Loungewear chain Valentine Retail Plans to Open 200 Stores by 2018

Ashapura Intimates Fashion Ltd., a leading manufacturer of intimate –loungewear garments has a vision for aggressive growth in the retail segment. The company plans to open 200 Valentine loungewear retail showrooms all over India within 3 years on franchise Model.

The company opened its 2^nd Valentine loungewear retail showroom  in Bangalore in February 2015 and will be opening its 3^rd showroom in Bangalore by March end.

Two Valentine showrooms in Ahmedabad will be opened by the company in April 2015.

 The company plans to open 26 Valentine showrooms in Mumbai within one year. Majority Valentine showrooms in Mumbai will be company owned showrooms. Ashapura Intimates Fashion Limited has emerged having largest product basket globally in a niche segment of loungewear. 

With the vertically integrated manufacturing, the 2^nd state of the art plant will open in Gujarat in near future, the company will have biggest capacity in production & warehousing in loungewear in India.

Under the ‘Valentine’ brand, the company sells intimate garments such as lounge wear, bridal night wear, honeymoon sets, bathrobes, nightwear, relax-wear, sportswear, leggings, camisole, bra & panties etc. The new loungewear range is meant for gents, ladies, kids and toddlers.

In India, The Group has 130 distributors and products are sold through 13,000 retail outlets across the country. The company has MOUs with online shopping sites like Myntra, Jabong/ Home Shop 18 and own website.

Starwood to open 3 Le Meridien hotels in South Asia by 2015

International hospitality major Starwood Hotels and Resorts plans to open three properties under its Le Meridien in South Asia, including one in India, by end of 2015 to expand presence in the region. 

"We plan to add three hotels under the Le Meridien brand in South Asia, including one at Mahabaleshwar in India, by the end of this year," Le Meridien and Westin Global Brand Leader Brian Povinelli said. 

He was speaking on the sidelines of opening of Le Meridien at Gurgaon following the re-branding of the existing hotel, which was earlier manged by another global hospitality chain Accor. 

"The other two hotels under the brand will be at Paro in Bhutan and Dhaka in Bangladesh. We have already opened a hotel under the Le Meridien brand in Thimpu in December 2014," he added. 

The brand is enjoying strong growth momentum worldwide, resonating with travellers who have an affinity for the arts, culture and cuisine, Povinelli said, adding: "Idea of Le Meridien is connecting people to destination through culture, cuisine and local neighbourhood." 

Le Meridian is a five-star upper upscale brand of the Starwood Hotels and Resorts. 

When asked about the business model in India, Povinelli said: "We mainly follow the management contract and franchise model and don't own the properties. In India we have a large franchise portfolio." 

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Managing Director India and Regional Vice President South Asia Dilip Puri said the company has invested a lot in building infrastructure in India. 

"Over a 100 people are directly employed by the company in India," Puri said. 

Le Meridien, the Paris-born hotel brand is currently represented by 99 properties in more than 35 countries. It was acquired by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc in November 2005. 

Starwood Hotels & Resorts has 43 hotels in India at present out of which eight are under the Le Meridien brand. 

Globally the hospitality chain manages around 1,200 properties in 100 countries under nine brands -- St Regis, The Luxury Collection, W, Le Meridien, Sheraton, Westin, Four Points by Sheraton, Aloft and Element.

Subway opened an all-women operated outlet in Mumbai

Quick service restaurant chain Subway on 6 March 2015 opened an all-women operated outlet at Andheri, Mumbai to mark the International Women's day on 8 March.

With the new outlet opening in suburban Andheri, the Connecticut-based company's store count has now reached 500 in India.

Subway entered India in 2001. It operates in 70 cities across the country and has plans to take its total number of stores to 1000 by 2018. It is targeting tier II, tier III cities to fuel its growth plans.

Subway is an American fast food restaurant franchise that primarily sells submarine sandwiches (subs) and salads. It is one of the fastest growing franchises in the world, with 43035 restaurants in 108 countries and territories.

It is the largest single-brand restaurant chain and the largest restaurant operator globally.

Carl’s Jr to enter India by April 2015

Carl’s Jr, California-based, is looking at opening their first restaurant in New Delhi by the end of the first quarter of 2015. CKE Restaurants Holdings, the parent company of Carl’s Jr, recently signed a development agreement with Cybiz BrightStar Restaurants, owned by CybizCorp, to develop 100 restaurants in the initial phase. Elaborating on the same, Samir Chopra, group chairman and founder, Cybiz Corp, stated, “Carl’s Jr will be targeting the development of Tier II and III cities after it’s initial launch in the Delhi and NCR area and other Tier I cities.” He also mentioned that they are looking at expanding through a company owned company operated (COCO) model only, however, at a later stage they may venture into FOCO (Franchise Owned Company Operated).

