The 73-year-old Himalaya Drug Company is nursing lofty dreams. The healthcare company plans to expand and rebrand its 24-strong retail chain under the Himalaya Herbal Healthcare name in the next one year.

Himalaya refuses to reveal details about the expansion. But, basically, it plans to take the shop-in-shop route by setting up kiosks inside retail chain stores. This is to keep overhead costs low; the only investment will be on the salaries of the trained personnel in the kiosks. Himalaya claims to have received requests from leading retail chains and says it is in the process of tying up with a "big retail chain with a national presence". But it is yet to decide on whether it will go in for an exclusive tie-up or set up stores in different chains.

The company first set up retail outlets 2-3 years back under the Ayurvedic Concepts name. The learning from that experiment have been ingrained and it's ready for a fast rollout. The new stores will provide 'top-to-toe' solutions for the entire household and stock its full range of products: therapeutic, personal care, pure herbs, nutraceuticals and animal health. They will also stock its new product, like Menoson, for menopause. The stores will offer personalized service on health and personal care issues through trained personnel.

The idea is to capitalize on the nationwide awareness of herbal products. The first of the rebranded stores will open in Bangalore this week.