Kinderdance Expands In India

Kinderdance International Inc, a leader in developmental dance, gymnastics and fitness programs for young children, announces expansion under Kinderdance Area Developer, Kirthana Ramarapu. Kinderdance of India has signed franchise agreements with Manisha Ahuja and Sunitha Venkatesh of India. Both Manisha and Sunitha have successfully completed their training and are now certified to teach Kinderdance programs to young children in India. 

 Kinderdance is a nationally recognized dance, gymnastics and fitness program for children age's two to twelve. Their 132 Franchisees currently teach over 12,000 children weekly at over 800 various locations in 36 states and 8 countries. Kinderdance® places emphasis on building self-confidence and self-esteem in children through learning to share, lead, interact and respond to others' needs as well as their own. The programs incorporate the arts, movement, education, music, fitness and the fun of learning into a young child's life while helping in the worldwide fight against childhood obesity. The company offers the educational movement programs on site to child-care centers, recreational centers, churches, fitness centers, corporate child care, community centers, military bases, public and private schools and may other viable locations.

Fastrack On A Fast Trail Of Expansion

Launched in 1998, Fastrack became an independent urban youth brand in 2005. Titan’s young brand, Fastrack now plans to take its store count from current 150 to 175 by the end of FY 2014. Apart from watches and sunglasses, Fastrack extended its footprint into accessories in 2009 with an exciting range of bags, belts and wallets and has today successfully notched up the title of being one of the most loved youth fashion brand in the country.

Fastrack started franchising in 2009 and its USP is ​b​rand preference among the youth, high stock turns, low scale of initial investment, working capital, high profitability. As a corporate, Fastrack focuses on building itself and making great products available to its consumers. It believes that the operational aspects of retailing are best handled by business associates as their local knowledge and dynamism provide a great value add.  This strategy has delivered optimum results in the brand’s retail channel.

Fastrack made remarkable achievements and achieved many milestones during 2008-2013. The brand rolled out to more than 150 locations within four years of launching and developed a bold new retail identity that brings the brand alive. It also clocked Rs.100 Crore of annual sale in the third year of channel operations.​

Hyatt To Have 38 Franchisee-Run Hotels

Hyatt Hotels Corporation will sell 38 select service hotels as franchises to a company organised by Lone Star Funds for about $590 million.

The portfolio of 38 hotels consists of Hyatt Place and Hyatt House hotels totaling 4,950 rooms. As part of the sale, Hyatt will enter into franchise agreements with the purchaser- Lone Star Funds, with all hotels maintaining their existing Hyatt Place and Hyatt House branding.

The purchaser intends to spend approximately $50 million in additional capital expenditures across the Hyatt Portfolio over the next 24 months. Aimbridge Hospitality, LLC will manage the hotels for the purchaser. The transaction is expected to be completed in November 2014.

Commenting on the new development, Steve Haggerty, Global Head of capital strategy, franchising and select service for Hyatt, said “Hyatt utilised its strong balance sheet and industry expertise to launch the Hyatt Place and Hyatt House brands. We are now leveraging that brand equity to recycle capital while maintaining a long-term brand presence in multiple markets,”

“We believe the renovations planned for the portfolio will help maintain the brands’ reputation as the leading brands in their segments and we look forward to deepening our relationship with Lone Star and Aimbridge,” he added further.

It manages, franchises, owns and develops Hyatt branded hotels, resorts and residential and vacation ownership properties around the world. As of December 31, 2013, the company's worldwide portfolio consisted of 549 properties.

Metropolis Seeks Partners In Mumbai And Ahmedabad

Metropolis Healthcare Limited is looking at expanding its base in Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Metropolis , the pathology specialist, has 105 state-of-the-art laboratories, over 700 collection centres in Maharashtra. The brand has a presence in several foreign countries-the UAE, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, Mauritius and Ghana.

