Myntra to take over Forever 21 via franchise model

Myntra, an online fashion store owned by flipkart is in advanced talks to manage the local retail chain of Forever 21, the US fashion brand targeted at teens and young adults, reported Economic Times.

The Indian company already sells Forever 21's products online in India under an exclusive tie-up. A deal to take over the 10 brick-and-mortar stores currently managed by a joint venture of Forever 21 and DLF Brands will mark Myntra's entry into offline retailing, a global trend among e-commerce firms. With such moves, e-commerce firms try to de-risk their business from online-only focus.

In 2011, Forever 21 entered India through a franchise route with Dubai-based Sharaf retail and the business failed to scale up for two years, prompting the Dubai company to close the lone store in New Delhi in early 2013.

While Zara's annual revenue was about Rs 720 crore in the fiscal year ended March 2015, at Forever 21, a person aware of the matter said, it was around Rs 250 crore.

However, Timmy Sarna, managing director of DLF Brands, said: "The Forever 21 business is totally in our control". Harminder Sahni, founder of retail consultancy firm Wazir Advisors, said DLF isn't too keen to invest in these businesses anymore and wants to focus only on Mothercare, the British brand with which it has a tie-up in India.

Forever 21 want to exit the joint venture and have a franchise operation in India. The talks are for Myntra to take over the chain, buying out both Forever 21 and DLF Brands. "Handshakes have happened with Myntra and currently the documentation is happening," said one of the people. Valuation details weren't available.

Myntra is exploring the possibilities of opening its branded offline stores as well. It is deliberating whether such outlets should sell products or function as a place where consumers can touch and feel the products. Myntra has been toying with the idea of having its own brick-and-mortar stores in the past as well, but it has now gained momentum, he said.

But Sahni of Wazir Advisors is unsure of its offline success. "It would be a tricky one for Myntra as they are trying to open exclusive stores for other brands while you have no experience of running stores, because running physical stores requires different skill sets," he said.

 

Salman’s Being Human to walk franchise route

Textile and apparels firm Mandhana Industries Ltd, which partners actor Salman Khan’s Being Human Foundation to manufacture and market the Rs 300 crore Being Human clothing brand, has plans for deeper penetration into domestic and international markets using the franchise route. It already has a licensing agreement with the foundation for a global presence.

Mandhana said it will add new products to its portfolio from April with the introduction of a boys wear line and a sportswear sub-brand called Being Active. Between 8-10 per cent of the Being Human sales revenue goes to the foundation. In the next three months, it will demerge its retail business and hive it off as Mandhana Retail Ventures to add more brands and scale up business.

“We have aggressive growth plans,” said Manish Mandhana, Managing Director, Mandhana Industries, in an interview with The Hindu . “We want to become a complete family clothing brand, and grow 40-50 per cent per year until 2020. We will be available at over 2,000 outlets in India and abroad, compared to 700 now.” International sales in 16 countries contribute 25 per cent of Being Human’s revenue.

“The concept of charity via retail sales is popular in advanced countries,” Mr Mandhana said. “When they buy our clothes, they know a part of it will help educate a child or meet someone’s medical expenses. This brings us more international customers.” This year Being Human will flag off a store in France, in addition to one in Mauritius and two in Nepal, where it already has one.

In 2012-13, Being Human was a Rs 60 crore revenue brand. By 2014-15, sales had risen to Rs 235 crore, and this year, it will clock in Rs 300 crore in retail earning.

The Being Active clothing line is aimed at the fitness market, currently dominated by Puma and Adidas. “Our first year sales target is Rs 50 crore,” Mr Mandhana said. “Salman Khan has a strong online presence with 40 lakh Facebook fans. Therefore, online sales are high. Over 10 per cent of the total revenue comes from online sales.” Incidentally, Mr Khan’s Twitter handle has 16.8 million followers, while his Instagram account has 3.5 million followers, and he promotes Being Human on both accounts.

American-Chinese food chain Panda Express to enter India

Fast-food chain Panda Express, which serves an American-Chinese cuisine, plans to make an India entry in partnership with JSM. Mumbai based-JSM had earlier brought international chains like Hard Rock Cafe and California Pizza Kitchen into the domestic market, and is learnt to have inked a master franchise agreement with Panda Restaurant Group, which runs Panda Express.

According to sources, JSM is likely to roll out the first few outlets of Panda Express over the next six months starting with major metros. It plans to open around 50 outlets for the brand over the next five years. When contacted by TOI, JSM co-founder Jay Singh confirmed the development without giving further details .

Started in 1983 in California, the family-owned Panda Express has built one of the largest Chinese restaurant businesses in the US with sales of over $2 billion as of 2014. Its closest competitors in the Asian-themed restaurants space include PF Chang's, Noodles & Co and Pei Wei, among others.

JSM, founded in 2004 by Singh and Sanjay Mahtani, runs eight brand properties with close to 30 outlets — Hard Rock Cafe, California Pizza Kitchen, Pinkberry, Shiro, Plus91, The Big Kanuha, Asilo and Ginger Tiger.

