French brand Lacoste looking at franchisee model to expand

French luxury brand Lacoste is planning to explore the franchisee model for expansion into tier-II cities in India.

The decision follows the good response it got in some tier-II cities such as Jalandhar, Jaipur, Chandigarh, and Pune.

According to Rajesh Jain Managing Director & CEO, Lacoste India, good responses were seen from tier-II towns located near the big cities. This apart, an increase in brand awareness coupled with rising proliferation of shopping malls in smaller towns are good indicators.

“While expansion in tier-II towns will mostly be through franchise routes, we will look to stick to the own-store format in major cities,” he told BusinessLine. Lacoste is currently present across 45 tier-I and II locations mostly through the company-owned model.

Plans are afoot to double the point of sales 90 over the next four years (FY-19). Created in 1933 by René Lacoste, the brand – famous for its polos (collared t-shirts) – entered India in 1993. Lacoste India is a strategic alliance between Lacoste and Sports and Leisure Apparel Ltd (SLA).

Most of the apparels sold here are manufactured from its existing facility in the country.

The company has one unit located in Noida, and the second one – in the same complex – is expected to be operational over the next six months.

Lacoste did not share the capacities or the investment details but maintained that units would suffice its India requirements.

According to Jain, the company was also mulling the entry into Nepal and Sri Lanka over the next one year.

Currently, SLA has the exclusive rights to manufacture Lacoste branded garments in India.

American premium burger chain Carl's Jr set to enter India

Come April, Indians will have the choice to taste charbroiled burgers by Carl's Jr - a brand that has been endorsed by the likes of Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian and Padma Lakshmi.

California-based premium burger chain, Carl’s Jr, which is known for its signature line of charbroiled thick burgers and is among the top 10 quick service restaurants chains globally, is set to enter India, with the first outlet to be opened here by April next year.

The American fast-food chain has already signed a franchisee agreement with city-based Cybiz BrightStar Restaurants Pvt Ltd, owned by CybizCorp. Over the next five years, there would be at least 100 Carl’s Jr outlets in India, said Sam Chopra, group chairman and founder of CybizCorp The chain targets to open about 1,000 outlets across India over 10-15 years.

Carl’s Jr joins the race with the world’s second largest burger chain Burger King, which had formed a joint venture with private equity fund Everstone Capital last year to develop its presence in India and plans to open the first outlet soon.

Besides, its rival, Fatburger has already opened its first outlet in Gurgaon, near Delhi recently.

“It is a burger that is delivered in just three minutes after the order is placed. And, we deliver it fresh. Nothing is prepared before hand,” said Chopra, adding that he would, for the first couple of years, focus on the northern market. The chain would spend about $25 million (about Rs 150 crore) in the first five years in developing a presence in India.

CKE Restaurant Holdings, the parent company of Carl’s Jr, had already invested $1.5 million in India in consumer research, product development and tasting trials during the past three years, Chopra said.

“We target ticket size at Rs 400. We’ll not offer beef in India, and for the first time in Carl’s Jr history, vegetarian burger, with six varieties, will be introduced. Over the next few years, we may also look at taking vegetarian burgers to other countries,” Chopra said, adding that Carl’s Jr will not target the mass market. Sales of Rs 2.5 lakh a day an outlet would make the venture viable, he said.

Chopra believes that the time is right for a ‘premium burger quick-service restaurant’ such as Carl’s Jr to enter India. “As we are witnessing a burger revolution in our country, a parallel phenomenon that was witnessed in the pizzas and pasta category a decade back,” he added.

Besides India, Carl’s Jr has recently entered new markets like Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, New Zealand and the Bahamas.

Over the past decade and a half, a handful of quick-service restaurants have made a beeline for India, including McDonald's, Yum Brands - the owner of restaurants such as Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell- and Subway.

Domino’s Aims To Target Tier II, III Cities For Expansion

Strengthening its presence in tier II and III cities, Domino’s Pizza has opened two restaurants one each in Gorakhpur and Udaipur.In the last one year, Domino’s Pizza has aggressively strengthened its presence in cities including Bhiwadi (Rajasthan), Korba (Chhattisgarh), Rajahmundry (AP), Aligarh (UP), Hoshiarpur (Punjab), Belgaum (Karnataka), Dharamshala (HP) and Rangpo (Sikkim).

Commenting on the expansion, Ajay Kaul, CEO, Jubilant FoodWorks Limited said: “We are extremely happy to be expanding our footprint on way to achieving our ambition of being in the vicinity of every pizza lover in the country. We would like to thank all our loyal customers, whose love and loyalty for the brand has been our constant motivation in this success journey and we are confident that we will become the restaurant of choice for all pizza lovers.”

While, Harneet Singh Rajpal, Senior Vice-President-Marketing, Domino’s Pizza India said, “Every restaurant that we launch in a new city brings us closer to our consumers and helps us deliver the best of our products and services to them. Over the last decade, we have been the fastest growing food service company in India and have successfully pioneered innovative concepts and products for the Indian taste palette. I would like to thank all our consumers who have shown immense love and support for us and our brand. I hope new restaurants help all the pizza lovers here to celebrate their moments of happiness and create wonderful memories with their loved ones.” 

