GOLDEN JUBILEE FOR GOLD’S GYM

Gold’s Gym, one of the leading names in worldwide fitness and health celebrated its golden jubilee this year. The brand has 80 gyms pan-India. It is known for its passion, heritage and experience, making it an esteemed authority in lifestyle fitness. 

Gold’s Gym is dynamic in nature and in anticipation of the need of its members offers innovative fitness techniques, upgrades its equipment periodically and incorporates unique fitness regimes like mixed martial arts, Boot Kamp, Zumba, thereby adding an element of fun to fitness. G Ramachandran, Promoter and Director, Gold’s Gym shares, “It is a great moment for us, as we enter the 51st year of operations. With 80 operational centres in India alone and 700 centres across the world, we are elated to announce 15 more outlets which are in the pipeline.”

 Adding to it, Karan Valecha, Director, Gold’s Gym India says, “Gold's Gym since its inception has been striving hard to provide the right opportunity to achieve a healthy lifestyle. And with the expansion plans, we are confident to continue spreading this idea to more and more people."

Gold’s Gym started in Venice California in 1965. Its operations started in India in 2002, when the first Gold’s Gym India branch was set up in Mumbai. It provides a comprehensive approach to the health and well being of its members helping them burn fat, tone muscle, build strength, increase flexibility and improve cardiovascular health.

Being Human to take its style to Nepal

Being Human Clothing by Mandhana Industries is planning to open eight stores which consist of five franchise stores, two exclusive brand outlets (EBOs) in India and one franchise store in Nepal by March 2015. The stores will be targeted in cities like Hyderabad, Kolhapur, Mohali, Noida, Lucknow, Pune and Jalandhar in India and Pokhra in Nepal.

As part of their development strategy, the brand has added 18 exclusive stores, including six franchise outlets in the FY 13-14 and five EBOs in FY 12-13 to their expansion portfolio. Holding 29 exclusive stores including six franchisees, Being Human Clothing keeps its promise of offering global fashion and helping the twin causes of education and healthcare through the Being Human – The Salman Khan Foundation. Being Human Clothing’s target is to increase the number of stores to 50 by end of 2015.

Manish Mandhana, Managing Director, Mandhana Industries Ltd said, “We continue to grow in new and existing markets with focus on quality, sustainability and profitability. Our aim is to grow in double in the coming years and reach out to as many people as we can. We are grateful for the response we have received”.

Kunal Mehta, VP - Marketing and Business Development, Being Human Clothing said, “Before we move into any new city or country an assessment is made of the markets potential. After a thorough research on demographic structure, purchasing power, competitor analysis, infrastructure etc the decision is made. We are very delighted with the announcement, we are hoping for the continued great response.”

AHLL widens its healthcare segment

Apollo Health and Lifestyle Limited (AHLL), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Apollo Hospitals Group, has successfully expanded its footprint in new markets such as Mumbai, Jaipur and Kanpur. AHLL has been able to achieve this by acquiring Nova Specialty Hospitals. AHLL is aiming to create a business of Rs. 500 crore in five years in the space of multi-specialty Short stay/Day surgery centres.

The acquired chain of Nova Specialty Hospitals is spread over eight cities and will add to the Apollo network 45 Modular OTs, over 350 patient beds, with an average 20,000 square feet of built-up space in each centre. Nova Specialty Hospital’s existing centres will serve as new centres under the Apollo brand name and will benefit from Apollo’s legacy of expertise, clinical excellence and empathy. Apollo will re-launch the acquired centres in the coming months with new branding, an expanded menu of services and quality systems built on Apollo’s deep expertise in the hospitals space.

Neeraj Garg, Chief Executive Officer, AHLL says, “AHLL will strengthen the service offerings in these centres by introducing Apollo’s Preventive Health Checks and also establishing Sugar Clinics.” Commenting on the strategic move Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, AHLL adds, “This acquisition will enable AHLL to catapult its presence into a leadership position in the segment of healthcare. The format has strong potential and with the brand equity of Apollo, AHLL will grow this business significantly in the next few years.” Apollo group has always been proactive in offering healthcare to meet the changing patterns of diseases and constantly strives to make quality medical care accessible to all.

Sanjeev Kapoor’s Signature now in Abu Dhabi

Celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor has launched his first restaurant- Signature by Sanjeev Kapoor- in Abu Dhabi. This is the second Signature restaurant in the UAE (there is one in Dubai).

Kapoor is famous for his signature Indian food around the world as well as his appearances on television cooking shows. Signature, one of the many brands by Kapoor, includes all his signature dishes and personal favourites. With this launch, Kapoor said he was considering bringing more brands like The Yellow Chilli and Khazana to Abu Dhabi.

“We have already signed a master franchise to bring The Yellow Chilli to the UAE We started with one, and now we have five restaurants in Dubai. We’re opening one more in the next two months besides opening 11 outlets of The Yellow Chilli,” the known chef turned restaurateur elaborated further.

