Green Trends opens franchise salon in Chennai

Green Trends Hair & Style Salon, owned by Trends In Vogue Pvt Ltd, a CavinKare Group company, has recently launched its exclusive unisex franchise salon in Chennai. Located at Shanthi Colony, Anna Nagar, this is Green Trends' 43rd outlet in India and 23rd in Chennai. Spread across an area of 1,200 square feet, the salon has seven haircut zones, three spa/facial zones, two hair wash and one pedicure section.

The interiors in the salon are serene with ample lighting, giving customers a relaxed atmosphere. The salon is furnished with modern, stylish and comfortable equipment and seating zones.

Green Trends is a pioneer in offering a full range of grooming solutions for value-conscious consumers. It offers trendy haircuts and colour services, complete skin care solutions and bridal packages at affordable rates.

Uninor to open 25 new retail outlets in AP; seeks franchisees

Announcing further expansion in Andhra Pradesh, mobile telephone company Uninor said that it would open 25 new retail outlets which would take the total number of outlets in the state to 90. The company is seeking franchisees to expand its footprint across the state.

These stores serve as a one-stop service point for existing and prospective Uninor customers across majority of district and taluk headquarters in Andhra Pradesh and reinforces Uninor's commitment to extend its reach and services to both urban and rural customers, a Uninor press release said.

Satish Kumar Kannan, (business head) AP Circle, Uninor, said, "Uninor has always been committed to extend its reach and services to our customers whether they are settled in the rural areas or the biggest cities of the state. At present, we have 65 Uninor branded stores across three different innovative retail formats and we look forward to a 90 store footprint by June end."

BEAUTIFUL BRANDS TO EXPAND

TULSA — Beautiful Brands International is opening branch offices in India, Kuwait and Canada to support its franchise growth worldwide. “These three regions are absolutely essential to seeing the growth of BBI and its opportunities skyrocket,” said Shahab Bakhtiar, general manager over the Canadian and Middle Eastern offices. Beautiful Brands has a portfolio of restaurant concepts including Camille’s Sidewalk Cafe and FreshBerry Frozen Yogurt.

From staff reports

Choice Hotels to bring two new brands to India next year

Global hospitality chain Choice Hotels International today said it will introduce two of its global brands into India by next year to cater to rising consumer demand in the country.

While the company has not disclosed the names, it is understood that the two brands that the hospitality chain plans to introduce are budget hotel 'Econo Lodge' and 'Cambria Suites', which caters to upscale customers.

The company, which currently operates 27 hotel properties in India, mostly through franchise agreements, aims to have 40 hotels in its portfolio by the end of the next year.

"We have conducted market research and realised a need to bring in an upscale brand and an economy brand into the country, possibly by the end of next year," Choice Hospitality India Sales and Marketing Vice-President Shivali Sharma told PTI without disclosing the names.

Industry sources, however said the two brands are Econo Logde and Cambria Suites.

Globally ,the company has over 800 Econo Logde hotels positioned as 'an affordable and convenient place to stay'. On the other hand, Cambria Suites is positioned as an upscale full service brand.

At present, Choice Hotels operates 27 hotels with a total capacity 1,800 rooms are operational under the Comfort, Quality and Clarion brands in India.

Of the entire portfolio, three hotels in India are currently managed by the company and the rest are franchisee operated.

"By the end of next year, we intend to operate 40 hotels with a total capacity of 2,200 rooms, mostly franchised and some under management contract, if required," Sharma said.

Besides the existing three brands, Choice Hotels is also set to launch the economy brand 'Sleep Inn' India, for which a property is currently under development in Faridabad.

"The Sleep Inn hotel in Faridabad will open later this year," she added.

The locations for the future expansion include Ahemadabad, Rajkot, Delhi, Ludhiana, Manesar and Rameshwaram.

While the investment for setting up new properties will be made by respective franchise partners, the company will invest in technology support and marketing initiatives.

"Choice Hotels India, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Choice Hotels International, is currently self-funded, but going ahead, the parent company will make need-based investments in certain areas of marketing and technology," Sharma said without giving financial details.

Globally, Choice Hotels International has more than 6,000 hotels, representing more than 4.85 lakh rooms in the United States and more than 35 other countries, according to the company's website.