Ameera Shah, MD and CEO, Metropolis Healthcare Limited, says: “In addition to making profits, our focus remains on innovation and consistent improvement of our service standards. Moving ahead with the same spirit, we are expanding our presence through franchising. We are looking for enthusiastic individuals with a strong business acumen and interest in replicating the Metropolis business model successfully. We have devised a franchising program to provide complete training and support to all our franchisees in registering growth and higher profits.”

Metropolis is a pathology specialist delivering over 15 million tests a year, catering to more than 10,000 laboratories, hospitals, nursing homes and 2,00,000 consultants. With 33 years of experience in delivering accurate reports, Metropolis has earned the reputation of being India's only multinational chain of diagnostic centres with presence in many countries.

Brand’s quality policy and program is designed to achieve and maintain highest standards. Its commitment to quality is further reiterated by the number of national and international accreditations it has received. 

EuroKids Targets 165 Franchisees By 2014 End

EuroKids International Pvt. Ltd is looking at adding 165 franchisees by the end of this year. The brand presently has 25 company-owned and 880 franchise units. EuroKids started its operations in 1998 and took the franchise route in 2002. It is present in 315 cities.

On its expansion plans of next few years, Prajodh Rajan, CEO and Executive Director, EuroKids International Pvt Ltd, says, “Our plans are to add another 500 new EuroKids centres in the next few years and would like to take our successful concept to every town and city in the country. We have also made concrete plans to grow the business in SAARC and Middle Eastern countries. We already have pre-schools in Nepal & Bangladesh.”

“Going forward, we definitely see a marked shift of parents preference in choosing organised pre-schools rather than unorganised ones. We expect the organised pre-school share to increase from a current 8 per cent to 25 per cent in the next five years time. Pre-Schools till recently were largely a metro/tier-I phenomenon, but of late there has been an increased penetration of this concept in tier-II and III towns,” he shares further.

The brand believes that it can be successful if its franchisees are successful first. EuroKids feels a good franchisor provides extensive support and a robust training mechanism to franchisees to make them successful. Thus, entrepreneurs can look forward to franchising as great options to fulfill their entrepreneurial aspirations with great success. 

US-Based Smoothie Factory To Open 90 Stores By 2019

Smoothie Factory, a US-based health and wellness cafe is planning to open 90 outlets by the end of 2019. Out of these 40-45 would be company owned and the rest would be franchisee run.  Around 50-60 of these will be bigger cafe formats spread between 1,200-1,500 square feet and the rest will be mini formats with an area of about 400 square feet. The company is looking forward to explore Northern and Eastern regions. It will open at places like Chandigarh, Jaipur and Kolkata.

Arjun Khera, Chief Brand Officer, Smoothie Factory India says, “We will start seeking able franchisees by October onwards. Each cafe format store will have an expected revenue of Rs. 15 lakh per month and the smaller ones would have around Rs. 9 lakh per month. We shall invest around Rs. 50 crore for setting up our company owned outlets in the next five years.”

Smoothie Factory started from Carrollton, Texas in 1996. Today it has a presence in 13 countries including USA, India, China, Vietnam, Qatar, UAE, and Saudi Arabia. The brand started its operations in India in September, 2013. Presently it has two operational outlets in India. The third one will be launched soon. All three are located in Delhi NCR. While the fourth and fifth outlet will be added by the end of March 2015. These shall also be in Delhi NCR region. All five are company operated.

Smoothie Factory offerings include real fruit smoothies, freshly squeezed juices, frozen yogurts, salads and waffles. The company is revamping its menu by launching shakes suiting Indian taste apart from serving tandoori options that allure the local people.

Spykar to expand denim footprint in India

Company plans to increase the present 206 Spykar stores across major cities and towns to over 400 stores

Spykar, a specialist in making fashion jeans is expanding its footprint by adding new stores, products and extending its denim franchise into the FMCG category.

It is planning to increase its exclusive stores from the current 206 Spykar stores across major cities and towns to over 400 stores over the next three years.

