New York Pizza and Fried Chicken opens in Vijayawada

New York Pizza and Fried Chicken (NYPFC) has launched its first outlet in Vijayawada and its fourth franchise in Andhra Pradesh. 

Announcing the launch of the new restaurant, NYPFC manager Yada Srimannarayana Murthy said that the franchise will provide American dishes with an Indian touch for the customers. “The restaurant was launched after observing the tastes and studying the project in different countries,” said Murthy. 

Meanwhile, Pizza Hut also made its foray into the city with the launch of its first restaurant in the LEPL Icon Mall on Friday. With a seating capacity of 110 the restaurant is decorated in trademark Pizza Hut style with warm lighting and mood graphics on the walls. The welcoming waiters are more than willing to make the city people aware of wide ranging menu from signature pan pizzas and pastas to appetizers and beverages. 

Speaking on this occasion Pizza Hut India Brand general manager Sandeep Kataria said that they were proud of this new launch and positive that it will offer a great dining experience and much more to the people of Vijayawada. 

Indus-League mulls franchise model to expand in smaller cities

In a difficult retail environment when sales are subdued and retailers are battling pricing pressures, Future Ventures India Ltd-controlled Indus-League Clothing Ltd is using the franchise route to expand in smaller cities and keep entry-level prices intact. Indus-League sells apparel and accessories and owns brands such as Scullers, Indigo Nation, John Miller, Jealous 21, Urban Yoga, Daniel Hechter and has recently entered into a licensing agreement for Manchester United. 

“In smaller markets in tier II and III cities, we were finding it a little difficult to run our own stores owing to manpower and other logistical issues, and so we decided to open 10 franchise outlets more as a pilot project to see how they do. We gave them six months this year, and now we have decided to open another 10 by this Diwali. The franchise format would also speed up stores in these markets. While we are not opening any flagship stores there, we will use a combination of two-three brands in each store,” said Rachna Aggarwal, chief executive, Indus- League. 

The response to Manchester United stores and the merchandise has been extremely positive and we have been surprised by the kind of fan following the brand has, particularly among youngsters, Aggarwal added. 

“We have already opened seven Man U stores and will open another five stores in the next three months. The merchandise will also be available in Planet Sports stores and shop-in-shop formats. Though as of now Man U stores are mostly coming up in metros, we are opening one store in the new World Trade Centre in Jaipur,” said Aggarwal. 

Last year, the company opened around 16-18 flagship stores and is planning to open the same number of stores this year. Among this, 40-50 per cent will be in high streets and the rest in shopping malls. 

Mad Over Donuts opens third store in Bengaluru

Singaporean brand Mad Over Donuts (MOD) has launched its third store in the city within a short span of two months. The store is located at Inorbit Mall, Whitefield. With over 38 stores across Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, New Delhi and NCR, MOD is working to strengthen its base in the south and is looking for more opportunities to expand,. 

Tarak Bhattacharya, COO, MOD, said, “The strategy is to focus on the ‘Love at First Bite!’ experience, which includes not just excellent product quality, but also the fun experience that one gets whenever they walk into a Mad Over Donuts’ store.” 

“Being positioned as a vibrant brand, Mad Over Donuts has evolved into a lifestyle choice for many especially with their fresh, delicious eggless donut offerings,” he further added. 

Landmark open to more brand tie-ups

Lifestyle department stores, Max Retail and Auchan hypermarkets will lead the growth for the $4.7-billion Dubai-based Landmark Group in India. Renuka Jagtiani, who spearheads the group's international business, said the target to achieve a billion dollar turnover from India is well on track with the addition of doughnut chain Krisy Kreme and the French hypermarket chain Auchan to its portfolio, reports Times of India. 

Jagtiani, who runs the business along with husband and Middle Eastern retailing czar Micky Jagtiani, said India clocked over Rs 3,000 crore in turnover last year with a growth of 30-35 per cent annually even as the group looks to bring more brands across different categories here. "We have been here for 11 years and as a group we believe in each one of our businesses. Grocery retailing has been important for us. Auchan is a great hypermarket partner with a track record of success in emerging markets so this part of the business will be significant for the group," said Jagtiani, vice-chairperson of Landmark Group. 

The group, which will be the franchise partner for the French retailer, aims to open 10-12 hypermarkets every year after it decided to discontinue its association with Dutch retail chain Spar. Jagtiani said if the Indian government decides to open up the multi-brand retail sector to foreign investment, it may look to change the ownership of Auchan iprovided both the parties agreed on it. The group has gone slow in its investment behind its fashion portfolio other than through Lifestyle and Max stores. "We are always on the lookout for brands and are open to associations, we are not limiting ourselves," said Jagtiani, who was instrumental in setting up the multi-brand fashion retail chain Splash. 

Landmark group franchises international brands such as New Look, Aftershock, Reiss and Koton in the Middle East as well as Bossini and Kappa in India. The group withdrew Springfield and Vincci from the Indian market during the 2008 economic downturn and cut back on expansion of other fashion brands, the report added. 

Dheya Hires Sparkleminds to Roll Out Career Guidance Franchise Centers across India.

