Avenue Supermarts to double down on store expansion

Targets opening 50 stores in FY26, focus on the north

- VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO

AVENUE SUPERMARTS, THE country's second-largest organised retailer, will double down on store expansion with a focus on northern India to counter heightened competition from online and offline retailers. The Mumbai-headquartered company, which runs DMart supermarket chain, will add as many as 50 stores this financial year, CEO & MD Neville Noronha said on Wednesday.

"If there was anything I could have done better during my tenure, it would have been increasing the number of stores. We should have been at 600-650 stores by now," Noronha, who will step down from his position in January 2026, said in an investor call. The company ended FY25 with 415 stores. In comparison, Reliance Retail had 19,340 stores.

Noronha, however, played down the threat from quick commerce, and said the company would not get into 30-minute home deliveries. Instead, the company will focus on three-to-six-hour deliveries through DMart Ready, its online platform, as it seeks to give preference to value over convenience.