"Spykar is the only Indian player who is making fashion jeans. The range includes the five-pocket jeans, fashionable denims, cargos, fatigues, loozers, jackets, tees, shirts and inner wear. We are adding over 50 designs every month. We have just launched a range of matching jeans, T-shirts and jackets targeted at the young boys and girls, who primarily drive our brand. Every six month we bring out a new fashion in our range. The latest collection bears witness to our exquisite, elaborate and gallant styling for the rebellious and self indulgent youth of today", said Sanjay Vakharia, director at Spykar Lifestyles.

According to Vakharia, India's total denim jeans market is of Rs 6000 crore which is mostly dominated by foreign players. Spykar is particularly targeting youth who are of 15 to 25 years of age for its products.

The expansion of stores will be focused around tier III and IV cities. Each new franchise exclusive store in the 800-1,000 sq ft size would invest Rs 25-Rs 30 lakh to open a store with a minimum of 1,800 stock keeping units (SKUs).

The company recently launched its autumn and winter collection in Pune to expand its foot print across India to cash in on growing demand for its range of jeans.

Spykar is now planning to extend its denim franchise into the FMCG category with a slew of products like talc, hand wash, body gels and shampoos.

It is already selling with deodorants and perfume and it is now increasing its FMCG distribution with a 'lifestyle' positioning. Spykar has already licensed its FMCG business to a third party (Staark Accessories) with 150 distributors.

Spykar also sells a range of eyewear, bags, belts, wallets and socks. Spykar is now planning to foray into FMCG category by launching products like hand wash, body gels and shampoos. It is now increasing its FMCG distribution with a 'lifestyle' positioning.

With the annual turnover of Rs 183 crore, the company is growing at CAGR of 18-20% last the 10 years.

Recently, Metmin Investments, a HNI fund owned by Apurva Bagri, has increased its stake from 32 to 60% for an estimated Rs 300 crore by buying out the stake of private equity player Avigo Capital Partners who sold its 28% stake to Metmin Investments who now promotes Spykar Lifestyles.

Stellar Global To Open 15 Franchise Units

With an aim to tap pan India expansion, furniture brand Stellar Global is planning to open 15 franchise units by the next year in different cities of India. The company plans to open its franchise units in cites including Jaipur, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Mangalore and Ahmedabad to name a few.

Stellar Global has got a strong customer base in India as well as in 70 countries of the world. At present, it has more than 22 company-owned stores, SIS and five exclusive franchises in India. Besides India, the brand has a wide network of dealers across the globe.

Commenting on their plans ahead, Mahesh Jain, Business Head, Stellar Global, said: “The company’s vision to expand their franchise units is to better serve the office furniture market as there is no organised player who has a national presence and is focusing on office furniture retail segment in India.  Keeping this in mind, we are thinking of coming up with different franchise stores across the nation that would develop more visibility and growth of the brand.”

The brand promises to provide the best franchise experience and satisfaction with this franchise model and looks forward to partner with franchisees that are willing to grow along with the brand.

US Burger Chain Carl’s Jr To Make India Debut

California-based burger chain Carl’s Jr will be opening 100 burger restaurants in India through its franchise partner CybizCorp.

The development came to light following announcement of CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc, (CKE), parent company of Carl’s Jr, signing up a development agreement with India’s Cybiz BrightStar Restaurants Private Limited, owned by CybizCorp.

The initial agreement is for opening 100 Carl’s Jr. premium burger restaurants and CKE believes there is potential for more than 1,000 restaurants in India over the period of time. “We have been preparing for an entry in India for more than three years, and after substantial due diligence we decided to sign CybizCorp as our franchise partner in the country,” stated Ned Lyerly, President of International at CKE Restaurants.

“We see tremendous potential in the Indian market, and CybizCorp’s proven track record in the franchise sector in both real estate and F&B gives us great confidence in the partnership and our future success in the country,” he adds.

