Myntra to sub-franchise Mango stores in India

Myntra.com, the country’s largest online fashion retailer, is close to signing up two sub-franchisees to manage Mango stores in India, according to three people familiar with the matter. 

Myntra, which took over the offline and online franchisee rights for the Spanish fashion and lifestyle brand in India earlier this year, is likely to appoint Samarth Lifestyle and G&B Fashion as the subfranchisees. 

Jaipur-based Samarth operates more than 100 outlets of Benetton, Tommy Hilfiger, US Polo, Puma, Lee, Wrangler and Calvin Klein, while New Delhi-based G&B operates 25 outlets of Benetton in the National Capital Region. 

Samarth Lifestyle and G&B declined to comment on the possible deals with Mango. Myntra has decided not to run the Mango stores itself, at least in the initial stages, due to high capital expenditure, operational costs and the need to maintain a separate team for offline stores, the people said. 

“We have not inherited any stores from the earlier franchisees as we did not find a feasible way to work with them,” a Myntra spokesperson said in an e-mailed response. 

“We will be setting up new Mango stores in prime locations in all metros and are working with our franchisees and malls to determine the location of these new stores.” 

Mango’s former franchisee Major Brands has already given notice to vacate a prominent mall in New Delhi. The mall operator hasn’t decided whether to lease the premises to Mango. 

One person said Myntra’s decision to let franchisees operate the Mango stores stems from the fact that its own entry into brick-and mortar retail a month ago with a Roadster-branded store has so far received a lukewarm response in Bengaluru, which the company said wasn’t correct. 

“This is absolutely baseless. While the Roadster store has been launched to create experiences for customers, it has been very well received and has performed beyond our expectations,” Myntra said in an emailed statement. 

“We have seen over 4,500 footfalls in the first month itself which is 2X of the footfalls of other leading brands on the street, with 60 per cent of the shoppers being new customer acquisitions.” On the other hand, Myntra, which was acquired by Flipkart in 2014, said sales of Mango products have surged 25 per cent on its platform since it signed on the Spanish fashion and lifestyle brand in February. 

“We are using a hybrid model of retail and sub-franchisees where all the investments in the store will be borne by us and the day-today operations of the store will be managed by the subfranchisees,” the company spokesperson said in the email. “In phase two of the launch, Myntra will operate and manage a few Mango stores end-to-end.”

CarXpert Plans to open 100 franchise Outlets by 2018

Indian automobile industry is the largest in the world and accounts for more than 7% of the country’s GDP. Several initiatives by the Govt of India and increasing presence of major automobile players in the Indian market are expected to make Indian car market a world leader by 2020.

Resultantly, the car servicing business is growing faster to meet the increasing demand from this large car population in the country. The market research data states that only one third of the cars go back to dealer workshops post warranty and rest opt for local multi brand garages, which can provide reliable and cost effective service with closer home advantage. 

It is typically seen that car care ends up becoming a massive issue, with restriction in budget coming in the way of proper servicing. Owners tend to pay a visit to authorised workshops for many of the services as a compulsory check-up ensures that the functioning of the vehicle is in high order. 

Mandated workshops square measure expensive and can't be afforded for normal maintenance. Hence, once the warrantee amount nullifies, customers tend to estrange from the authorised workshops particularly for nominal updates like oil change/paid services and minor accidental repairs. This is where the unorganised sector takes its share from.

The affordability and adaptability of local garages square, measure a large success amongst owners. Additionally the 24x7 handiness of those little repair retailers signify convenience. Their economical cost of repairs guarantees that the engagement remains intact. However, there's no guarantee on the experience of workmanship or maybe the spare parts used by such garage. Owners require the boost of expert auto parts, at an affordable price-range. CarXpert aims to be that middle road of multi brand workshops- providing quality service at costs as low as local garages.

CarXpert Car Service is a franchising business under Skylark Group, an Indian Business Conglomerate with business Interests in EPC, Highways O&M, Security Services and automobile aftermarket industry. With pan India presence and a team of over 22,000 employees it is one of India's fastest growing companies. 

With core values of Customer Delight, Speed & Excellence; CarXpert through its dedicated franchise network is designed to offer complete peace of mind to a car owner looking for reliable and cost effective car servicing solutions. Introducing a completely new business model to automotive aftermarket industry, CarXpert is quickly expanding its business to grasp the lucrative market opportunity through COCO and franchise car service stations.

Founded by Navneet Pratap Singh and Col Yogeshwar Singh Katoch and formally launched in Dec 2015,  CarXpert has 1 COCO workshop in Palam Vihar, Gurgaon and a network of 19 Franchisees.

After having consolidated their business model in August 2016, Carxpert has rapidly expanded up a franchise network of 19 franchisees in mere 6 months, getting the title of India’s fastest growing multi brand car service franchise company. The organization provides the A-Z of car servicing- from repairs, car care to insurance renewal, extended warranty. The CarXpert business model involves setting up of COCO and FOFO workshops, interspersed across the country.

