Amudham Stores to be revamped, to sell fast-moving consumer goods

The outlets in Anna Nagar and Gopalapuram are being refurbished on a pilot project basis; all outlets to be revamped in a phased manner and office management to be improved

Facing a stiff competition from private departmental stores which had proliferated of late, the Food and Civil Supplies Department has decided to refurbish the Amudham Stores run by it in Gopalapuram and Anna Nagar and improve their office management.

“We are doing it as a pilot project. All the remaining shops will be refurbished in a phased manner,” said J. Radhakrishnan, Principal Secretary, Cooperation, Food, and Consumer Protection.

The self-service departmental stores, run by the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC), played an important role in market intervention by selling essential commodities at low prices. Though the wholesale stores run by various co-operative societies were doing well, Amudham Stores could not match their level of performance.

“While refurbishing, we are looking at introducing fast-moving consumer goods and plan to improve the office management of these stores. The idea is to make these shops consumer-friendly,” Mr. Radhakrishnan said.

The shops open at 9 a.m. and close by 12.30 p.m. They are then open from 3.30 p.m. to 8 pm. “Office management is not asking the existing employees to work for more hours, but employing more workers in shifts and outsourcing,” he said.

Estimated to cost ₹35 lakh, the project was expected to bring Amudham Stores on par with the private departmental stores.