On this, Sam Chopra, Group Chairman and Founder of CybizCorp, commented, “The time is right for a premium burger quick-service restaurant such as Carl’s Jr. to enter India, as we are witnessing a ‘Burger Revolution’ in our country, parallel phenomena that was witnessed in the Pizzas and Pasta category a decade back. The advent of multiple brands in the premium burger category in the recent past bears testimony to this trend. After successfully managing the Master Franchises of some of the most premium stand alone outlets in the country, representing an iconic brand like Carl’s Jr will be an exciting proposition.”

Dunkin' Donuts launches Bengaluru outlet; first in South India

Jubilant FoodWorks, master franchise for Dunkin' Donuts today said it has entered South India's market with its launch of an outlet in Bengaluru.

The company, in a statement said, Dunkin' Donuts outlet was launched in Bengaluru's Brigade Road.

Commenting on launch, Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd CEO Ajay Kaul said "After making an excellent connect with the young adult consumers in Delhi and Mumbai, we are excited to start our south journey with our Bengaluru launch."

"We plan to steadily expand through the year across North, West and South India. With the evolution of the young adult Indian consumer, we feel very confident that Dunkin' Donuts will resonate very strongly with its unique positioning in the Indian food service industry," he added.

With this launch, Dunkin' Donuts has 36 outlets in the country.

Franchise Market in India 2014, New Report Launched

Market Research Reports, Inc. has announced the addition of “Franchise Market in India 2014” research report to their offering.

Franchise Market in India 2014 report outlines how the entrepreneurial appetite has streamlined itself into the franchising concept in the country. Franchising is defined as a proposition wherein an entrepreneur replicates a brand’s business model by giving a fee and share of the revenue providing both safety of an established brand and independence of running a venture by oneself. Foreign companies have also realized the potential of franchising and consider it as the most viable option while making a foray into the Indian market. Even established businessmen are attaching more weightage to this proposition for their successors whenever they think of entrepreneurial ventures.

Franchise in India is growing at an impressive rate riding on the consumption boom wherein greater demand for products in India is getting translated into greater demand for franchises. An entrepreneur has the option to choose from over 4,000 franchising opportunities in India, which in addition to international franchises, is sowing the seeds of growth for domestic franchises as well. Though education leads in percentage proportion of share in the total franchising business in India yet, food and beverage, retail follow close in heels with health and wellness being another emerging sector. There is no specific rule or regulation governing the franchise sector, but it does have a presence of firms that channelize processes for such set-ups.

Sbarro To Open 40 Outlets Pan-India

Sbarro, an American-Italian pizza restaurant chain, is planning aggressive expansion in North and East India. The company plans to open upto 40 outlets in the next five years in Delhi NCR, Punjab, Rajasthan, Kolkata and Gujarat at key strategic locations like malls, metro locations, airports, universities and tech parks. 

Setting foot in North India, the brand that specialises in New York-style pizzas and other Italian-American cuisine, recently launched its first outlet at Huda City Centre Metro Station, Gurgaon. JIFPL - Jyoti International Foods Pvt. Ltd, a leading company in the food supply chain/cold chain sector, is the Master Franchisee of Sbarro for North and East India. JIFPL started its services in 2003 as a Subway franchisee and launched its distribution and logistics services in 2005. Their clientele includes Subway, Chili’s, Krispy Kreme, and Starbucks. 

The Sbarro brand continues to expand in India largely due to our guests’ demand for our high-quality pizzas and Italian food, but also mainly because of our greatfranchise partners. With the support of our partners, India has proven to provide a solid foundation for our brand and we look forward to many continued successes,” said J David Karam, CEO and Chairman, Board of Sbarro LLC.

Speaking on the occasion, Akhil Puri, CEO, JIFPL said, “We aim to build a connect with our customers by promoting the "My Life My Slice" concept and by providing them with fresh and high-quality food at an affordable price.”

