Kidzee plans more pre-school centres across India

Homegrown pre-school chain Kidzee, owned by education company Zee Learn, has planned to expand its range of schools, by adding 300-400 facilities each year, as it taps the pre-school and early childhood care and education (ECCE) needs of the various towns and cities in India.

The company currently boasts of a wide network of more than 1,500 schools in over 550 cities, having signed up 509 centres for FY 2015.

According to Zee Learn Head (Marketing and Innovation) Abhinav Upadhyay, “Kidzee  remains focused on nurturing the ‘unique potential’ in every child. Our primary focus area is on the critical age group of 0-6 years in children, when 90% of the brain’s development takes place. Kidzee is also involved in making people aware of early childhood needs, and also provides for the same.”

In terms of opening schools, Kidzee follows an all-franchise model, wherein the franchisee will be required to invest in setting up her school, while the company provides all the required teaching aids and infrastructure standards. “Each school may be built over a minimum area of 2,500 sq feet, and will entail an investment of Rs 10-15 lakh, which will be borne by the franchisee. According to our revenue model, Kidzee shares the fees collected on enrolments with the franchisee,” Kidzee Business Head Sukhvinder Singh Bindra told DH.

As per policy, Kidzee allows only women to become franchisees, with the staff at each schools also comprising only women. “Each of our pre-school has been mandated to be run by women, since we believe that women, when given the right responsibility and adequate training, respond to early childhood needs better,” Bindra said.

Through the said franchise model, Kidzee has been able to create 1,500 women entrepreneurs, who are specially trained by the company to tend to the young ones. Meanwhile, for its students, the schools also integrate state-of-the-art technologies as part of their teaching tools, such as audio visual aids and tablets.

There are 150 million children in the ages of 0-6 in India, and many towns have not even come across a concept called ‘pre-school’. Around 90% of the said Rs 13,000-crore category is unorganised. “Yet, even in small towns, there is acceptance for our products, and we’ve varied fee structures for our different markets,” Upadhyay said.

RJ Corp to set up premium tea parlours partnering with TWG Tea

Ravi Jaipuria promoted RJ Corp is entering into an exclusive agreement with Singapore based TWG tea to setup tea lounges in India.

Regarded as world’s premium and one of the biggest luxury tea chains, TWG will enter Delhi, Mumbai.

"We will set up premium tea parlours starting around third quarter of this year. This deal complements our existing portfolio of brands across food and beverages and we will leverage our existing strengths to take this association forward,” shared Jaipuria in a press statement. 

At present RJ Corp is heavily into food businesses and is one of the biggest bottling arms of PepsiCo.

It also run UK based cafe chain Costa Coffee in Indian market.

The group also has the franchisee right for KFC and Pizza Hut businesses in North and east market.

“The average cost of setting up an outlet would be Rs 10 crore. RJ Corp will begin with Delhi and Mumbai, and sell packaged TWG tea at hotels and upscale retail stores,” added Jaipuria. 

Swiss Military to invest Rs 200 crore for pan-India expansion

Switzerland-based lifestyle brand for men, Swiss Military, has embarked on a store expansion plan to enhance its presence in India. It has outlined capital investment of Rs 200 crore to set up its own stores and in developing a logistics and warehousing network, a company official said.

“We have been selling our range of products in India since 2011-12 and now time has come to go for a major retail presence. We have decided to have 172 stores in key markets across India,” Anuj Sawhney, MD, Swiss Military Worldwide. He further added: “The company would own and run 12 stores and the rest 160 outlets would come up through the franchise route. The store rollout will start from May and all the 172 stores will be up and running by the end of 2017.”

Swiss Military Lifestyles Products Ltd is the Indian marketing arm of the company. The company’s international range includes travel gear, writing instruments, watches, garments, accessories, kitchenware, eyewear, leather goods, outdoor/ hiking equipment, footwear, cosmetics and electronics. The company has over 1,800 stock keeping units in the global portfolio. Swiss Military will soon introduce watches in India and by June it has plans to offer bicycles to its customers in the price range of Rs 12,000 to 25,000. Better footprint outlines capital investment of Rs 200 crore and plans 172 stores in key markets across India.

Incepted in 1984 with only watches, Swiss Military has now increased its portfolio to a large range of products from key chains to bicycles across 26 countries.