Backed by Wipro founder Azim Premji's investment fund PremjiInvest, JSM plans to start Panda Express through largely self-serviced outlets in India in order to keep operational costs low.

Poney to open its second store in Delhi

Poney, a Malaysia- based kid's wear brand is opening its second store in Delhi next week. The brand will launch its spring-summer collection 2016 at DLF Saket Mall.

Offering a range of 'supreme quality' apparel for infants and children up to 15 years of age, Poney also plans to introduce its high-end range called 'Enfants'.

"We see India as a potential market, because consumers here seek for quality and style. With an increase in the disposable income of the consumers; we are particularly eyeing at strata A and B segment of our target audience, as they seem to appreciate the quality and styling sensibilities of Poney," Albert Tan, Founder of Poney, Said.

The brand plans to come up with classic silhouette, playful paint and soft abstract prints with decorative floral embellishments, romance lace and woven spandex materials to capture the essence of the season. The collection's colour palette will mainly focus on tones such as Maui blue, lemon meringue, blue curacao, bridal rose, apricot buff and silver birch.

Carl’s Jr. opens its third outlet in Delhi NCR at Mall of India Noida

After the successful launch of its Saket and Pacific Mall outlets, Carl’s Jr., the American burger chain, has opened a bigger and better outlet at DLF Mall of India, Noida. The DLF Mall of India, Noida location marks the third Carl’s Jr. restaurant in the country, which is in sync with CKE and CybizCorp’s strategy to develop a minimum of 100 restaurants in India within the next 10 years. 

The brand has been brought to India by Cybiz BrightStar Restaurants , owned by Gurgaon based CybizCorp, through a master franchise agreement with CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc., parent company of Carl’s Jr.

 

Sana Chopra, Executive Director, Cybiz BrightStar Restaurants, said, “After opening two restaurants in Delhi, a space in the NCR was an obvious choice. We've found a natural ally and partner in DLF Mall of India, the new lifestyle destination in India. We are bringing a unique and distinct ambience along with attractive propositions such as our famous Chargrilled burgers and comfortable California  themed décor.” 

Following the launch in Noida, Carl’s Jr. will be opening additional restaurants in the Delhi/NCR region before moving to other territories with sub-franchisees.

Gwalior gets its first SUBWAY® restaurant

SUBWAY®, the world’s largest quick service restaurant chain,  opened its first restaurant in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. Known for its fresh and delectable sandwiches and salads, SUBWAY® is already present in the state’s key urban centres comprising Bhopal, Indore and Jabalpur. Globally, SUBWAY® has more than 44,000 restaurants in 111 countries.

Speaking on this occasion, Mr Abhishek Bahety, Development Agent, Madhya Pradesh, SUBWAY® India, said, ”SUBWAY’s franchise business model coupled with its globally appealing menu offerings make it an attractive investment opportunity for aspiring entrepreneurs. This is the ninth SUBWAY restaurant in Madhya Pradesh and we hope to expand this number by exploring opportunities in other centres/cities within the state.” 

The new SUBWAY® restaurant is conveniently located in Dindayal City Mall, a popular landmark in the city. SUBWAY® restaurants are completely owned by local franchisees who are entrepreneurs that love the opportunity to work hands-on. Training to franchisees is provided through SUBWAY®’s world headquarters in Milford, Connecticut, USA; five regional offices and various country offices across the globe. The franchisees are supported by dedicated locally-based Development Agents, and their staff.

“This development is in line with our plans to widen SUBWAY’s footprint in metro and non-metro locations including tier II and tier III cities,” said Mr Ranjit Talwar, Country Head, Subway Systems India Private Limited.

SUBWAY®’s menu offers customers a wide array of low-fat vegetarian and non-vegetarian submarine sandwiches (subs) and salads options to choose from. Paneer Tikka, Veggie Delite and Aloo Patty are some popular vegetarian-subs offered at SUBWAY®. In the non-vegetarian category, Roasted Chicken, Chicken Tikka and Chicken Tandoori subs are well-loved by customers. The brand also has popular everyday-value offers for customers like Sub Of The Day and has recently introduced a new snacking product – SubWrap, at an attractive entry level price-point. SUBWAY® has also opened fully-vegetarian restaurants in select Indian cities. 

SUBWAY® has a strong presence in all the major Indian metros. The sandwich chain which celebrated its 50th anniversary in August 2015, presently operates 551 restaurants in India spread across more than 70 cities.

Snap Fitness prepping for wider presence in India

US-headquartered health and fitness chain Snap Fitness, which entered the Indian market in 2008 with a centre in Bengaluru, is looking to expand its India footprint to 300 centres in three years.

Snap Fitness, which claims to be among the first to offer 24/7 access to members, along with nutrition and diet counselling, currently operates 60 fitness centres across 11 cities nationwide. It has centres in three formats — 3,000 sq ft, 4,000 sq ft and 5,000 sq ft, and has a user base of 60,000 members.