Suresh Talreja, MD, JIFPL also commented, “Our endeavour is to bring a fresh perspective to the Italian QSR segment by introducing the pizza-by-slice concept. We hope that the brand will create a niche place for itself in the consumer mind space.” 

Thomas Cook India expands its Franchisee Network

Thomas Cook (India), India’s leading integrated travel and travel related financial services company, has launched two new retail stores at Malad and Kharghar on August 27, 2014 and September 3, 2014, respectively. The company’s footprint in the state of Maharashtra now extends across 35 locations, including metros, mini metros and TIER II & III markets, via a combination of owned branches and franchise ‘Gold Circle Partner’ outlets.

Mumbai and Maharashtra have been identified as priority markets in Thomas Cook India’s strategic expansion plan, and the two new stores at Malad and Kharghar are a step closer to providing easy accessibility to its consumers in Mumbai- with a current total of 24 retail touch points.

The two new retail outlets will offer travellers of Mumbai and Navi Mumbai access to Thomas Cook India’s premium service quality across its range of holiday products (domestic and international tickets & hotels, cruises, individual and group tours, its luxury vacations- Indulgence), visa services & insurance.

Thomas Cook is the largest integrated travel and travel related financial services company in the country offering a broad spectrum of services that include Foreign Exchange, Corporate Travel, MICE, Leisure Travel, Insurance, Visa & Passport services and E-Business.

Taiwanese firms keen to invest in India

Taiwanese business leaders said that the scope for investment in this country has increased with the new government adopting pro-business policies.

Keen to tap the huge Indian market, on Monday, Taiwanese business leaders said that the scope for investment in this country has increased with the new government adopting pro-business policies.

A business delegation from Taiwan, which has expertise in IT and electronic, is looking for business opportunities in India and use its geographical proximity to the markets of Africa, Middle East and South Asian markets.

"We see a chance for cooperation between Taiwan and India because of Modi's policy. Modi's government is more pro business and pro investment... It has adopted a very strong policy for the foreign companies to invest in India," Yen Shiang Shih, delegation leader told PTI.

According to Shih, who was earlier minister of economic affairs of Taiwan, the Taiwanese firms have invested around $10 billion in mainland China and now they are looking to diversify it to India, reported by PTI.

"Taiwanese companies mainly focused on mainland China, which also has a huge domestic market. We poured lot of resources on China and invested around $10 billion. But now the Taiwanese companies want to diversify, particularly in the South Asia region using India as a centre," he said on the sidelines of Taiwan India Joint Business Councils Meeting held here at Ficci.

Shih further added: "So I see our investment in India. We expect much faster investment and trade between India and Taiwan".

Taiwan has very strong IT industry such as semiconductors, IC and India imports them.

However, he also added that the Indian government should provide assistance to the Taiwanese firms as they are not familiar with India.

According to Chung Yu Wang, chairman of Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association, Taiwan which consists mainly small and medium business enterprises face some challenges to get in here.

"We are suggesting Indian government to have more open policy for small and medium enterprises. Indian government is attracting huge investments by big companies... But it would also need small and medium size enterprises to support them," Wang said.

Big companies would ultimately need vendors to support their product and that would be through small and medium size enterprises only.

VLCC To Shape Up Africa

Wellness and slimming services company, VLCCmakes its debut operations in Africa. VLCC has set up a company-owned centre in the capital, Nairobi. The brand is also planning to establish its presence in Uganda and Tanzania over the next two years. Following this, the brand will launch a range of personal care products in Kenya.

“We are hopeful that the unmatched standards in slimming, beauty and fitness services that will be offered by our Nairobi Centre, in keeping with the VLCC Group’s offerings across 16 countries where it operates, will not only benefit all those who are on the lookout for a solution to look good and feel great, but also shape the future of not just the Kenyan Wellness domain, but that of the whole of Africa,” says VLCC Founder and Vice Chairperson, Vandana Luthra. 

It has its operations at 300 locations across 16 countries. Besides, it retails its products across stores and salons across South Asia, the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Southeast Asia. VLCC is known for its scientific weight loss solutions and its therapeutic approach to beauty treatments.

