Cigarettes manufacturer Godfrey Phillips has decided to shut down its retail venture which operated under the name and style of 24Seven. The company cited various reasons, including a negative net worth of the division as one of the reasons for the closure of the 120+ retail network.
24Seven, which essentially operates grocery and convenience stores in the National Capital Region had a turnover of INR 403 cr for FY 23-24.
This was a mere 7% of the parent company’s turnover who manufactures iconic international brands of cigarettes such as Marlboro.
Grocery and convenience products retail has been among the toughest to operate in the Indian retail landscape. With wafer thin operating margins alongside heavy overheads, none of the chains in this space have been profitable.
In cities like Bangalore, Pune, New Delhi NCR, etc. the prevalance of Quick commerce operators such as Swiggy’s Instamart, Zepto, among a clutch of others has only increased the pains of neighbourhood grocery store chains.
On the other hand, large format stores of D’Mart in Western India, Reliance Bazaar across India and Spencers Hyper in Eastern India remain the favourite for households due to deep discounts on loss leader categories offered by these chains.
DMart revenues grew 18.6% during Q1 FY 24-25 to INR 14,069 Cr. The company’s net profit grew 17.5% to INR 774 Cr during the same period.
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