Source : Business Standard

Vadilal on expansion mode; seeks franchisees

Ice cream maker Vadilal Industries is targeting sales growth of 40 per cent in 2011-12, with plans to capture 25 per cent market share in the next 2-3 years. The firm is also looking to increase the number of exclusive 'Hapinezz' outlets to sell its ice creams from 200 at present to 400 in the next 18 months. Most of the new outlets would be owned and run by franchisees, according to its top official.

"Currently, Vadilal is the second largest ice cream player in India, with 20 per cent market share. In the next 2-3 years, we are targeting 25 per cent share," Vadilal Industries M D Rajesh Gandhi told reporters.

According to Gandhi, the total ice cream market is estimated at Rs 2,500 crore, with the organised segment contributing Rs 1,500 crore. “The industry has been growing at a CAGR of 15 per cent in the last five years. As against the industry average, we are working hard to achieve a sales growth of 40 per cent in 2011-12," Gandhi said.

The company has also launched a range of new products targetting premium ice cream segment of the market. "In the next 2-3 years, we expect our premium products under Badabite, Flingo and Gourmet brands to contribute around 10 per cent to the company's total sales," Gandhi said.

Besides selling ice creams, the company also offers a range of ready-to-eat food items primarily catering to 45 countries outside India. For the 2009-10 fiscal, the company had registered revenues of Rs 188.91 crore and net profit of Rs 5.75 crore.

SANA CONSULTANT HIRES SPARKLEMINDS FRANCHISE CONSULTANTS TO DEVELOP A UNIQUE PROJECT MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY FRANCHISE MODEL FOR INDIA EXPANSION.

Pune Based, ‘Sana Consultant,’ (www.sanaconsultant.com), is a Project Management Consultancy Firm in Construction Industry. Executing the Residential, Commercial, Malls, Multiplex, Industrial etc. Projects, since a decade, have hired Sparkleminds (www.sparkleminds.com) for expanding its business through franchise model. It seeks to get into every major city and town of India and offer & execute localized consultancy services to the booming construction industry in India.

Sparkleminds is a specialized franchise consulting company offering franchise expertise to businesses seeking expansions, for over a decade now.

Commenting on the association with Sparkleminds, Mr. Sandeep Pingale Partner Sana Consultant, stated, “For the first time in the world, we are bringing a unique franchise concept that offers complete solutions to the Construction industry. Sana Project Management Consultants is the most trusted name in management services for over a decade now and provides round the clock completions of projects with careful attention paid to schedule, cost & quality.

Mr. Nikhil Shah, Partner Sana Consultant, added that ‘Sana Consultants has already managed more than 80 Lakh Sq. Ft of numerous residential township projects, I.T. Projects, Commercial Projects, & quality audits of various projects. The industry today comes to one reliable source, where their entire project is taken and executed on a turnkey basis.’

Our association with an Experienced Franchise Consulting company like Sparkleminds will enable us to franchise our business professionally. We have already begun work on our back end based on the recommendations put forth by them; over the last 2 months of consulting exercise and now want to offer our project management consultancy services to the construction industry across India.”

Mr. Amit Nahar, CEO, Sparkleminds, said that “we are proud to bring a much needed franchise model offering end to end solutions to the Building and Construction industry of India through our Franchise Development Program for Sana. We look forward to offering Sana’s Project Management Franchise across all major cities and towns of India, inviting franchisees with investment capacities of 10 Lakhs. It is a great opportunity for people associated in some form or the other with the buildings, material and construction industry to upgrade or to add additional services to their existing business, hence helping us builds the nation, in our own way.”

eZone mulls franchise model for expansion

Kishore Biyani has yet to crack one segment of the business: electronics retailing. eZone has been a drag on his Future Group and India's largest retailer last month decided to hive off the business and look for a strategic partner. It also plans to move into the franchise model to grow business.

"Margins are low, costs are high as we are present in malls and prime locations," says Future Group CEO Biyani. eZone has to provide display and store inventory, and needs a warehouse for every store. "This calls for a relook at the model," he says.

Biyani also decided to shrink eZone outlets to almost one-tenth their current size, build centralised inventory and boost online sales to revive the business. eZone will shut 8-9 stores and downsize stores from 15,000 sq ft to around 2,000 sq ft.

The company, which posted a loss of 12 crore in its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for the October-December quarter, will also revive online business and call it New Zone.

"We should be able to rope in a strategic partner and launch New Zone by June-July," according to Biyani. "We may divest some stake to the partner."

eZone now plans to move into the franchise model to grow business. Its retail outlets will double up as payment and delivery points for Internet orders. And it will build a centralised inventory to stop having a warehouse for every store.