Retailers on expansion drive as sales return to pre-pandemic levels

Leading brick-and-mortar retail players such as Reliance NSE -0.35 % Retail, Tata-owned Trent NSE 0.52 %, Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail, and Shoppers Stop NSE -1.81 % plan to accelerate store expansion, launch newer formats and add newer categories as their sales reached or surpassed pre-Covid levels in the festive season.

All these companies shared rapid expansion plans for this fiscal and next in their earnings calls after the September quarter results. Others like Landmark Group, Nike, Puma, Levi’s, Skechers, Biba and Blue Stone too are looking to expand as footfalls touched 90-95% of pre-pandemic level last month along with all-time high conversion rate across chains, industry insiders said.