The USP of the franchise lies in providing high quality service at low cost to all stakeholders i.e. Car Owners, Insurance Companies and Franchisee Owners. They look at augmentation of existing unorganised multi brand car service stations to organize and elevate their business. In comparison to their competitors, they believe in creating car service centres rather than car service showrooms, thereby focusing on cost effective quality repairs rather than frills. 

CarXpert looks forward at organizing the local multi brand service stations by providing them support in terms of systems & processes, provision of spare parts, training, customer connect and most importantly cashless tie ups with insurance companies. The organization intends to scale up gradually to a level of 100 franchisee workshops in 2017-18 while gaining close to 500 franchise partnership by 2020. Plans to start Pre-owned car franchise business in FY 2018-19 are also in the pipeline.

Maroosh to expand its domestic and global presence

Maroosh a quick service restaurant brand, owned by Impresa Hospitality, is expanding its domestic and global footprint through Franchise Route. 

Impresa Hospitality managing director and chief executive Ketan Kadam said: “Expansion through franchisees is an ideal route for expansion in the existing market environment. The business model does not require capex, so we can focus on brand building.” 

For expansion in the domestic market, the company has signed a master franchise deal  for setting up stores in the Delhi NCR region besides Bangalore, with the plan to set up over a hundred stores over a three-year period, Impresa Hospitality said. 
Kadam added that the company now planned to foray in the ready-to-eat packaged foods space. 

Subway opens its 600th outlet in India

Sandwich chain Subway opened its 600th outlet in India at Bharuch, Gujarat, pointing to a growing preference for restaurants serving fresh and customizable on-the-go menu, according to a release.

Subway, which calls itself the world's largest sandwich restaurant chain, operates over 44,000 restaurants in 112 countries.

"Credit goes to all our franchisees who play a major role as the brand's growth drivers in the country. We aim to accelerate our development plans by expanding in both metro and non-metro locations," Ranjit Talwar, Country Head, Subway Systems India, was quoted as saying.

Subway, a family-owned enterprise set up 50 years ago, operates on a franchise model, and there are no company-owned outlets.

Franchisees are provided with "customised operational manuals, training programme, and backend support, including for marketing, advertising and business mentorship by the brand", the release said.

The National Restaurant Association of India's latest "Food Services" report expects the restaurant industry in India to contribute about 2.1 per cent to the GDP by 2021.

Subway, which opened its first outlet in India in 2001, currently has a presence in 70 Indian cities.

(This story has not been edited by our staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Wai Wai Noodles to Invest Rs 250 Crore in India

Nepal's CG Foods, makers of the popular Wai Wai noodles, plans to invest Rs 250 crore in India to open quick service restaurants (QSRs) in next 5 years.

CG Corp Global, which plans to open 1,500 noodle bars across the world under the brand 'Wai Wai City’.

However, the company did not specify the number of outlets it will open in the country.

"With this new format, we offer...whole new world of taste and flavours. For us this is the beginning of an exciting journey," CG Corp Global Executive Director Varun Chaudhary said.

Wai Wai City will be spread across various formats – food courts, self-standing kiosks, standalone outlets, highway format etc, he added.

CG Foods announced a foray into the European market by opening its first manufacturing plant in Serbia.

Positioned strategically at Ruma in Serbia in Central Europe, the Wai Wai plant will help the company cater to the neighbouring countries. With this plant, CG Foods' total units producing Wai Wai noodles has gone up to 15, of which 8 are based in India.

Asics eyes local production for FDI

Japanese sportswear brand Asics is planning local sourcing in India so that it can apply for FDI and benefit from lower duties. Considering its competitors like Nike and Puma have already got FDI clearance to start their own stores, Asics has to wait till it completes the 30 per cent local sourcing norm before it can get away from the franchise model.

Unlike its peers who are looking at manufacturing ‘Make in India’ products, Asics is still an imported footwear brand although it has started some amount of local production for apparel recently.

Speaking to BusinessLine, Rajat Khurana, Director, Asics India, said: “While we are an imported brand, we should soon start with 10-15 per cent of local footwear production in the next two to three years. Applying for FDI requires us to have 30 per cent local sourcing and some of our competitors like Nike have already met these norms to start their own stores in the country.’’ With FDI in single brand retail, foreign companies can own and operate their stores instead of having a local franchise operation and is also expected to help in lower prices in the country.

Currently, Asics imports its footwear primarily from China and Indonesia, much like other international brands including Clarks and Skechers, despite having Indian partners for their ventures.

“When we entered India, we had signed a general distribution agreement with Reliance Retail which lasted for four years. We have our subsidiary since 2015 and expect sales to triple by 2017 as the market is growing and we expect to get profitable with economies of scale,’’ added Khurana.

In India, Asics is now positioning itself from a sportswear to a lifestyle brand. “India is changing and it is the lifestyle segment which is growing at nearly 20 per cent,’’ added Khurana. Currently, Asics has 14 monobrand stores and expects to add another 12 stores this year. It has also been spending on events like the Mumbai Marathon by becoming the official sponsors for three years to build its brand in the country.

Asics, which has its headquarters in Kobe in Japan, has its biggest markets in the US and Europe and considers Japan as its second largest market.