Agrani plans to open 60 more tech stores  ( April '2,2004, HBL)

AGRANI Convergence Ltd, which runs the `Agrani Switch' chain of telecom and entertainment retail stores, plans to increase the number of outlets.

The company currently has around 40 stores.The Chief Operating Officer of Agrani Convergence Ltd, Mr Arvind Narang, said: "We plan to take the total number of Agrani Switch stores to 100 during the new financial year. These will be a combination of company-owned and franchisee outlets."

The company claims that its stores are a single-point stop for all telecom, IT and entertainment needs. It sells products and services of different vendors and backs it up with service under one roof.

"We were the first to introduce the concept of a single shop catering to all communication needs. We feel that the model, which has worked in major markets across the world, has tremendous potential in the country," Mr Narang said.

The Essel Group company is the sole distributor for Bird, China's largest selling mobile phones, but Mr Narang says that the company's stores are vendor neutral and offer an equitable display to all their partners.

"We do not simply sell the phones and connections. We back it up with other value-added services such as insurance and extended warranty for two years as compared with one year warranty offered by most of the manufacturers," Mr Narang said.

Agrani has an arrangement with New India Assurance for providing insurance at a "reasonable cost" and has tied up with Warranty Asia, the leading after-sales service provider, to service handsets for its customers.