Signature by Sanjeev Kapoor is a super fine dining restaurant that serves Chef Sanjeev Kapoor's authentic Indian and signature dishes. Signature boasts of a menu that integrates the best of traditional Indian cuisine with signature dishes that showcase quintessential Indian ingredients and cooking techniques.

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.

Grasshoppers bags creative mandate for Big Wong

Kurt Vonnegut wrote in Jailbird that “You can’t just eat good food. You’ve got to talk about it too. And you’ve got to talk about it to somebody who understands that kind of food.” So, when the team of Grasshoppers, who happen to be die-hard foodies, went to a restaurant which serves delectable oriental cuisine, they realised that they had come across a rare gem which deserves proper promotion. After numerous rounds of discussion with the brand owners and a realisation that both parties shared the same vision for promoting the quirky concept, Grasshoppers bagged the creative mandate for Big Wong.

Big Wong is an oriental cuisine brand which is fast gaining popularity in Delhi-NCR’s culinary circles. It currently has two outlets in Gurgaon and plans to launch around 10 more outlets in the NCR region within a year. The brand is also contemplating a pan-India expansion through a franchise model. Unlike other oriental cuisine restaurant brands, Big Wong’s concentration is not on the dine-in concept. With an emphasis on lip-smacking food rather than on a lavish ambience, the brand is focussing on the take-away and home delivery models. The 360-degree advertising campaign that is being conceptualised by Grasshoppers will be promoting these services in an interesting, out-of-the-box way.

Rajan Chanana, Partner, Big Wong, said, “Over the next five years, we aim to make Big Wong the first choice for India’s oriental food home delivery and take-away needs. We are very passionate about our brand and know that the quality of food being served at all our outlets has the potential to make Big Wong a major player in the segment within a few years. The right marketing strategy is very important for us to achieve our objective, and that is why we have partnered with Grasshoppers, as their approach was completely in sync with our vision.”

Grasshoppers will be focussing on various media platforms, including print advertisements, radio campaigns and outdoors, for reaching out to the target audience. The agency is also working on a new theme for each Big Wong outlet, as the brand wants to offer a unique experience to customers at various outlets. Moreover, Grasshoppers’ digital marketing wing, Grownups, will be promoting Big Wong on various social media platforms.

“For a bunch of food lovers who develop brand promotion strategies day in and day out, working with an F&B brand is the best possible thing. When an emerging industry player with immense potential and mind-blowing food comes your way wanting you to be as fun and unconventional as you would like to be in your creative approach, it’s like a dream come true. My team is raring to go and some very interesting ideas are being cooked up in our studio for Big Wong,” said Arjun Banerjee, Director, Grasshoppers.

Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri now announces TBZ Franchising Opportunity

For the first time in its 150-year old history, Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri Limited (“TBZ”), a well-known and trusted jewellery retailer in India, invites franchisees to be a part of its jewellery retailing business. Through the TBZ Franchising opportunity, entrepreneurs can open TBZ-The Original stores across India and retail the brand’s product which includes over 20,000 in-house designs. TBZ Ltd. intends to open franchisees in cities across India where it is not present at this point of time through its exclusive brand outlets (EBOs). At present, TBZ Ltd. has 28 EBOs stores in 22 cities across 10 States including Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Seemandhra, Telangana, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and West Bengal.

Shrikant Zaveri, Chairman and Managing Director, TBZ Ltd., said, “TBZ Franchising Opportunity is a unique opportunity for entrepreneurs to capitalize on the various growth possibilities in the Indian gems & jewellery retailing business. The prospects of the gems & jewellery sector have become quite rosy after it has recently been included in the Prime Minister’s ‘Make in India’ initiative. Recent Government policies such as the elimination of the 80:20 Rule for gold imports are also conducive to growth and progress of the sector. These positive macro-economic trends have inspired us to invite more members to the TBZ-The Original family to partner us in our expansion journey. The award-winning brand’s time tested strength, tradition, values and rich legacy will help them tap vast opportunities while we shall enhance our reach, footprint and penetration to lakhs of brand admirers in different parts of India.”

The franchising strategy has been formulated by the management to address the ever-increasing fondness and demand from a growing number of customers across geographies who aspire to own jewellery from TBZ-The Original. Every franchisee store will showcase latest designs of all new collections and will offer the same standardized shopping experience to customers as TBZ-The Original EBOs. The new franchisee showrooms will have elegant interiors and customers will be given personalized attention and customized services. Every showroom will offer a wide array of innovative and attractive jewellery designs with an added attraction of custom-made products.

TBZ Franchising Opportunity comes with various benefits such as extensive industry driven expertise, guidance at every step and widespread cost-effective marketing at low investment costs. The franchise opportunity offers direct access to target customers and access to a time tested profitable business model.