Manhattan Pizza Hires Sparkleminds to Roll Out International Pizza Franchises In India

Bangalore, India (PressExposure) October 25, 2012 -- Manhattan Pizza ( http://www.manhattanpizza.com )a U.S.A based restaurant group, with expertise in making gourmet pizzas plans its strategy to enter the Indian market. Manhattan Pizza is well-known for its award winning New York Style preparation of Pizzas and their entry into the lucrative Indian market seems opportune as the Indian audience has now matured to the authentic taste of Pizza.

In July of 2009 and 2011 Manhattan Pizza was voted as the best pizza by readers of the Washingtonian Magazine. This is an honour bestowed to only the finest dining establishments in the Washington DC area.Along with serving delectable NY Pizza,Manhattan also offer Subs, Salads, Sandwiches, Calzones, Souvlaki, Gyros and Pastas making the menu both extensive and scrumptious. When one enters a Manhattan Pizzeria they experience a little bit of Italy, a wee bit of Greece and Americana in the comfort of their own neighbourhood.

The Azar brothersstarted operations in 1997 and with several years of prior restaurant experience developed Manhattan Pizza into a neighbourhood "fast casual" pizzeria that is second to none. Ever since its start Manhattan Pizza's loyal customer base has grown exponentially. Manhattan has been serving delectable New York style pizza by combining the freshest, highest quality ingredients with authentic original Italian and Greek recipes for over a decade. The décor of the outlets are New York themed with wooden floors and a cosy ambience and sounds which currently is lacking in the Indian market where all the chains have a similar look and feel.

Jack Azar, Founder & CEO of Manhattan Pizza is eager to step into the Indian market and is confident of great response, "We don't feel like a monotonous Pizza chain and eating a pie at Manhattan is an experience around which memories are made, we are not just another Pizza joint, we are your friendly neighbourhood pizzeria where the food is always fresh and hot and the serving staff are always warm and jovial."

P.K. Goriparthi, Executive Director & Head of International Expansion for Manhattan Pizza had the following to say after completing an exhaustive tour across India in August 2012. "The timing looks optimum and the market still remains an open ball park even with the head start a few chains might have had. Wereceived very nice response already and see a lot of scope to grow not only in the tier I cities but also in tier II cities. I am optimistic and excited to bring Manhattan Pizza to India."

Reliance Brands opens first Superdry store in India at Mumbai

Reliance Brands has opened the first Superdry store in India at Palladium mall, Lower Parel, Mumbai. Spread over 1,750 sq.ft., the outlet stocks T-shirts, jeans, sweaters, joggers, shirts, rugby shirts, polo shirts, bags, and accessories for both men and women.

SuperGroup and Reliance Brands entered a long-term franchise agreement this year in July to bring the British fashion brand Superdry to India. SuperGroup, which employs over 2,000 staff, owns the Superdry brand. 

The collection at the store targets young people between 15 and 30 years.

Superdry claims that it has been worn by celebrities from David Beckham and Ben Stiller to Ewan McGregor, Jamie Oliver, Shakira, Mariah Carey, Pixie Lott, and Helena Christensen.

The price range for menswear is from Rs 2,000 to 12,000 while womenswear ranges from Rs 1,500 to Rs 8,000.

Travel company Yatra expands offline presence in Tier-II cities

Travel firm Yatra is in the process of expanding its offline presence in Tier-II cities. It recently added three franchise outlets at Mangalore, Amritsar and Bhilai this week, taking the total tally to 29. Dhruv Shringi, CEO and Co-founder, Yatra.com, said “These cities are emerging as an important travel hub not only for leisure, but for business traffic as well. These markets lacked abundance of travel agents and outlets.” “Launching our franchise in these cities, we aim to fill this gap and cater to the fast growing needs of the market,” Shringi added, according to a report in The Hindu Business Line. Yatra Travel World stores offer a range of products and services that include domestic and international holiday packages, air ticketing, hotel reservations, travel insurance, cruises and rail products.

Belgian chocolate company Leonidas opens first franchise outlet in India

Leonidas, the leading chocolatier from Belgium, offering premium range of chocolates, has opened its first franchise outlet in India at Santacruz West in Mumbai on Tuesday.

The outlet has been set up following a tie-up between Premium Pralines Pvt. Ltd and Leonidas for importing and distribution of the chocolates pan-India. Currently, the company sells over 115 products through 1,600 outlets across the world.

Karl Van Den Bossche, consul general, Belgium, and Tom Vermeulen, trade commissioner, Flanders Investment & Trade, graced the opening ceremony of the store and expressed delight tasting the delicacies.

