The Essar group seems to have caught a fancy for off-beat retailing. After successfully launching The Mobile Store, the one-stop shop for all telecom needs, the group is going ahead with its retail chain for steel products. Starting earlier this year, Essar Steel has so far set up 80 Essar Steel Hypermarts spread across India.

In a bid to reach out to end users directly, Essar Steel has started this initiative to address the large and untapped potential in the retail market for steel products.

"The idea behind this venture was to get rid of the middlemen who reduce our margins," said a company official.

Currently, retail outlets source material directly from Essar's steel plant at Hazira. These products are certified with a quality guarantee.

Though the outlets are currently retailing flat steel products manufactured by Essar Steel, the company is working on plans to retail long products by other steel companies.

In a somewhat similar move, Tata Steel had earlier embarked upon steel retailing with Steel Junction in Kolkata, a shop for both domestic and industrial steel utilities, but has not extended it to a chain of stores so far.

The Essar Steel Hypermarts have already been rolled out in the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana.