MedPlus to set up 1,100 franchise stores; ties up with SBI

Pharmacy retailer MedPlus Health Solutions Pvt Ltd will expand its reach in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh through the franchise model.

“We will be reaching out to the interior parts of the twin States and set up 1,100 MedPlus franchise stores. This initiative will create a lot of rural and tier 2&3 town entrepreneurs and generate employment for more than 2,000 people across the two states,’’ Madhukar Gangadi, Founder and CEO, MedPlus said in a release issued here on Thursday.

It also collaborated with State Bank of India which will extend flexible loans to the franchisees. A typical MedPlus franchise store will be around 300-500 sqft and requires a total investment of around Rs. 15-20 lakh.

SBI will extend up to 70 per cent of the total investment as loan with 50 per cent collateral. MedPlus has set up a dedicated team who will help the franchise owners through the process. As a mandate, each franchisee should either be a pharmacist or employ a pharmacist.

Five Star Chicken seeks five star franchisees pan-India

Charoen Pokphand Foods (CP Foods) is looking forward to open 100 to 150 Five Star Chicken outlets in India by the year end via the franchise route. The brand says 10 % of its total outlets are company-run while the remaining 90 % are operated by its franchisees.

With a production and processing facility at Budigere near Bengaluru, Five Star Chicken has 265 outlets in India across Bangalore, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Goa and Hyderabad.

It also operates outlets in Salem, Coimbatore and Erode in Tamil Nadu. Since the brand operates its own farms, storage and distribution freely, they are able to optimise the cost and pass on better value to its customer.

Sanjeev Pant, Senior Vice President, CP Foods, says, “We will be opening around 100 to 150 year by this year end. We will be expanding in South India followed by West. In the near future, we will also have frozen food category.”

The chicken brand, which was founded in the year 1985 in Thailand, comes from a Thai multi-national conglomerate- CP Foods with over $13 billion sales in agro and food industry globally.

Five Star Chicken is one of the most popular brands in Asia with presence in nine countries with more than 7000 outlets in Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia, China, Bangladesh and India. In India, the brand launched its first outlet in November 2012 in Bangalore.

With a growing network of stores Five Star Chicken is becoming a strong neighbourhood brand offering great quality chicken at affordable prices to all consumers. The brand offers a wide range of chicken recipes/menu in spicy Indian flavours as well as other Asian and Thai flavours.

Fastrack opens store in Rajahmundry

Following its success in other cities in Andhra Pradesh, Fastrack has opened its first store at Danavaipet here on Wednesday. The 600-sqft store houses the latest collection of watches, bags, backpacks, helmets and belts from the brand, including a new and exciting range of helmets for guys and girls. The store was inaugurated by Narayanan Sabharatnam, Business manager, South, Titan Company Limited.

Commenting on Fastrack’s growing retail footprint, H G Raghunath, AEO, watches and accessories division, Titan Company Limited said, “The launch of this new store in Rajahmundry is exciting for Fastrack, as it is the first store in the city. We have been steadily growing since the launch of our first store in 2009 and now have 162 Fastrack stores spread over 75 cities in India.”

ASM Sonny Sandi, retail executive Khasim, project manager Mahesh and franchisee owner Sudheer were present on the occasion.