Dheya, A Pune, India, Headquartered organization, pioneering the career development and career guidance industry in India has chalked out aggressive business expansion plans over the next couple of years. It has Hired Sparkleminds to advise its business expansion, strategically build the franchise model and help it recruit franchises across India over the next 3 years. Dheya is a Career Development organization focused on Career Guidance, Career Planning and Career Development activities for students, founded in 2005 by Mr Anand Desai. Dheya has scientifically developed its own Psychometric Assessments, Career Guidance, Career Planning & Career development methods, processes and Tools. It also runs India’s first career assessment portal called www.dheya.com focused on career assessment, career planning, career development and employability.

Ms. Aditi Bhattacharya, Co-founder and Head Research, mentioned ‘Dheya today has an unmatched research on career streams, education streams and career decision tools, with in-depth study of more than 600 career streams and 250+ education streams for India. With proprietary reliable and well researched tools & methods, Dheya helps students and professionals in realizing true potential, plan a fulfilling career and build personal competence & life skills to achieve greater heights and success.’

Anand Desai, CEO Dheya, said on the occasion that ‘Dheya’s USP is its unique proprietary intellectual property that includes their Psychometric testing tools , Career planning methods and processes, Career Information and Research, Leadership competency Model, Business Simulations and Exercises, Competency Assessment Tool etc. Our competitive edge is the indigenously developed reliable career assessment and psychometric testing tools. The approach to career solutions that we bring to table is unique, systematic, research based and scientific. Over the next 3 years we plan to be in every major city and town in India and are glad to have hired Sparkleminds to get us there.’

Commenting on the Association, Mr Amit Nahar, CEO Sparkleminds said, ‘India is evolving, the job market is maturing and opportunities are ample. Indian companies have become multi nationals and foreign brands are setting up operations in India. With maturity of companies come job profiles which are more detailed and demanding. India has the youngest population in the World with 38% of the nation’s population studying (Age: 6-24) The Indian education industry is expected to reach a valuation of $110 billion by 2016. Currently we have 431 universities, 21000 colleges and a staggering 11.9 lac schools in India out of which 27% of students are educated privately. According to a recent study only 25% of graduates are actually employable. This number is shockingly low considering the amount of effort and money one spends to finish education and this is where we believe there is an urgent need of organizations like Dheya to work across the country and increase the net productivity of our nation and to match people with the right skills and help them take up the right career streams. We look forward to working closely with Dheya in helping them get 50 franchises across India in the next 3 years.’

Notes to the Editor:

About Dheya:

Dheya is a Pune, India Based Career Guidance & Development Organization focused primarily on career assessment, planning and development and employability development and building success competence. Dheya intellectual property includes the indigenously developed assessments (Several ability tests, personality assessments, skill inventory, values inventory, interest inventory etc.). Dheya has developed a matching engine that helped us in matching the results of the assessments to 600+ career monographs. Dheya today has a web content of 20000+ pages that includes information on 600+ careers, 250+ areas of education, 140+ degree/diploma programs, 270+ specializations.

Dheya started with a research and content team that built monographs of various careers over the initial 3 years. The company also developed its own psychological assessment tools, tested reliability and validity for the tools and set up Indian norms by testing 1200+ students. Thereafter the company launched India’s first career assessment portal called www.dheya.com focused on career assessment, career planning, career development and employability.

Hamleys to enter Gujarat

UK based toy retailer Hamleys is set to expand its India presence by opening a new store in Ahmedabad. The first Hamleys flagship store in India opened in Mumbai followed by one in Chennai. The brand is in a franchise agreement with Reliance Retail. The Ahmedabad store will be spread over 10,000 sq.ft of space in AlphaOne mall.

Alpha G:Corp that operates Gujarat’s biggest mall in the Vastrapur area confirmed this news and added that the store will be functional by September.

The brand also operates in different formats, including concessions stores, toy box and travel stores in the UK, Europe and the Middle-East. These stores sell a wide range of toys like playhouses, vehicles, family games, action toys, dolls, pre-school toys and soft toys among others for children up to 14 years.

Me n Moms unveils first franchise outlet in India

Me n Moms, the fastest growing homegrown retail kids wear and accessories chain, has launched its first franchise store in the country. Located in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, the store is spread across 1,000 square feet, and exhibits a dedicated range of kids wear and accessories under seven categories along with maternity care products for pre-natal and post-natal care. The store aims to become a ‘one-stop destination’ for both mothers and their children. 

Naresh Khatar, chairman and managing director, Me n Moms, said, “Keeping in mind the fact that the Indian market for Infant’s apparel is registering a healthy annual growth rate of more than 15 per cent and India is poised to be one of the largest consumer markets, a lot remains to be tapped in the organized retail space thus paving opportunities for franchise models as well. We are happy to announce our first franchise owned and operated store in Guntur. “

“We have chosen this route to grow faster and keep ourselves abreast with the ever changing retail scenario. We have arrived at selecting this city for pursuing our franchise model, post careful evaluation of markets. We are looking at replicating this model across India for our brand,” Khatar added. 

The products at Me n Moms range from footwear, furniture and toys to baby play-time and bath-time accessories. It also offers products from several other big brands in the same category under one roof as well as tailor-made products for expecting and new mothers. The products are a combination of quality and affordability par excellence that aim to promote the ‘joy of parenting’. 

The company currently has a turnover of Rs 80 crore and aims to reach the Rs 300 crore mark within the next five years. It currently has 12 exclusive stores (Lucknow: 1, Hyderabad: 3, Mumbai: 3, Noida: 1, Pune: 3, Nasik: 1)