Stating that Brussels was the single biggest spot for selling chocolates in the world, Van Den Bossche, said, "The national
airport sold around 800 tonnes of chocolate a year and is the chocolate hub of the world. There is a lot of potential for Belgium companies in India but the biggest hurdle is regulations and excise, the Indian market is too rigid and needs to be liberalised.”

Belgian companies are mostly small- and medium-sized, with good quality products, but they take their time to enter a market, doing thorough research. In India, the biggest challenge is, you need to have a good product but no market distortion and distribution channels especially the cold chains for products like chocolates needs to be liberalised especially for multibrand retail and that shall boost business."

Darshit Shah, MD, Leonidas Fresh Belgian Chocolates Premium Pralines Pvt. Ltd, said, "The chocolate industry in India is both organised as well as fragmented and is growing at the rate of approximately 12% to 14%. Being positioned as Belgium chocolates, Leonidas will facilitate the consumers in Santacruz with wide range of chocolate hampers, kids hampers and much more. All our chocolates are made from 100% cocoa butter, both the shell and the filling. The company believes in providing luxurious products of the best quality to the Indian consumer and plans to venture out into different luxury avenues for expansion.”

Shah added, "We plan to open stores in tier-I and tier-II cities, beginning with the metros in India. We have two formats in place - kiosk and store. The kiosk would suit the tier-I and tier-II cities, since there are consumers out there and they frequent the mall more compared to high street locations. The the store format would need an investment of Rs 50-55 lakh and the kiosk model would cost around Rs 20-22 lakh." 

Anytime Fitness Announces Sub-franchisee Agreement for India

New Delhi-based House of Fitness Pvt. Ltd., the Master Franchisee of Anytime Fitness LLC, the world's largest "24 hour" co-ed chain of health clubs, has signed its first sub-franchisee agreement for India with Shri Krishna Wellness.

With the signing of the agreement, Anytime Fitness brand would open its first Gym at Model Town, New Delhi.

"This is the first step towards expanding our services in the Indian healthcare market and we are pleased to tie-up with Shri Krishna Wellness. Shri Krishna Wellness would get all the support from us which would include the brand support and years of our experience in this vertical," said Mr. John Kersh, Vice President of International Development, Anytime Fitness, USA.

According to statistics from the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association's 2012 Global Report on the State of the Health Club Industry, only 0.03% of the Indian population is a member of any health club. This figure is in sharp contrast to the United States, where over 17% of the total population are health club members, and to Europe, where more than 10% of the population are members in the majority of countries.

"There is an opportunity to provide the best of health care facility across Indian Cities, as we have been witnessing that people in India are becoming increasingly health conscious due to various reasons. We expect the number of such people to grow over a period of time. There is already a tremendous demand for the corporate wellness programs. Although,India is far behind the America, but nevertheless, we are moving on the right track," said Mr. Vikas Jain, CEO, House of Fitness Pvt. Ltd.

Anytime Fitness' concept provides a perfect solution for busy people looking for comfortable and convenient facilities. The convenience and affordability of Anytime Fitness for both men and women will keep benefiting the members and encourages them to strive for and meet their health and fitness goals.

Anytime Fitness India will provide exclusive rights to Shri Krishna Wellness for use of the brand's trademarks, systems and intellectual property under supervision during the term of the agreement, and will support the sub-franchisee via its corporate headquarters in the United States.

About Anytime Fitness:

Founded in 2002, Anytime Fitness is now the fastest-growing fitness club franchise in the world, with more than 2,000 clubs worldwide. Open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, Anytime Fitness prides itself on providing its members with convenient and affordable fitness options in friendly, well-maintained facilities that feature top-quality exercise equipment. Clubs are now open in all 50 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Poland, Qatar, Spain, Grand Cayman andJapan, and members everywhere have free reciprocal access to all clubs worldwide.

For more information, please visit http://anytimefitness.com.au/.

About House of Fitness:

House of Fitness (HoF) has been established by a group of professionals to provide the best possible fitness facilities across India. The HoF management has been associated with the fitness industry for the past several years in various capacities.   The management of HoF has been involved in setting up several gym facilities in India and has provided state-of the art fitness equipment to various gyms in the country.  Backed by vast experience, HoF is well-positioned to take the unique franchisee model of Anytime Fitness to a new level in India.

Fruit Day seeks franchise partners

A homegrown brand of edible arrangements, Fruit Day is planning pan India roll out via franchise route. The brand is currently running only one store in Bangalore and mulls to expand to all major cities preferring malls and business hubs for its location.

According to Roopa Sridhar, Founder, Fruit Day:  “We have a production facility and deliver the customer to their home and offices. Shortly, we are opening up a store in the central region of Bangalore while are in the process to franchise in other parts of the country”.

