INDIA INTERNATIONAL FRANCHISE BLOG : Franchise Your Brand Internationally and In India

Aptech Franchises In Brazil, Increasing Its World Franchise Footprint.

2010-08-25T16:41:00.000+05:30

Aptech Limited, a global leader in learning solutions, today announced its expansion plans in the Brazilian market by partnering with Brazilian companies through franchise model and own centres.

In 2006, Aptech Ltd. became an associated member of India Brazil Chamber of Commerce (IBCC) and, since then, the Indian company and IBCC have been working together on expanding IT company in Brazil.

In 2009, with the support of IBCC, the Aptech forayed at Brazil through a joint venture (JV) with partner companies, the FALGO EMPREENDIMENTOS E PARTICIPAÇÕES SA and MAC BALLESTEROS PARTICIPAÇÕES LTDA. In early 2010, established its first IT Training Centre in Belo Horizonte and has plans to open new centres in Brazil through its franchise model.

Mr. Ninad Karpe, CEO & MD, Aptech Ltd., visited Brazil last August 14 to attend an event at the Fundação Dom Cabral and took the opportunity to discuss the expansion project of Aptech in Brazil. According to him, “Aptech has brought the latest course curriculum in IT and its best practices to Brazil. However, there is a huge demand-supply gap of IT professionals in the country and in order to bridge this gap we are planning to further expand our presence in association with Brazilian partners who will help us to make available IT education in every corner of the country.”

“As per the recent industry reports, Brasil is the largest IT market representing more than 45 per cent of total investments for the sector in Latin American region. Also – it is estimated that there will be a demand for over 800,000 professionals in this sector by the year 2014. Aptech will support these initiatives by offering world class IT training through its franchise model.” adds Mr. Karpe.

Aptech commenced its IT education & training business in 1986 and has trained over 6 million students – globally and is currently present in over 35 countries globally with a large presence in China Vietnam, Russia and Nigeria.

Tags:Aptech, India Brazil Chamber Of Commerce, IBCC, ALGO EMPREENDIMENTOS E PARTICIPAÇÕES SA ,MAC BALLESTEROS PARTICIPAÇÕES LTDA, ninad karpe, Brazilian Partners, IT franchise,Brazil Franchise

Source:India Brazil Chamber Of Commerce, August 2010.

This Blog is posted by Sparkleminds, A End To End Franchise Solutions Company, Based at Bangalore, India.We offer customized services to businesses seeking expansion through the franchise route and over the last decade have helped numerous clients to scale up their businesses.Visit us on www.sparkleminds.com and speak to us, and we are sure you will be more than glad to understand how we could grow your existing business multi-fold times.

Sunrise Tacos Looks To Franchise Its Mexican Franchise Restaurant In India

2010-08-21T16:24:00.000+05:30

No matter how bad life may be, everyone has to eat, and good food really does cross all boundaries in today's global village we now seem to be living in. In that spirit, an American entrepreneur who started a taco restaurant chain in Bangkok is now selling franchises to two parties in India.

Greg Lange, managing director of Sunbelt Asia Company which operates Sunrise Tacos outlets at Sukhumvit Soi 12, Emporium and Siam Paragon plus some Subway sandwich outlets, said he started accepting overseas franchise applications before local ones and this led to the two Indian groups jumping into the business.

"I have been negotiating with two groups in India and they are now looking for sites, one in Mumbai and the other group is in Kolkata," he said.

"When I made the business plan a few years ago I never in a hundred years thought there would be so much demand from the Indian market, but a number of ingredients are very similar [to Indian cuisine].

"If you went to Emporium you would have noticed that there are a lot of Indians eating there. There are actually more Indians eating at Sunrise Tacos than at Indian restaurants."

Although Mr Lange started accepting local franchise applications recently, there was a very limited response from about 300 interested parties who had been on the waiting list for about two years.