Jubilant FoodWorks Limited is part of Jubilant Bhartia group and one of India’s largest food service companies, with a network of 795 Domino’s Pizza restaurants across 166 cities.

Inspired by Salman's 'Being Human', Julian Assange to launch line of clothing in India

Relying on India's enthusiasm for brands and online shopping, 43-year-old Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is all set to launch his range of clothing and accessories in the country.

According to a report in The Times of India, Assange is hopeful that this move will be successful on account of him being a symbol of rebellion.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is all set to launch his range of clothing and accessories in India. AP

Much like Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara's line of clothing being popular in India, Assange too hopes he will strike a chord in the heart of the Indians.

Talking about the popularity of brands in India, Gaurav Marya,  the company which is working for the entry of brand Wikileaks into the country, told Times of India, "Look at 'Being Human' by Salman Khan. Slowly but surely, it has ballooned into a Rs 100-crore business without any major investment in marketing and advertising. Similarly, during the general elections, Namo merchandise created a huge stir."

The report added that Wikileaks would distribute T-shirts and sweatshirts with taglines like 'Leaks exposing injustice' and 'Enemy of the state'.

Snap Fitness to have more than 100 centres by next year

Bangalore-based Snap Fitness India, the Indian master franchisee of Minneapolis, US-based fitness chain Snap Fitness that operates round-the-clock, is looking at an initial public offering (IPO) after a year when it completes 100 centres across the country.

Snap Fitness entered India in 2008 with its first centre in Bangalore. At present, there are about 50 Snap Fitness centres in India, of which 33 are located in Bangalore. The company is now plans to open centres in tier-I, tier-II and tier-III cities to take the number of total centres to 300 over the next three years. Of these, about 30 would be company owned. However, if the company gets external funding, they will open 100 company owned centres. While the company operates 24 hours a day, it may look at keeping centres in smaller cities closed at night.

Snap Fitness centres, in sizes of 3,000 sq ft, 4,000 sq ft and 5,000 sq ft, typically entail an investment of between Rs 1.2 crore and Rs 1.5 crore each. It follows a 'hub-and-spoke' model, where it will have one company-owned centre and close to four franchise-run locations built around that area. Over the next three years, the company and its franchises will spend about Rs 350 crore.

Its flagship stores earn about Rs 1.6 crore to Rs 1.8 crore annually, while about 50% of the earning goes to meet operational expenses.

The fitness industry in India is estimated to cross Rs 6,000 crore by 2015 while more than 95% of the sector is still unorganised. Organised brands like Talwalkers, Gold's Gym and Snap Fitness contribute the remaining.

Kurlon Mattress Xpress Seeks Expansion Pan-India

Kurlon Mattress Xpress, a venture of Kurlon Enterprise Limited is looking forward to expand its business pan-India. The brand has 177 stores presently and is keen to increase its count.

Kurlon Mattress Xpress is a one stop shop focused on shopping experience for its customer's comfort needs. It is a smaller retail adaptation of the brandedretail space from Kurlon ranging between 400-900 square feet where customers could shop for Kurlon products like mattress, pillows, beds, tables, bed sheets, comforters, cushions and pillow protectors. For franchising, requirement of the brand in terms of area is 500 square feet and in terms of RoI is 25-30 per cent.

Kurlon has built a high recall amongst consumers over the years. To leverage this inherent strength it has entered the retail space with this one stop shop called Kurlon Mattress Express. Through this medium, the brand aims to showcase its entire gamut of products. Kurlon Enterprise Limited is a pioneer in the mattress industry. It is a 53 year old organisation which ia synonymous of ‘sleep comfort’. Kurlon has a pan-India presence with seven manufacturing plants of which four are green certified. It caters to the needs of consumers of all age groups with varied tastes and preferences. 

Haldiram's to add another 150 stores by FY 2020

New Delhi: Haldiram's, a leading Indian sweets and snacks manufacturer is expanding its network in South and West of India through Franchise route. The company for the first time has taken the franchise route to expand its business, which will eventually help the brand to grow manifolds.

 

Taking the legacy forward, Haldiram’s is now gearing up with massive expansion plans.  Efficiently operating through offices in Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai & 10 outlets in Nagpur, Haldiram’s is inviting citywise master franchisees across Southern India region for its various formats. Haldiram’s operates in three formats, casual dining, quick service restaurants and Kiosk.

 

The company is looking for master franchisee owners who can successfully introduce or develop F & B or retail concept and capability to roll out minimum 5 restaurants  & 1 warehouse in territory allocated to them in the first 2-3 years of operations. Franchisee would pay fee of Rs. 1 Cr for city rights to build 5 restaurants.

Haldiram’s will provide extensive guidance and support like set up, supplies, training, inventory management, centralized kitchen, operations manual, dedicated teams, facilitation, technology, advertising and promotion to master franchises in ensuring smooth operations and hassle free functioning of the franchised outlets.

Mr. Neeraj Agarwal, Managing Director-Haldiram’s said, ” Haldiram so far adopted company owned stores but now that each stores has reached a maximum potential sales per day, the group plans aggressively to grow further by entering key markets in south and west India only.  We want to invite master franchisees for Haldiram’s growth and expansion in these regions.