on the Future

The Future Group is now focused on the fast growing segments of food, fashion and home, in which it plans to grow and build up scale. The group’s first ever acquisition was in 2008, when it snapped up the rural retail chain, Aadhar. A series of acquisitions followed in 2014. Future Consumer Enterprise, the group’s sourcing-to-supermarket food retail arm, acquired the iconic southern supermarket chain Nilgiris, in November 2014.

Its operating company, Nilgiri Dairy Farm, which has now become a subsidiary of Future Consumer Enterprise, helped expand the Future Group’s footprint in the food and personal care business substantially in Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu, where it had lacked a broader presence.