"I think people are taking a wait-and-see attitude as far as what is happening in Thailand, but as far as I am concerned, I don't see any slackening in demand, I see a bigger demand."

The investment for a local franchised outlet is three million baht, covering the total build-out cost and franchise fee.

"We are very interested in franchising, not so much in Bangkok but more so in Phuket and Pattaya because I as a businessman can't be there - I can't jump on a plane or I can't drive two and half hours to Pattaya every day."

The price tag is higher in India, equivalent to four million baht an outlet. Mr Lange does not follow a master franchise system but is using a development area strategy. As a result, each Indian group has to commit to opening 10 locations and put up an additional 200,000 baht per location.

One of the two Indian groups also intends to open take-out kiosks, for which the franchise fee is lower.

"A lot of people think India is wide open," said Mr Lange. "Taco Bell went there last month and that is a big American restaurant chain.

"So we have been in talks with these two groups for the last six months and we have now reached the conclusion and are just looking for locations and it is very difficult to find the right location in India because the rents are so high."

It is possible that Sunrise Tacos will also move to Singapore because Mr Lange is holding talks with a Singaporean party, but nothing has been finalised yet.

ON THE MOVE: Greg Lange, managing director of Sunbelt Asia Company and Sunrise outlets.

Although the long-term outlook for the venture is good, recent events in Bangkok have hurt Mr Lange's businesses. Traffic fell at the Soi 12 and Emporium outlets, but he is confident it will bounce back soon.

He is also sticking to his plan to open an outlet at the fire-ravaged CentralWorld, but would have to wait for the complex to be rebuilt. Another outlet is to be opened at Terminal 21 building at the Sukhumvit-Asok intersection in June 2011, but possibly sooner.

"We are going to be on the fourth floor. There are going to be a lot of other restaurants, It is going to be called the San Francisco level, and it's basically going to be a mall and at the back there is going to be service."

Aside from this Mr Lange has also bought another franchise for the famous Chiang Mai restaurant, The Dukes.

"I am the first franchiser of this company. How it came about is that David, who is the co-owner of The Dukes in Chiang Mai, has two locations and they do a lot of dinners - anything from 250-300 a night in Chiang Mai and it is considered a local institution.

"Whenever I was in Chiang Mai I saw how good the food was and felt there was demand for this type of niche. There are a lot of Italian restaurants doing pizza but nobody is doing an American pizza - it's a different style, a different taste."

The Dukes Bangkok branch opened at Emporium's restaurant hall on the fifth floor in December and while sales were up 50% versus the previous month in April, this month they are off 30% because of unsettled conditions in the capital.

While there does not seem to be a lot of enthusiasm for entering the restaurant business in Thailand right now, Sunbelt Asia knows there is strong interest in the export sector because one arm of its business is involved in setting up companies, and it is seeing record levels of companies being established for this purpose.

"Exporting seems to be the hot, trendy thing right now in Thailand. If you look at the growth in exporting last month, 40% higher numbers than the year before, this is where the record growth is happening in Thailand.

"A lot of people say, how could the stock market be going up, how could the baht be getting stronger with all this political crisis, don't they know what's going on? It's simply because Thailand has high currency reserves and we are getting a lot of business overseas.

"Even now, with this political climate, people are setting up companies but they are not setting up companies in tourism, they are not setting up companies to open hotels and restaurants, they are opening companies to export - it's a different sector."

Tags:sunrise tacos, mexican restaurant franchise, local franchised outlet, master franchise system, greg lange, sunbelt asia company, sunrise outlet, mexican food franchise, fast food franchise,

This Blog is posted by Sparkleminds, A End To End Franchise Solutions Company, Based at Bangalore, India.We offer customized services to businesses seeking expansion through the franchise route and over the last decade have helped numerous clients to scale up their businesses.Visit us on www.sparkleminds.com and speak to us, and we are sure you will be more than glad to understand how we could grow your existing business multi-fold times.