Toni&Guy mulls doubling India saloons to 100 in 3 yrs

London-based hair styling firm Toni&Guy plans to double its saloons to over 100 in the next three years in the country and wants India to be its second highest contributor in its global fold. 

"We have 53 saloons right now and we would double it in next 2-3 years," Toni&Guy Group Finance Director Rupert Berrow told PTI. 

As per its growth strategy, the company would focus on the metro markets and top tier II places through brand Toni&Guy, while it would also promote its sub-brand Essensuals to cater the aspirational class from tier II & III cities, he added. 

"We would have our own hair dressing academy in the next 6 to 12 months to bring the next generation of professionals here," he added. 

Berrow further said:"India is our fastest growing market in the world. If we get the number of our saloon double in three years time then India would be our second largest market both in terms of number of saloons and revenue". 

At present, Australia is the second highest contributor of Toni&Guy in revenue terms. 

"In terms of number of saloons, India has overtaken Australia as the second largest market but in terms on revenue, it has not because the market in Australia is much long established and the average bill is higher," Berrow added. 

Over expansion, Toni&Guy North India Director Sonali Bhambri said: "Even the existing metro has an appetite to double the count and we can easily reach the target". 

Toni&Guy has three master franchise in India for north, west and south region. 

"Essensuals would open in tier II & III cities which are price sensitive at low price point," Bhambri said adding that number of saloons growing in future would be from Essensuals". 

Established in London in 1963, Toni&Guy operates 300 salons in UK and over 500 salons in 42 countries worldwide. It has a revenue of 200 million a year.

Naturals to take over Yuvraj Singh-funded startup Vyomo

Vyomo, an aggregator of beauty salon doorstep services funded by cricketer Yuvraj Singh, will become a part of Naturals with the nation's largest salon chain investing Rs 100 crore for a controlling stake. 

This deal, the first where a brickand-mortar salon chain is collaborating with an app-based beauty services aggregator, will give Naturals an entry into the on-demand beauty services space. Vyomo, which will be renamed Naturals@ Home, will get access to a large pool of stylists and  wider reach.

Naturals, with close to 550 salons in 80 cities, has twice the number of outlets compared with its closest rival, Hindustan Unilever's Lakme. The exact stake that Naturals got under the deal wasn't disclosed.

"We get access to 7,500 Naturals stylists at almost no incremental cost with this deal. We were lacking in the salon experience but post this deal, we will have the capacity be able to service 25,000 customers a day," Vyomo founder Abhinav Khare said. 

Almost 30% of the beauty business is now moving to home services, said CK Kumaravel, chief executive of Naturals.

"We have been salon specialists but we realised that on demand services are playing a very important role in the beauty space now. Since we ourselves don't understand the back end and how the tech space works, the deal with Vyomo opens up a completely new opportunity for us," he said. 

The Rs 100 crore that comes from the deal will be used to develop technology and expand aggressively to meet customer demand, Khare said. The management at Vyomo won't change, and the board will have representation from both entities, he said. 

Vyomo, the Bengaluru-based tech-enabled hyperlocal startup, has a presence in five cities. Post the deal, it plans to extend its reach to 80 cities over six months, capitalising on the operational strength of Naturals. 

Naturals, which set up operations in 2000 in Chennai, has a target to have 3,000 salons by 2018 and more than 10,000 by 2025. 

A high-margin business and with the maximum repeats among home services, tech-enabled doorstep beauty services have been gaining traction among home service providers. 

Arecent report by consulting firm KPMG estimates that the beauty and wellness industry in India will be $13 billion by 2017. 

Dr Batra's to open 20 clinics in India, overseas in FY17

Dr Batra's Healthcare is planning to add around 20 new homeopathy clinics across India and abroad by the end of this fiscal as part of its expansion plans. 

"We plan to add 10 clinics in India and 10 abroad during the current financial year," Dr Batra's Healthcare Founder Chairman Mukesh Batra told PTI. 

At present, most of the clinics are company-owned but in tier-III and tier-IV cities, the company has franchise partners, he added. 

The group will also focus on expanding the reach of its FMCG products in India by doubling the number of outlets to 10,000 from 5,000 at present, he added. 