A total investment of Rs 8 lakh along with an area of 200 sq. ft is required by the franchise partners to open up a franchise outlet of the brand.

Abhinav Bindra enters Pizza business

Olympic gold medalist-ace shooter Abhinav Bindra has formed a joint venture company with Pizza Vito, an international chain of pizzas, to launch its brand in India. The new company Pizza Vito Holdings would soon launch its outlets in Gurgaon, New Delhi, Mumbai, Ludhiana. The company said it would open 500 outlets over the next five years through the franchisee model. 

“This will be followed by a unique pizza wine to be introduced for the first time and to be imported from the customised vineyards of Sicily. The company has mega plans to introduce Pizza Vito to other Asian countries such as Kuwait, the UAE, Malaysia, Singapore,” it said a statement.

Angry Birds’ franchise hopes to fly high this festival season

Original licensed merchandise from Angry Birds, the mobile game of wingless birds owned by Rovio Entertainment, has crossed revenues of Rs 50 crore in India. Dream Theatre, Rovio’s licensed merchandising agency, is expecting sales to escalate this festival season with companies such as Bata associating with the franchise. 

“The about-to-strike Angry Birds phenomenon is an indicator of how the Indian retail market has warmed up to the concept of licensing, which is commonplace in the West. The popularity of Angry birds is phenomenal and the first of its kind for the Indian market where majority of licensed merchandising so far have hinged on TV exposure. This simple and fun game has captured the imagination of fans,” says Jiggy George, CEO and Founder, Dream Theatre. 

Roping in Indian companies such as Swadesh (for gifts and stationery) and Excel (plush toys), the Angry Birds franchise currently has 140 licensed products being sold at 600 odd retail points, across categories ranging from adult apparel, plush toys to stationery and gifts and novelties. 

“The advent of Android and iPhones having Angry Birds games has helped expand the reach of this franchise. Today, we have one third of our sales coming from Angry Birds products amongst all the character-based merchandise we have at our stores,” said Prasanna Nagarajan, category Manager for toys and gifting, Cross Word Book Store. 

This festival season will see another 350-odd products from the franchise across footwear and footwear accessories, kids apparel, fashion bags, and even furniture. 

Footwear majors such as Bata are also reaching out to the target audience through the licensing pact with the property. Rajeev Gopalakrishnan, group managing director, Bata India Ltd, said, “With this association, we look forward to further strengthen our relations with our younger audience. With a variety of products for pre-teens and teens, Angry Birds footwear with its styles and designs is expected to entice younger customers.” 

MyTVS, ABC form JV in Gujarat; to expand via franchising

In what is seen as the equivalent of bigger retail stores possibly ‘edging out’ the neighborhood kirana kiosks, MyTVS, leading multi-brand car service provider from the TVS Group, on announced to set up about 15 workshops across Gujarat by 2015 to provide one-stop solutions to car owners, post-warranty period. Across India, MyTVS plans to set up nearly 100 such workshops by 2014 whose expected revenues would be around Rs 500 crore per annum. The company is also looking for franchisees to expand its pan-India network. 

R Srivatchan, President, TVS Automobile Solutions Ltd, said here that these state-of-the-art workshops would provide a “retail experience” to car owners. “The after-market industry in this sector is worth Rs 24,000 crore, 50 per cent of which is in the organised sector,” he said. 

Srivatchan said that his company has tied up with the promoters of ABC Bearings Ltd, a BSE-listed company in a 70:30 joint venture to set up the first outlet in Vadodara in October. The JV aims to be the largest multi-brand car service network in Gujarat, providing integrated car service solutions. 

Earlier, MyTVS had tied up with the Rajgarhia Group in Kolkata for a similar business. The TVS Group would be expanding this network through such local joint ventures and franchisees, and soon enter the NCR region. 

Excluding the cost of land, a workshop would cost Rs two crore each, he said. The JV business would also be entering into annual maintenance contracts (AMCs) with car owners for up to Rs 3,000 per annum. 

MyTVS has a brand presence across India through its 24x7 emergency roadside assistance service business. It provides telematics-based vehicle tracking system and immobilizer, car diagnostics, insurance claims management services etc. It currently has 32 own outlets and another 40 franchisee outlets in the four southern states. 

The 101-year-old, Chennai-based TVS Group had a turnover of $ 6 billion with a workforce of 39,000 in the last fiscal. TVS Automobile Solutions Ltd (TASL), a subsidiary of TVS & Sons, the holding company, has been in the business of multi-brand car servicing and 24x7 emergency roadside assistance for the last nine years.