The chain has introduced two-fitness related products — the International Access Card, which gives members access to any of the 2,500 Snap Fitness centres located in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Mexico and Egypt; and Myzone, a wi-fi enabled area in the centres that allows members to track their workouts and monitor their heart rates via devices.

A free Myzone app allows members to stream and review the activity results from a smartphone, anywhere.

“India was the first country I entered into outside of the US in 2008,” said Peter Taunton, Global CEO and President, Snap Fitness. “While we are growing at a steady pace, we could grow much faster if entrepreneurs who want to be our business partners have access to loans from large banking institutions at fair interest rates.”

It costs ₹1.6 crore to set up a Snap Fitness centre, he explained. “The entrepreneur has to contribute 30 per cent, the rest of the capital has to be raised from banks or other financing institutions, which is not forthcoming,” he added.

In sharp contrast to the situation in India, Australia/NewZealand, a market that the company entered three years after India, already has 230 centres, he pointed out.

The $2-billion fitness and wellness market in India, which is dominated by weight loss and beauty treatment services, is growing at a healthy clip of 25-30, fuelled by rising income levels and changing lifestyles, said Dr Vikram BM, owner of Force Fitness Pvt Ltd, which holds the master franchise for Snap Fitness in India.

Polish make-up brand Inglot eyes 100 stores in India by 2020

Polish cosmetics brand Inglot aims to ramp up presence and marketing in India with plans to reach 100 stores by 2020. Currently, the premium cosmetics brand has 14 stores in the country concentrated in metros like Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru and tier 2 cities like Ludhiana and Chandigarh.

The 30-year-old brand is present in close to 80 countries with 600 stores globally. It entered India in 2008 through a franchise partnership with Major Brands. Apart from being present on ground through stores in malls and shopping centres, the brand was also available on the franchise partner’s portal. Last year, Inglot became available on Falguni Nayar’s beauty and cosmetics portal Nykaa.

Zbigniew Inglot, chairman of the board of directors, Inglot says, “While we are a 30-year-old company, we started global expansion only 10 years back. We started with Canada, the Middle East and US and now are available in 80 countries. In our experience, some markets need time and research and after seven years in India, we are ready to ramp up our presence.”

He adds that at a global level, the brand opens 1.5 to 2 stores a week currently. In India, over the next four years, the brand will open nearly two stores a month in order to achieve its target of 100 stores by 2020.

The range of cosmetics from Inglot is priced in the premium price band starting at Rs 600 for nail paints to Rs 5,500 for a make-up palette. The brand has developed the concept of ‘freedom system’ where users can buy single ‘squares’ of make-up and assemble their own palettes. In this case, single squares start at Rs 400 and the physical palette that holds these squares start at Rs 500.

Tushar Ved, president, Major Brands India says, “The brand has seen a growth of 18 to 20 per cent over the past seven years. Going forward, we shall introduce new products, invest in on-ground marketing through makeover activities and advertise in print. We do not plan to have tiered pricing for India and intend to continue playing in the premium cosmetics category since it is directly linked to the quality of the raw materials used at Inglot’s manufacturing unit.”

The company flagged off its marketing campaign on Women’s Day in Mumbai through a successful attempt to create a world record for most people painting their fingernails simultaneously. Around 1,328 women participated in this event painted their nails with the range of Inglot nail enamels. The brand broke the previous record of 1,156 people painting nails simultaneously which was created by Taiwan Nail Association at Banqiao Stadium, New Taipei City, Taiwan on 27 April 2011. Jack Brockbank from the Guinness World Records was present at the event to validate the record.

Inglot will be customising some of its products for the Indian market through shades that compliment the Indian skin tone, and any products that may be specific to the market. It has already developed a kohl pencil after feedback from the Indian franchise partner and will continue exploring new avenues for customisation.

The Fashion TV brand has made a foray into health and beauty services with a salon in Delhi.

Binge-watching F TV is something most of us wouldn't like confessing to. Then came along the much sought-after F Bar. Now, it's your hair and beauty that the F franchise is looking to cater to.

The brand launched its first flagship salon, titled F Salon, in New Delhi on Saturday. The 2,000 square feet, 14-seater salon is located in Rajouri Garden, West Delhi.

"We are proud to announce the first-ever F Salon by Fashion TV in India. We view ourselves not just as a salon, but an experiential brand. The idea is to provide high-quality beauty and wellness services to our customers," Rajan Vohra, director, Fashion TV India, said in a statement.

"F Salon's potpourri of beauty and salon services are at par with international standards and will take beauty and makeovers trends a notch up," said Tamanna Singh, master franchise of F Salon, north India and co-owner.

The salon offers an array of services including luxurious facial and body therapy; haircuts, perms, hair colouring, highlights, waxing, manicures, pedicures and it also specialises in pre-wedding and bridal makeup by internationally trained staff. The launch of the salon saw FTV models flaunting makeovers and hair couture.