Reliance ends lease of 950 Future stores: Big Bazaar and Fashion Bazaar are included, their contribution to revenue is 55%

Kishor Biyani’s Future Retail said it has received a notice from Reliance Industries to close 950 stores. Of this, 342 are large-format and 493 are small-format.

835 Future Retail stores

Out of 950, 835 are Future Retail stores and 112 are Future Lifestyle stores. Reliance Retail, the retail company of Reliance Industries, had in August 2020 signed an agreement to buy the logistics and retail business of Future Group for Rs 24,713 crore. But this deal has not happened yet due to Amazon’s disputes.

Future Group said it is still in discussions with Reliance to maintain the earlier positions. Future has 1,700 outlets including the popular Big Bazaar. For some time its outlet has not paid the rent.

stock market information

Future Retail Limited (FRL), a listed company of Future Group, has said in a notice to the stock exchange that it has received notice of termination of lease of sub-lease properties from Mukesh Ambani’s company Reliance Group. Its large format stores include Big Bazaar and Fashion@Big Bazaar (FBB). Stores with smaller formats include Easy Day and Heritage Store.

Notice received for 342 large formats

FRL said in the exchange filing that so far notices have been received for the company’s 342 large format stores like Big Bazaar, @Big Bazaar (FBB) and 493 small format stores (like Easy Day and Heritage Store). The filing further stated that these stores have historically been contributing approximately 55% to 65% of the company’s retail revenue operations.

Stores not operating for stock

The company said that these stores are no longer operating for stock. Meanwhile, Future Lifestyle Fashions (FLF), another listed company of Future Group, also said in a filing that it has received termination notices in respect of 112 stores from Reliance.

Central includes 34 outlets

This includes 34 outlets in Central and 78 brand factory stores of the company. The company further said that all these retail revenues are contributing 55 to 65% of the operations. As of now, these stores are not operational to bring parity in stock and inventory. Both these filings also mentioned that the company is in discussions with Reliance Group to maintain the status quo and protect the interests of various shareholders.

Disputes will be settled outside the court Earlier, only last week, Amazon and Future Retail had agreed to settle out of court. The dispute pertains to the stake sold to Reliance in Future Retail. Last Thursday, the Supreme Court had given 12 days to both the parties.