The brand had formed a joint collaboration with the Nairobi-based Sameer Group last September. In the mid of the last year, the fitness brand took over Singapore-based personal care products manufacturer Global Vantage Innovative Group (GVIG) after it entered into a 70:30 joint venture with the Sameer Group. The Sameer Group has business interests across agriculture, energy and power, finance, and telecom.

Nike to open owned stores in India

US-based sports shoes and apparel supplier and manufacturer Nike has made a proposal to the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) under the commerce and industry ministry to set up fully-owned stores in India. Single-brand retail policy allows 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI).

Nike is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, is one of the world’s largest suppliers of athletic shoes and apparel in the world with a market capitalization of $68 billion.

The company has been present in India since 1996 and currently operates through a network of local distributors and retail partners. Nike’s entry into India was through a seven-year licence agreement with Sierra Industrial Enterprises, which was later done away with to become a 100 per cent-owned subsidiary of the US parent company.

“Nike welcomes the government’s decision on foreign direct investment in single-brand retail franchise in India. Nike currently operates its business here through local distributors and retail partners. This model works well for us and we may consider exploring opening Nike-owned stores in the future,” the company said in an email response to Business Standard.

Competing in the sports wear category with the likes of Puma and Reebok, which work through franchise and local supplier arrangement, Nike is first in the space to make a move to open 100 per cent-owned retail outlets.

Swiss watch maker Swatch had recently made an application to DIPP for setting up own stores. Swedish fashion retailer H&M and furniture retailer IKEA are in the process of setting up their flagship stores through 100 per cent FDI route.

Experts say the application by Nike is a sign of greater commitment of the brand to the Indian market. Fully-owned stores offer a lot more control over quality, consumer experience and give freedom to the brand to choose locations for stores. “It’s a sign that a brand is here to stay for long,” said Mohit Bahl, head of retail at KPMG in India.

Podar Jumbo Kids Seeks Franchisees Pan-India

Incepted in the year 2000, Podar Jumbo Kids of the Podar Education Group now seeks franchisees pan-India to join hands with. The brand took the franchise route in 2003 and has over 200 successful centres all over India. Podar Jumbo Kids has become a trendsetter in early childhood innovations, research, surveys and parent education.

Dr Pavan Podar, Chairman & Trustee, Podar Education Group says: “We aim at a long term committed relationship for over 15 years with our franchise partners. Thus our business development team does an in depth survey and study of the potential in the proposed area/location by the franchise enquiry and then only finalises the premise.”

Podar Jumbo Kids has ensured the success of their franchisees by focusing on two aspects, business and education. The core business of early childhood is education. Podar Jumbo Kids offers two kids of business opportunities to franchisees, Podar Jumbo Kids- kindergarten and Podar Jumbo Kids Plus- kindergarten with daycare. 20 per cent of their franchisees own more than two centres.

More than 80 per cent of the centres are running over full capacity and have expanded their business model. This has been possible with brand's constant support and training. A franchisee of Podar Jumbo Kids/Plus can build the capacity of its centre with multi-revenue models within the brand like toddler club, playschool, nursery, junior kindergarten, senior kindergarten, mother and me club, daycare, activity classes etc. The brand prefers opening its centres at Residential areas preferably with outdoor space for outdoor play, multiple washrooms and ground floor. 

Marshalls To Have 15 New Franchisees By 2014 End

Wall coverings specialist brand, Marshalls now plans to expand at a rapid speed. Owned by Marshalls Enterprise India Pvt. Ltd, the brand started franchising in 2007 and currently has nine company owned and 33 franchise led units.

Karan Sharma, Director, Marshalls Enterprise India Pvt. Ltd informs: “By Dec 2014, we look forward to have 15 new franchisees. Marshalls also envisions itself as Rs 300 crore brand with more than 300 showrooms in all metros and tier II and III cities in the next five years.”

