Gokhale earlier served as the CEO of ‘X-cite’, a large format consumer durables and IT (CDIT) store chain, which was recently acquired by The MobileStore.

Gokhale would be responsible for running The MobileStore business and driving the group’s entry into retailing of CDIT products, The MobileStore said in a statement.

“It’s exciting times for the retail sector as consumer confidence scales up again. We have aggressive growth plans for our businesses and would bring in several innovations to differentiate ourselves and offer greater value to our customers,” Gokhale said.

In his earlier assignments, Gokhale has led Al Ghanim Industries as Managing Director (Retail). He takes on the reins from Rajiv Agarwal, who has moved within the Essar Group to a new assignment, the statement added.

The Mobile Store, promoted by the Essar Group, offers telecom products like mobile handsets and accessories, new connections and recharges, repairs, DTH connections and bill payments options. It has over 1,300 company-owned operated stores across 200 cities.

Xcite brand name will be changed to The Electronics Store and layout will resemble that to The Mobile Store. Formal announcement is scheduled to be at end of march.

Xcite has large format store like Croma and reliance digital. It has stores located in premium locations like in Delhi and NCR. This news has been confirmed by both however detail of acquisition yet has to be make public.

The Mobile store has 1300 retail outlet in India with presence almost every state.