"As we already have a substantial presence in India with 219 clinics, the emphasis here will be more on consolidation while in overseas the focus will be on expansion," Batra said. 

The markets that the company is looking abroad for expansion are the UK, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Oman, Bahrain, Doha, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Switzerland, among others, he added. 

The company is also diversifying its product base, Batra said: "We are entering the nutraceuticals market with launch of four products." 

Founded in 1982 by Mukesh Batra, Dr Batra's Healthcare has 226 clinics spread across around 130 cities in India, Dubai, the UK and Bangladesh.

Virat Kohli-backed Chisel Fitness plans 100 centres by 2018

Chisel, the Virat Kohli-backed fitness start-up, is set to introduce technology-enabled workout routines, targeting young information technology workers, as it expands its network of fitness centres across India.

Targeting 100 centres across the country by 2018, the Bengaluru-based start-up is planning to launch its own fitness devices and will introduce ‘gamified’ fitness routines. While technology will play a big part in fitness, Chisel believes there’s no alternative to having a physical presence and giving users access to qualified trainers.

“Fitness is all about being physical. You cannot just use some watch to track your calories and not work out. It has to be a combination of technology and the environment of where you go that motivates you to work out. We are thinking of coming out with our own brand, which can sync with our programmes,” said Satya Sinha, co-founder of Chisel.

To grow its base of centres, Chisel is looking at a hybrid model of having its own centres along with signing up franchise partners. The firm isn’t just looking at tapping customers in metros, but also in tier-2 towns such as Guwahati and Indore in the coming months. For this, it has come up with four different levels of centres, varying in luxury and size.

The investment demanded by franchise partners is between Rs 1 crore and Rs 3.5 crore, depending on the level they choose. Chisel charges Rs 25-35 lakh as annual franchise fee, while offering partners a business model that allows them to break even within 25-30 months.

A large part of that fee will go towards training and certifying trainers and staff in each of the centres under Chisel. “Hiring and training is our responsibility because we believe only a certified and experienced trainer will help members achieve their goals,” said Sinha.

Chisel has signed up 18 partners and opened three centres. The firm plans to open four more centres in April, one of which will be located in Manyata Tech Park, where Chisel will target young IT workers who are prone to several health and fitness issues because of their lifestyle.

With an investment of Rs 90 crore in Chisel, Kohli's biggest competition will come from SportsFit, a chain of gyms backed by teammate Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Chisel will also compete with global brands such as Gold’s Gym, which functions in the premium fitness segment.

“There are a lot of international brands, but we want to introduce fitness concepts that are tailored for the Indian body type and mindset. We can’t completely copy what they do because the food we eat is different, the body type is different and we have conceptualised our brand around that,” added Sinha.

Truefitt & Hill opens luxury men salon in Bengaluru

Luxury men salon chain carrying a legacy of 210 years, Truefitt & Hill has forayed into Bengaluru with a 2,000 sq feet outlet in Indiranagar. With 6-barber chairs and 2-royal suites, the salon has been set up at an investment of Rs 1.5 crore. 

While Truefitt & Hill currently has six stores in Mumbai and one in New Delhi, two more in Bengaluru in Whitefield and Lavelle Road and one each in Gurgaon and Hyderabad are underway. “Truefitt & Hill caters to a niche market, and we here believe in giving an experience, not a service,” said Istayak Ansari, Director at Lloyds Luxuries, which has acquired the master franchise licence for Truefitt & Hill in India. 

“We are targetting men above the age of 35 years, who want to indulge in luxury and pampered experiences,” he said, adding, “All services here, ranging from shaving to haircut, and manicure to pedicure are offered under two categories royal and classic, and under the royal category, which offers more pampering, a shave is priced at Rs 2,000.”

In Mumbai, where Truefitt & Hill has its largest India presence, the salons are averaging around 1,500 services per month and boast of 85% occupancy levels at each salon. “The brand has great recall value. Repeat clients take up to 75% of our customer base. On an average, customers avail two services spend Rs 3,500 on every visit,” said Ansari. 

The brand also finds huge interest in retail, where up to 40% of its topline is derived from product sales. Some six out of ten clients who avail services at the salon, also purchase the products over the counter, said Ansari. On the market in Bengaluru, he said, “The customer base here is well-travelled and appreciates luxury. We see great potential here.”