Established in 1975, Marshalls has a rich experience and understands the product, customer and business inside out. The brand has customised software to track every inquiry, stock and sales and has built a strong goodwill over the years. The brand offers lucrative business opportunity in the interior décor segment.

Marshalls imports its collection exclusively from the world’s largest wall covering manufacturers. The brand boasts of more than 3000 designs and two lakh rolls. With a single price policy across the country, Marshalls offers an end to end solution to customers. Right from understanding the customer’s requirement to helping him/her select the right wall covering to wall measurements and estimation to execution with warranty; Marshalls helps and guides till the very end.

Starbucks to open new types of coffee shops

The company has already been adding more than 1,500 stores a year and it will also roll out some experimental retail designs as part of its effort to dominate the coffee market.

In December, Starbucks is expected to open l a store where only limited brands of coffee will be sold under the trademark Reserve. The company is planning to open 100 stores over the next five years and the flagship of the stores will be in its hometown of Seattle.

“It’s going to be this mix of roasting, manufacturing and retailing in one cafe,” said Starbucks spokeswoman Haley Drage. “It’s going to be massive: 15,000 square feet. It’s really going to be an immersive experience to our customers.”

She said the Reserve coffees come in limited batches, like a single 150-pound bag of Geisha brand coffee from Costa Rica. “Some of those coffees, you might only see once in a lifetime,” said Drage.

The manufacturing facility in Seattle will allow Starbucks to expand its four-year-old Reserve brand and the company will be then able to sell it in up to 1,500 of its stores.

As for the rest of the 100 stores that will only sell Reserve, Drage said they’ll be normal-sized retail locations and not a big place like the one in Seattle.

The company is also planning to open its first express store in New York next year. The store will be smaller than its usual retail space. The company is planning to expand this idea in order to draw customers who prefer the drive-thru style of retail interaction.

World’s First Reebok Fit Hub Studio In Mumbai

Strengthening its focus towards becoming the most desirable premium fitness brand in the country,Reebok launched it’s first-ever Reebok Fitness Studio in Mumbai. It is an innovative format situated within the Fit-Hub store. The first Reebok franchise ‘store and studio’ concept launched at Mumbai’s Linking Road has been conceptualised to meet the fitness needs of Indian consumers and will enable them to engage in exciting studio fitness activities such as Dance, Aerobics and Yoga. Reebok has a pan-India presence with 400 exclusive franchise stores and a 1000 member strong instructor alliance.

Commenting on the launch, Erick Haskell, Managing Director, Reebok India said, “It gives us immense pleasure to launch the world’s first-ever Reebok Fitness Studio in Mumbai, and empower our customers to embark on their fitness journey. It is all the more exciting that India is the first Reebok market to have developed and implemented this concept. We hope to receive a great response to this new addition, and aim to have ten such ‘store and studio’ formats spread across all parts of the country by the end of 2015, thereby truly spreading the message of fitness and encouraging people to be ‘Fit for Life’.”

Expressing his thoughts on the launch, Somdeb Basu, Brand Director, Reebok India said, “After the great response we have received for our Fit Hub concept stores across the country, we are extremely happy to announce the launch of our first ‘store and studio’ format in Mumbai. With the addition of the new Fitness Studio, these Fit Hub stores aim to truly serve as a one-stop fitness destination helping our customers, and help them achieve their fitness goals.”

Initiated in 2013 in India, Reebok’s innovative Fit Hub stores have become popular amongst the consumer and have seen tremendous success across important markets including Delhi, Mumbai Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Chennai amongst others, reaching a landmark of 100 stores in 50 cities.

RCOM To Expand Its Mobile Store Presence To Over 1000 Locations

Reliance Communications (RCOM) is one of India's foremost and truly integrated telecommunications service provider. It serves over 118 million active mobile subscribers on its seamless CDMA and GSM, IP enabled network across the country. To upgrade the service experience of its subscriber, RCOM is in the process of expanding its high tech and fully integrated customer touch points across 22 telecom circles it operates in. These Reliance Mobile stores are being upgraded as special experience zones for its wireless products and services, where a customer would be able to find solutions and remedy to any telecommunication related query by a well trained staff manning them. 

