Dabur India is reportedly planning to sell its wellness retail chain new-u, just two years after announcing its launch in March 2007.
The company has allotted Grant Thornton to get a buyer for its retail venture. Dabur has lost interest in the chain as the economic downturn has made the environment tough for the company to chase its retail plans.
The venture had a struggling existence marked by slow growth there are just 11 new-u stores and exits of CEO Peter Baker and merchandise head Graham Fraser a couple of months ago.
The report said that Dabur had announced in March 2007 that it would invest Rs1.4bn by 2010 to set up a chain of health and beauty stores, providing international quality environment and product range.
Dabur Company chairman V C Burman had then said it expected to set up 350 stores (ranging from 1,500 sq ft to 6,000 sq ft in size) in the first five years and take the tally to 1,000 by tenth year of operation.
Presently, the chain is without a CEO and is managed by two regional heads. A regional head based in Delhi takes care of stores in NCR, while his southern counterpart oversees operations in Hyderabad and Bangalore, the report added.
|
