The Print Bazaar , an Aliagroup company, India’s most chic print retail company, today said it plans to raise 100+ crore investment through private equity within next few months. It is an organized multi-service, multi-product, multi-range “One-Stop-Shop” for all imaging and printing needs of the customer and is currently present in Delhi – NCR having five stores.
Commenting on their plans to raise investment and expansion, Sethunath P – CEO, The Print Bazaar said “We are primarily looking at raising capital in two phases for driving the expansion of The Print Bazaar and upgrading the infrastructure. The first phase will include raising a capital of Rs. 25 – 30 crores by March 2012, which will be utilized to develop a Hub in Delhi to cater to B2B, marquee clients and specialty items.
The second phase will include raising 75 – 80 crores to cover the North India footprint with 50 stores and Pilot stores in Mumbai and Bangalore. We plan to grow to 90 stores with Pan India presence spread across all five metros and 10 tier two cities generating approximately 140 crore revenue in the next 24 months.”
Chief Finance Officer, Ashok Jain shared, ““The investments that will be raised will not just be used to expand but we will also invest it in creating a presence in e-commerce and backend infrastructure, making it more robust by investing in training and development of people. We want to have our staff well trained and make sure there is a good system for their development. He further added, saying, “The Print Bazaar is open for anyone who believes in niche businesses and has the potential to take the concept to flying heights”.
Commenting on Strategic tie ups, Ashok Jain, says, “The Print Bazaar is also open to having a strategic tie-up with a Logistics company that can make The Print Bazaar easily accessible and benefit in return, or a large Retailer, as it is incremental revenue and an emerging aspirational segment for B2C. We are open to all businesses that can leverage our presence in print retail as well as consumer relationships. All players in the print industry including printer manufacturers could also be our partners based on their thinking and strategic direction.”
Commenting on the scope of growth of The Print Bazaar in the print retail industry Sethunath P, CEO – The Print Bazaar agreeably adds, “Printing cuts across regions and languages- it’s a national need, hence The Print Bazaar has the opportunity to have a pan India presence. It is a market maker – seeking to be an organized player in a very large unorganized sector of paper and print.
Chic printing retail store has a huge potential in India, with international players eyeing the un-explored Indian sector. We already have players like Fedex Kinkos with more than 1800 stores across Asia, Europe and North America with a revenue of over 2 billion dollars. There are other players like Sir Speedy and Desco also who are also present across other countries”.
Print bazaar is a friendly print store which makes print experience easy and economical encouraging customers to experience print. It provides pleasant experience in a professional environment – highly differentiated from the current unorganized ‘mom & pop’ stores who broadly do not cater to B2C segment. TPB is filling this unmet need, appealing to every citizen who perhaps believes that personalized printing is neither accessible nor affordable.
The Print Bazaar seeks to change this perception and add to economic value creation and also social empowerment E.g. Visiting cards for Auto Drivers or Pheriwalas and Birthday kits for SEC CDE families. “We see ourselves capturing major share of the B2C market with focused marketing and product innovations”, said Sethunath
The Print Bazaar has already created a category for printing and design services and has become an equitable brand within a short period of time in Delhi. They have a range of clients primarily from FMCG sector. Now, The Print Bazaar is looking at expanding its businesses to Advertising, Marketing, Packaging, Consumer Durables and Pharma clients.
The Indian Print Industry has a 12.6% CAGR and is expected to grow more than USD5.5bn from USD2.69bn by 2012. Although the world is going digital but in India everyone wants a touch and feel experience; all require a hard copy and that’s where the boom in retail print industry lies.
In addition to this The Print Bazaar plans to have ‘interactive’ stores which will not be dependent on ‘owner’. Thus, the experience at a Print Bazaar will be bright, welcoming and fulfilling.