The new Reliance Mobile Stores (RMS) would have a mix of Company owned and Franchisee owned outlets, totally in sync with the expanding and evolving requirements of its customers. As RCOM is the only integrated telecom operator offering seamless pan India CDMA and GSM Mobile services to its customers, these new stores will benefit RCOM’s subscribers to have easy access to solutions & services on demand at a convenient location near them. These new Mobile stores are being upgraded as one stop shops to provide instant solutions under one roof to any subscriber who requires handset related remedy, including dongles & smart phones or needs to seek a remedy pertaining to mobile services being offered by RCOM.

The company plans to have over a 1000 such Hi-tech RMS by the end of current financial year, keeping majority of them under its own ownership to have a better control through the initial teething phase of this expansion.

Malaysian brand Marrybrown to expand food outlets in India

Sensing a growing demand for fried chicken, burgers in tier 2 and 3 cities Malaysian quick service restaurant chain Marrybrown will be expanding its foot print in southern India, said a top official.

Marrybrown will also be adding more dishes to its menu card mid-September, he said.

"We are seeing growth in smaller towns like Rajapalayam, Dindugul and other places in Tamil Nadu. We would like to leverage the first mover advantage by opening outlets in smaller towns in the southern states," Ajith, director, MGM Entertainments Pvt Ltd, the master franchisee for Marrybrown in India.

According to him, the chain is also open to have its outlets in hotels located in second or third tier towns.

"By the end of this fiscal we would like to increase our number of outlets to 75 from the current 48 (44 in Tamil Nadu, two each in Bangalore and Kochi). The expansion will be through a mix of owned and franchisee outlets. For every five franchisee outlets we will have an owned one," he added.

He said the investment needed in smaller towns is not high unlike what is needed to set up an outlet in major cities.

"People are aware of global brands in smaller towns. A major competitor brand is becoming generic in those markets," he added.

According to Ajith, the Marrybrown chain in India is not stuck to fried chicken and burgers but also offers flavoured rice and even biryani to cater to the local palate.

"We offer equal number of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes," Ajith said.

Speaking of the new launches, Ajith said the chain would added Muncheez (fried chicken with masala powder to the sprinkled separately), egg burger, corn cheese burger and corn cheese nuggets.

He said the masala powder comes from Marrybrown's headquarters in Malaysia.

"Most of the food innovations happen in Malaysian headquarters and we pick up what is suitable for our market," Ajith said.

However the Indian company's own launch was the Chicken Poppers, an idea derived from popcorn.

Lenskart opens a franchise store in Vizag

Online platform for fashionable and stylish sunglasses, contact lenses and eyewear, launched in 2010, Lenskart.com, recently opened a franchise store in Vizag. The retailer is expanding its footprints in the southern region. This is in continuance of their innovative click and mortar model that enables patrons to avail a personalised, one-to-one service and experience of the brand. Lenskart.com offers over 5,000 stylish frames and glasses and more than 45 kinds of high quality, scratch resistant and unbreakable branded contact lenses.

The store, equipped with iPads provide access to online portal as well assist customers to place an order instantly in case of non-availability of a product. These facilities are transforming the whole process of purchasing eyewear into a gen-next experience through a combination of online and offline retail.

The company has also kick-started an innovative initiative to reach out to the customers. It is sending out optometrists on bikes equipped with eye-testing equipment to consumers in their homes. The initiative started its first run in Delhi recently and will be launched in Bangalore and other cities during this fiscal.

The company plans to tie-up with over 100 optometrists in Delhi in the coming months to conduct 1,200 eye checkups a day. Experts point out that hybrid retail model also helps in brand building exercise since consumers tend to trust what they can see and feel.