Easiest way to become a petrol pump owner

Essar Oil is looking at touching a nationwide retail count of 5,000 outlets in the next two years. It presently has 1550 operational outlets and another 1600+ are in various stages of implementation.

The company operates through Franchisees-Owned Franchisee-Operated model (FOFO) across the country. “Essar pioneered the concept of setting up retail outlets using the Franchisee-Owned Franchisee-Operated model whereby the franchisee leases his land to Essar for a period of 30 years and invests in setting up the infrastructure of the outlet. Essar on the other hand focuses on enhancing the franchisee’s business by supplying high quality petrol and diesel and adding other profitable business lines including a lease rental on the land and sales commission, non-fuel retail options, and performance based returns on our dealer’s investment made to construct the fuel station to keep our franchisee’s business viable at all times,” Madhur Taneja, CEO Retail, Essar Oil, said.

Apart from providing its franchisees with high quality petrol and diesel, it partners with them across every step, right from commissioning to smooth operations of the retail outlet. Essar Oil is a fully integrated oil and gas company of international scale with a strong presence across the hydrocarbon value chain from exploration and production to refining and oil retail, has a huge franchise network. It owns India’s second largest single site refinery at Vadinar, Gujarat, having a capacity of 20 MMTPA, or 405,000 barrels per day.

Swiss Military to launch 171 stores in India by 2016-end

Premium lifestyle products brand Swiss Military plans to open 171 stores in India by the end of next year, of which 11 will be company owned and 160 under the franchise model.

"We plan to open 171 stores across the country by 2016 end. Out of which 11 will be company owned stores while 160 would be franchise stores," Swiss Military Worldwide Managing Director Anuj Sawhney said.

The company-owned stores will be in locations such as Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Pune, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad, he added.

"The franchise stores will be in tier I and tier II cities across the country. Apart from these, we will also be adding over 4,000 multi-brand outlets during the period," Sawhney said.

The investment on the expansion would be around Rs 200 crore, he added.

When asked how the company plans to fund the expansion, Sawhney said: "As a company we are debt free and the expansion will be done through internal accruals, from our global resources and some of it will also come from the franchisees."

The franchise stores will be self-financed and for multi brand outlets also there is no investment done by the company, he added.

Saying that the company is also looking to add to number of its products in the country, Sawhney said: "In India, we currently sell 300 products under 5 product lines -- baggage, leather, electronics, pens and accessories and will be launching 60 products every month."

The brand entered in the Indian market 5 years ago with corporate gifting space in the first phase. 

Then it moved into in-flight sales partnering with Jet Airways, Indigo and Air India. 

The company's products will also be available on online portals such as Flipkart and Amazon.

The company entered into retail market in the country in April 2014 and is now present in 57 towns in 23 states across the country. 

Swiss Military products are available in 550 multi-brand outlets.

Globally, the brand has around 1,800 models of products in segments such as sun glasses, footwear, household appliances, leather wallets, electronics, cosmetics and electronics, and outdoors such as tents and sleeping bags, Sawhney said.

The company currently has 600 stores worldwide, out of which 11 are company owned full stores with most of them being in Switzerland, France and Germany.

utime Fitness Studios to foray in Indian market

Hong Kong-based franchise fitness chain utime Fitness Studios is all set to make its entry in Indian market via Master Franchise route. The brand is on the lookout for around 9 to 10 regional Master Franchisees in India, each with their own exclusive territories. Presently, utime has plans to start with the three pilot cities including Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore where each city would have its own regional Master Franchisee operator. Each operator would be setting up about 15 centres for utime Fitness over the first five years.

Cathal Kiely, CEO, utime Fitness Studios said, “Sales or customer acquisition would be a responsibility that would be handled by the respective Master Franchisees for their own exclusive territories. utime Fitness would be making their India franchise program a part of all their global marketing campaigns and would also be sharing with the India Master Franchisees the strategies that they have traditionally adopted in Hong Kong to boost sales. Design and implementation of these strategies would be the responsibility of the Indian Master Franchises.”

On franchisee requirement, Kiely further added, “Investment required to set up a franchise outlet is between $300 and $500k USD (based on HK market). Area required is 300 - 500 sq. mts., while RoI will be around 75%.

utime Fitness Studios is a franchise business that focuses on the customer first, providing members with the best equipment, guidance and value-added services to help them achieve results. Its studios remain open 24/7 with entry via personalised access fobs and they offer month-to-month membership with no contract.