To create a niche for themselves in the India market, Chopra believes that Carl’s Jr is not a mass appeal brand. “The brand is a premium quick service restaurant which offers partial services to customers, and is recognised for its premium products, centred on wide variety of fresh and delicious charbroiled burgers that lead the industry in taste, quality and innovation,” he stated. Based on their research, Carl Jr has also developed a vegetarian menu to be launched here, apart from their signature dishes. Talking about marketing and promotional strategies, Chopra added, “Our target audience is the young and hungry which defines more than 50 per cent population of India and this audience is engaged on different social media platforms, and hence initially we are keen on the new age social media strategies but definitely in the later run we will be following a parallel approach used successfully by Carl’s Jr globally.” burger chain

Pharmacy retail chain MedPlus plans 10,000 outlets by FY19

Hyderabad-based pharmacy retail chain MedPlus, which entered the Gujarat market with eleven stores, plans to take the franchise route to expand its outlets to touch 10,000 by FY19. The company had been following a company-owned-company-operated (CO-CO) format so far and operates 1,230 stores across twelve states in the country at the moment.

Madhukar Gangadi, Founder & CEO, MedPlus Group said, "As we enter the Gujarat market, it also marks a shift in our strategy to take the franchise route for faster expansion. In eight years we have opened around 1,230 outlets, and now plan to take that count to 10,000 over the next few years." Gangadi added that the overall investment outlined for the expansion would be around Rs 3,000 crore. This would come from the franchisees and the company has tied up with various banks to provide working capital loan to the franchisee owners if they require.

He added that so far the company has invested close to Rs 300 crore as a mix of debt and equity and employs around 9,000 people.

The average sales per outlet is Rs 1.2 crore per store per year. As of now less than five per cent stores operate on a franchise model. "We have established our brand over these years and now it takes a store to break even in around three months. Hence, going forward, for expansion in North India we would take the franchise route," Gangadi said.

MedPlus plans to take the outlet count in Gujarat to 500 over the next couple of years, and by this year-end the number would touch 200 outlets across the state. Gangadi adds, “Given the fact that, Gujarat is the global pharmaceutical hub and a vibrant consumer market for healthcare services, we expect it to be one of our most dynamic target markets.”

Headquartered in Hyderabad, the brand serves more than 200,000 customers daily and enjoys a 30% market share in organized retail Pharma industry.  The company also owns MedPlus Pathlabs(a chain of quality diagnostic centres), RiteCure (a distributor of medical and surgical supplies), and medplusmart.com (an online medical store).

Now, Domino’s Pizza at your train seat

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has inked a deal with Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd (JFL), the parent company of Domino's Pizza, to deliver pizzas while passengers are traveling in trains.

The passengers can order pizza through a phone call or online. Initially, the delivery service is being provided at 12 stations including New Delhi, Jaipur, Agra, Alwar, Ambala, Jalandhar, Mathura, Muzzafarnagar, Pathankot, Vapi, Bharuch and Vadodara, and gradually it will be extended to more stations.

While, e-catering facility has been extended to 120 trains to start off with and more of them will also be added in the coming days. “Yes, the arrangement has been made. The passengers can order online or via a phone call and hot pizzas will be served at their seats in the train enroute,” a JFL spokesperson told.

Other than IRCTC website, the passengers can also place an order through toll-free number 1800-1034-139 or by sending an SMS to 139 giving details of their PNR and seat number.

JFL runs about 844 restaurants of Domino’s Pizza across 185 cities in India and claims to be the largest market for Domino’s Pizza worldwide, outside the USA, surpassing the UK restaurant count.

Global Demand for Ah!thentic Taste Creates Opportunities for Marco's Pizza

America's hunger for Ah!thentic Italian pizza flavor has made Marco's Pizza the fastest-growing pizza franchise in the United States. Now Marco's is rapidly expanding internationally to meet growing demand in other countries.

"Our international expansion is taking off, with deals pending in Saudi Arabia, Africa and Asia. We're really beefing up our infrastructure and support systems to keep stride with all the growth," said Cameron Cummins, Marco's vice president of franchise development.

Marco's ambitious international expansion plans are creating opportunities for franchisees. In India alone, Marco's Pizza multi-unit franchise owner and area developer DJ Patel is pursuing plans to open 400 locations in the country of 1.25 billion people.

Marco's Pizza and international markets are a perfect match, and the number of franchises is expected to grow quickly, just as it has in the United States, where Marco's is approaching its target of having 1,000 stores by the end of 2016. The pace of growth in the U.S. is exceeding projections by 40%, putting the company on track to achieve its goal of becoming the country's fourth-largest pizza chain.

Saudi Arabia, one of the world's wealthiest countries, has a population of 28.7 million people. Africa has a population of 1.1 billion, and across Asia there is a population of 4.4 billion people. Around the world, middle-class populations are growing, and their newly earned disposable income is creating opportunities for U.S. restaurant chains.

These new consumers have a taste for foods beyond their native fare and are especially attracted to American quick-service restaurants, according to industry analyst Technomic Inc.

Upward mobility is occurring in the middle classes "from Indonesia to Turkey to South Africa to Mexico," Technomic said in a report on international markets.

Marco's international franchisees are part of a huge trend. Within five years, the global franchise industry will be worth $5 trillion, said Beth Solomon, president of strategic initiatives and industry relations for the International Franchise Association.

American quick-service franchises have a real advantage in many countries where consumers are eager to embrace American brands and customs. American brands are highly respected in many countries and represent safe, superior and healthy food, she says.

"These quick-service American brands give people in these countries a chance to taste it, feel it, see it, walk into the store," she said. "They can experience American culture in a very direct way."