Mumbai, May 23: The Tata Group's retail chain, Westside, is eyeing a turnover of around Rs 30 crore from its franchisee stores across 37 Tier-II and III cities over the next five-year period, a top company official said on Friday.

"The stores would be spread across 8,000-12,000 sq ft and set up at an initial investment of Rs 1.5-2 crore," Trent Ltd's Head, Marketing, Neeti Chopra, said.

Westside, operated by Trent, currently has 30 stores and by 2009-10, there would be 60 stores of which around 10 would be franchisees, she said.

Over the five years, it would have around 80-90 stores of which around 25-30 would be franchisees, she added.

Westside has identified cities on the basis of investment potential of the business community, consumption trends and spending potential of the consumers.

Among the short-listed cities are Allahabad, Patna, Guwahati, Dehra Dun, Madurai, Kolhapur, Jammu, Bareilly, Aligarh, Cochin, Pondicherry, Trivandrum and Salem.

Westside has invited proposals from interested parties for these destinations, Chopra said. "Due to high real estate prices and also because we would be entering new markets, we thought the franchisee route was more viable."

Describing inflation "as a cause of concern for all retailers", Chopra said rising prices, a high rate of interest for credit and a declining stockmarket were beginning to affect the retail industry.

On margins, she said "last year was a tough year and revenue growth was in single-digit for the company. Since too many players came in and a lot of discounts were offered, margins of retailers got further reduced."