V2 Retail Aims For 600–700 Stores In Next Five Years

V2 Retail Ltd. plans to open 100 new stores in FY26 and the upcoming four financial years, according to Whole-Time Director Akash Agarwal.

"The actual target initially for last year was around 50 new stores. But since we were getting such a good response in all the new locations, we increased the store opening guidance and we opened 74 stores," he said during a conversation with NDTV Profit on Monday.

"That is why we have increased the guidance for the next few years also and we are well on track to open 100 stores this year and for the next three to four years," Agarwal added.

The fashion retailer currently operates 189 stores. It aims to have between 600 and 700 outlets within five years.

V2 Retail wants to achieve a pre-IndAS Ebitda margin of 10% in three years. Pre-IndAS refers to the accounting practices before the implementation of India AS standards, which became mandatory from April 1, 2026. He elaborated on the levers that will help the company achieve this goal.

"Leveraging additional stores by using the same head office cost and warehousing cost. So, your costs per square foot come down. The second lever is selling more at full price," he said.

"The third lever is the way we move from Rs 650 to Rs 1,000. So, the next target is to move up to Rs 1,200 per square foot per month. Leverage would help us move from a pre-IndAS Ebitda of 8% to 10% in the next two to three years," he said. 

V2 Retail is cautiously entering the e-commerce space with an omnichannel model. It is leveraging store inventory for local deliveries to minimise logistics and return costs. "We do not want to burn money in acquiring new customers," Agarwal underlined.

He said that even at a mature stage, online sales will likely constitute a modest 5% to 10% of total business. The launch has been delayed as the company seeks a "100% robust and automated" technology partner.

While rural demand has faced pressure over the past two years, Agarwal remains optimistic about a potential recovery in FY26.

"The last two years, there has been a rural demand pressure. And we've been able to show the kind of growth that we've been showing more than 30% SSSG (same-store sales growth) for two years running," he said.