Skechers to double its store count in India

American footwear major Skechers is looking to double the number of stores in the country to 100, a top company official said.

The company said it is also planning to launch its apparel and accessories collection next year.

"This year we plan to add 50 stores, taking our count to 100," Skechers India CEO Rahul Vira told PTI.

"We plan to have a healthy mix of 50:50 own stores and franchise-owned and going forward, the franchise business would be slightly on the higher side because in a country like India it makes more sense to go through the franchise route because that really drives the business in the markets where we don't have our infrastructure," he added.

He added that typically a 100-150 sqft store entails an investment of Rs 1.5 crore.

The company entered India in 2012 through a JV with Kishore Biyani-led Future Group and now has presence across 700 multi-brand outlets in the country.

Skechers is growing at a fast clip of 70 per cent year on year in India and plans to expand its consumer base.

"We still are not present in a lot of markets. So our focus would be to enter those markets and build our consumer base. There is a huge potential for us to grow in the Indian market.

"In tier I and mini metros, we still are not present in the manner that we should be. Also, we will look at tier II and tier III cities but getting the right real estate is important for us," he said.

It plans to set up its manufacturing unit in the country in the next three to five years.

"We would be looking at setting up our manufacturing and that would be our mid to long term plan. So as the market evolves and we start gaining grounds in the market, it would (take) three to five years," he said.

Skechers sells its footwear in the country and plans to launch its apparel and accessories next year.

"We are evaluating apparel and accessories and hopefully we should be able to bring those product lines soon for our consumers, probably next year," he added.

The company, which received the FIPB approval for single-brand retail in India last month, plans to hawk its products through its website skechers.inlive by third or fourth quarter of this calendar year.

Henry Ford Health Systems inking franchise partnership with KWalls Hospitality

Health and wellness group Henry Ford Health Systems (HFHS) is inking a franchise partnership with Chandigarh-based hospitality and food services firm KWalls Hospitality , as the $5-billion American entity looks to gain a foothold in the high-potential wellness food space in India. 

Under the partnership deal, KWalls will set up stores branded 'Culinary Wellness' in the country, starting with the northern region. The company typically sells sandwiches, burgers, juices and shakes, and even Indian snacks. "India is the first country outside of the US where we are venturing into. We see this as a high-potential market which offers access to expertise and potential to scale up our intellectual property," HFHS vice-president Mark Coticchia said. 

Coticchia said the venture was differentiated from the quick-service restaurant (QSR) space. "We are not a fast-food chain. The focus is predominantly on scientific nutrition, health and wellness and preventive healthcare," he said. 

Growth in the Rs 6,000-crore eating out space has slowed down to low single digits over the past two years as consumers cut down on discretionary spends, and face intense competition from app-based home-delivery providers and hyper local start-ups. 

In the US, Detroit-based HFHS operates stores only within the premises of medical centres and hospitals. However in India, HFHS will set up its business under three verticals clubbed under the Culinary Wellness brand. KWalls Hospitality managing director Sameer Lamba said these will include Culinary Wellness stores, food courts, tie ups with corporates and subsequently, subscription and app-based home delivery services. 

KWalls Hospitality operates close to 25 food courts across Delhi-NCR, Punjab, UP and Hyderabad . 

Slice of Italy plans to open 10 outlets in India

With a motto to deliver high quality and mouth savoring healthy pizzas, Green House & Hestoft Foods Pvt. Ltd., is looking at an aggressive plan to penetrate its Slice of Italy brand in FY 2016-17. The leading brand in authentic Italian food as well as Italian signature cakes, announced  its plans to open 10 outlets in and around Delhi, NCR (Saket, Greater Kailash, Gurugram & Noida) and tier II cities, which includes Chandigarh, Shimla, Mussoorie, Haridwar, Dehradun, Amritsar and Jaipur.
 
Commenting on the expansion plans, Tarun Chaudhary, Managing Director, Slice of Italy said, “We will be reinforcing our distinctive niche in the segment with our expansion plans. We are looking at adding 10 more outlets in this fiscal year, taking the total count to 25 outlets. We are also planning to launch an interactive and user friendly App for customers in the near future for order bookings, safe & secure transactions and quickest deliveries. We are happy with the continuous growth and getting excellent response from our customers so far.”
 
“Our next destinations include regions such as Chandigarh, Shimla, Mussoorie, Haridwar, Dehradun, Amritsar, Jaipur, along with Delhi and NCR (Saket, Greater Kailash, Gurugram & Noida). We believe our commitment to provide quality, excellence in services, an obsession for Pizza, dedicated customer service will make our brand successful in the competitive multinational food service industry,” he added.  
 
The brand has in-house Business Development Team, which guides the franchisees through the design, permitting, bidding and construction process and offers a thorough training and support to its franchisees.
 
The brand known for its Italian menu carrying 66 varieties of Pizzas (Veg & Non Veg) presently, runs 15 outlets in various formats (large and small) in Asian Games Village, Vasant Vihar, Okhla, Lodhi Road, Prashant Vihar, Janakpuri, Dwarka, Mayur Vihar, Hudson Lane, Dilshad Garden, Gurugram Sec-15, Noida, Indirapuram, Jewar and HCL. Out of these 15 outlets, one is a franchise outlet.