Buffalo Wild Wings entering India with Mirchi Group

Buffalo Wild Wings®, Inc. will now reach the sports hungry fans in India with the successful signing of a 15-location exclusive development agreement with Mirchi Group for the entire South India region. The franchisee - Mirchi Group - has committed to open the first Indian Buffalo Wild Wings in Hyderabad and Bengaluru within the next 12 months. After the launch of the flagship location, the franchisee will open multiple BWW restaurants across South India within the next 7 years.  “We are very excited to be working with Mirchi Group and bringing the Buffalo Wild Wings experience to India. We look forward to becoming a part of this dynamic Indian community,” said Tim Murphy, Vice President of International for Buffalo Wild Wings.  Mr.Sam Reddy - CEO of Mirchi Group said that “we do strongly believe in the BWW mantra of Wings, Beer and Sports. The Buffalo Wild Wings franchise will be amazingly successful in India due to its spicy and bold flavor profile in comparison with other Western brands. Buffalo, New York – styled spicy chicken wings will perfectly match our Indian palate. 

Additionally, Indians are Cricket fanatics along with global awareness and rapidly increasing fan following of other international sports - Soccer, NBA, Tennis, Formula One, etc.  It was an elaborate and very stressful 10-11 month process to secure the exclusive Franchise Development Agreement with Buffalo Wild Wings. We are very excited and grateful for this opportunity to be their first franchisee partner in India.”  Mr.Kedar Selagamsetty - Partner of Mirchi Group says “we have done extensive research in India about the viability of Buffalo Wild Wings and are very confident of the brand success hence we have aggressively committed to opening 15 restaurant locations across South India. 

We are now looking to open 12,000+ SF locations of BWW in prime free-standing space of Hyderabad and Bengaluru.”  Buffalo Wild Wings is a very popular American restaurant chain known for its draft beer and exciting sports viewing atmosphere. Their namesake Buffalo, NY-style chicken wings are served with a choice of multiple signature sauces and seasonings, which pair nicely with their extensive array of draft and bottle beer options. Buffalo Wild Wings is the recipient of hundreds of "Best Wings" and "Best Sports Bar" awards from across the country. Founded in 1982 by two friends in Ohio, USA, Buffalo Wild Wings has grown into a global restaurant brand with over 1,100 locations in the United State, Canada, Mexico and the Philippines.  Aside from its winning combination of chicken wings hand-spun in signature sauces and seasonings, the restaurant also offers burgers, sandwiches, salads, wraps, and more. Its restaurant design provides the ultimate sports viewing experience, while bringing the look and feel of a stadium into the restaurant. Gaming will also be in an integral piece of the puzzle, as Buffalo Wild Wings aims to connect their guests in multiple ways while visiting the restaurant.

Burger King opens 20th outlet in India

American fast-food chain Burger King on Tuesday rolled out its 20th outlet in India with the opening of a restaurant in west Delhi's Rajouri Garden. 

The chain known for its Whopper burgers entered India in November last year through a franchisee agreement with private equity fund Everstone Capital and the company has so far opened outlets in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru and Chandigarh. 

"This is the ninth outlet in the NCR (National Capital Region) including the one in Gurgaon," said Jaspal Singh Sabharwal, partner with Everstone, which holds a 25-year master franchisee agreement with Burger King. 

In India, the chain is competing with McDonald's, Johnny Rockets, Dunkin Donuts and a number of other American burger chains. 

French menswear company Celio to increase local sourcing

French menswear company Celio International is planning to take the franchise route and increase local sourcing in the country.

With 41 stores and 130 shop-in-shops, Celio had entered the country six years ago through a joint venture with Future Lifestyle Fashion. Since then it has steadily increased its stake from 50 per cent earlier to 97 per cent.

Rajiv Nair, CEO, Celio Future Fashion, said: “We need a franchise model to penetrate smaller cities and high streets as there are plans to open 8-10 stores every year. As a company we become less capital-intensive with franchises who can make the business run profitably.’’

Celio is the largest selling menswear brand in France with a 18 per cent share. Almost two years ago, the owner of Celio International, Marc Grosman, had visited India to apply for higher FDI, which is allowed for single brand retail. Since then the French company has been steadily increasing stake and hence bringing in capital to build the business in India.

“There has been capital infusion from Celio International as we have increased our stake to 97 per cent while the balance of 3 per cent is still held by Future Lifestyle Fashion,’’ added Nair.

Celio is now gearing up for competition as international brands have been steadily entering the market with companies like Zara, Gas, Gap and now H&M making their way to India. “Today, we have 18 per cent growth among our like-to-like stores but have to wait for another year before we can make money in India,’’ said Nair.

E-commerce is also a channel being explored by the retail company as almost 9 per cent of sales currently come from this channel.

“We still cannot do e-commerce directly but once we get FDI complaint we may look at a payment gateway from our company site,’’ said Nair.

Also local sourcing is expected to increase from 60 to75 per cent as certain products cannot typically get made in India. Celio continues to outsource from places such as Tirupur, Bengaluru and Ludhiana.

As Nair adds, “While we have to follow the norms for local sourcing, there will continue to be imported items like jackets which are best made abroad.’’