Copper Chimney to expand internationally

Indian restaurant Copper Chimney, part of K Hospitality Corp, has announced a new course of international expansion. Building on its domestic strategy, where K Hospitality Corp, operates a mix of company owned and its franchising of select stores/regions to Pan India Food Solutions (owned by Everstone Capital) and CC Fine Foods, K Hospitality Corp has expanded its reach internationally with a prime focus on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

With operations starting in FY 2016-17, K Hospitality Corp, through its international subsidiary, has signed up a five store development deal for the UAE with Emirates International Group (Emirates Business Group). The stores will open over a period of four years, with two stores expected to launch in this fiscal.

Copper Chimney’s franchise partner in Kuwait has already launched two branches of Copper Chimney, and aims to have another two stores launched by next year in the Kuwait market.

Karan Kapur, executive director, K Hospitality Corp, said, “We are in an aggressive expansion mode and are on-course to extend the Copper Chimney brand to global shores. Over 43 years of its existence, Copper Chimney has created unmatched brand equity which we are now further developing to cater to our brand’s loyal customers as well as new customers outside of the India.”

“This initiative is a key part of our two-pronged expansion strategy which focuses on company owned as well as franchised stores. K Hospitality Corp has been steadily ramping up its presence overseas, and we believe this will present a greenfield opportunity for us as we look at more countries globally. We have been aligning the group’s strengths to further develop a more powerful and distinctive position as a market leader within the F&B industry in this new phase of growth for the brand and group,” he added.

Founded in 1972, with a single Indian restaurant in Mumbai, K Hospitality Corp has over 400 outlets and 5,000 employees in the region. The group operates across two main business divisions – hospitality and food services and travel retail.

US ice cream brand Cold Stone Creamery set to enter India

The US  ice cream brand Cold Stone Creamery is set to open its first outlet in India at Kochi’s Lulu Mall .

The company’s Indian launch follows a partnership collaboration between its subsidiary Kahala Franchising LLC and Tablez Food Company for opening Cold Stone Creamery outlets in India and Sri Lanka.

“We are here as part of our international journey to explore new markets. From Kochi, we’ll soon move to Bengaluru with four-five shops and later to other parts of India,” said Audrey De Haven, Director of International Operations of Kahala Brands.

Audrey, who was here in connection with the opening of the Kochi outlet, said the brand’s overseas expansion began in November 2005 from Tokyo. Today, it has presence in over 1,400 locations across 27 countries, including the US, with the annual sales exceeding $650 million.

The Kochi outlet will offer over 18 signature creations made out of fresh ingredients with candy, cakes, fruits or nuts. Ice creams are made afresh daily at the store and the recipe is handcrafted. Later, it is customized by combining a variety of mix-ins on a frozen granite stone, she said.

“The rise in demand for branded products prompted the entry of many international ice cream brands to India, despite a lower per capita consumption,” Audrey said. In India, ice cream is still considered as an after-food desert while in the US, it could be a meal in itself.

The ice cream market in India is still at a nascent stage with only 300 ml annual per capita consumption against 22,000 ml in the US and 3,000 ml in China.

Shafeena Yussuff Ali, Chairperson of Tablez Food Company, was of the view that ice cream lovers around the globe admire Cold Stone Creamery as an innovator and appreciate its exceptional style of customer service, especially for crafting the freshest quality ice cream products.

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.

Kidzee plans more pre-school centres across India

Homegrown pre-school chain Kidzee, owned by education company Zee Learn, has planned to expand its range of schools, by adding 300-400 facilities each year, as it taps the pre-school and early childhood care and education (ECCE) needs of the various towns and cities in India.

The company currently boasts of a wide network of more than 1,500 schools in over 550 cities, having signed up 509 centres for FY 2015.

According to Zee Learn Head (Marketing and Innovation) Abhinav Upadhyay, “Kidzee  remains focused on nurturing the ‘unique potential’ in every child. Our primary focus area is on the critical age group of 0-6 years in children, when 90% of the brain’s development takes place. Kidzee is also involved in making people aware of early childhood needs, and also provides for the same.”

In terms of opening schools, Kidzee follows an all-franchise model, wherein the franchisee will be required to invest in setting up her school, while the company provides all the required teaching aids and infrastructure standards. “Each school may be built over a minimum area of 2,500 sq feet, and will entail an investment of Rs 10-15 lakh, which will be borne by the franchisee. According to our revenue model, Kidzee shares the fees collected on enrolments with the franchisee,” Kidzee Business Head Sukhvinder Singh Bindra told DH.

As per policy, Kidzee allows only women to become franchisees, with the staff at each schools also comprising only women. “Each of our pre-school has been mandated to be run by women, since we believe that women, when given the right responsibility and adequate training, respond to early childhood needs better,” Bindra said.

Through the said franchise model, Kidzee has been able to create 1,500 women entrepreneurs, who are specially trained by the company to tend to the young ones. Meanwhile, for its students, the schools also integrate state-of-the-art technologies as part of their teaching tools, such as audio visual aids and tablets.

There are 150 million children in the ages of 0-6 in India, and many towns have not even come across a concept called ‘pre-school’. Around 90% of the said Rs 13,000-crore category is unorganised. “Yet, even in small towns, there is acceptance for our products, and we’ve varied fee structures for our different markets,” Upadhyay said.