Energie Gyms Plan to Franchise In India

2010-08-02T11:39:00.000+05:30

In a week that saw the Government launch its Indian trade drive, énergie’s research and development team has targeted the rapidly developing Western and Southern regions of India, as the fitness market is showing significant signs of expanding.

Énergie has indentified key opportunities for multiple sites that has lead the company to begin actively seeking the right investors to take the brand’s unique approach to fitness and wellness to a new continent.

The move to Asia follows the successful launch of énergie Fitness in the Middle East and North Africa. A £2m fitness club in Doha Airport in Qatar was the company’s first major cultural challenge to ensure the translation of products and services respected local cultures while maintaining the brand’s identity.

The Qatar club saw small but essential details incorporated from ablution and prayer rooms to male only and female only clubs, plus the successful translation to Arabic without losing énergie’s brand ethos. Such detail and local knowledge resulted in 708 pre-sales and 1,100 memberships in just three months. Énergie has already confirmed three further openings in Doha as well as a move east to Dubai.

Such experience and a strong and unique approach to fitness have set the company in good stead to target similar culturally challenging countries, such as India.

Jan Spaticchia, founder and chief executive of the énergie Fitness Group said: “We have been looking at the Indian fitness market for some time now and have already begun investing considerably in understanding and identifying the right opportunities for the énergie Fitness Group.

“We are now in a position to find the appropriate investors to help develop the brand in regions across the West and South as part of our growth strategy.

“Our experience in the Middle East has given us firm knowledge and understanding in the many aspects needed to satisfy local cultures from language translation to physical construction as well as marketing to the right audience. We are extremely excited about our progression to India and taking the énergie name to a new part of the world.”

Within énergie’s two year master plan, the company will focus on its key brands; énergie Fitness Clubs, énergie Fitness for Women and its low budget Fit4less concept and has projected target of 10 openings during the first two years.

Tags:energie, energie franchise, jan spaticchia, energie fitness group,energie fitness clubs, energie fitness for women, fit4less, gym franchise, international gyms,gym business, ftiness franchise,

Source:30 July 2010 which franchise . com.

This Blog is posted by Sparkleminds, A End To End Franchise Solutions Company, Based at Bangalore, India.We offer customized services to businesses seeking expansion through the franchise route and over the last decade have helped numerous clients to scale up their businesses.Visit us on www.sparkleminds.com and speak to us, and we are sure you will be more than glad to understand how we could grow your existing business multi-fold times.

Hot Breads All Set For A Global Franchise Footprint

2010-07-13T17:19:00.000+05:30

Hot Breads, the fast-growing international chain that originated in Chennai, India, a scant two decades ago, is set to enter Canada.

The opening of the first retail outlet right here in Peel is imminent, while another five company-owned main street outlets will be opened throughout the GTA by year-end, Raju Sawlani, the master franchise holder for Canada, told Focus last week. Capacity is also being build to cater to a 60-outlet franchised operation in the GTA.

It is really the wholesale, catering and franchising end of the operation that holds the key to the chain's rapid expansion across Canada, Sawlani points out.

"We've acquired a 6,000 square foot facility that we're setting up as our centralized production unit for our franchising operations," Sawlani said.

Hot Breads' wholesale and first retail operations at 720 Burnhamthorpe Rd W in Mississauga are proposed to become the chain's launchpad for Canada.

The chain already has operations in the US, the UK, France, Dubai and elsewhere in the UAE, Kuwait, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bostswana, Ghanaâ?¦ and counting.

The story of Hot Breads in India is well known. At a time when bread was generally considered in India's south as food fit only for the ill, erstwhile management professor M. Mahadevan thought he could sell breads and croissants and buns to the masses.

"Bread was only the hook," he later recalled. "We took a bun, filled it with curry and made it a curry bun. We filled chicken tikka inside a croissant. We started offering pizzas, burgersâ?¦.

"I got the idea to make these things Indian after I saw what the Japanese did to their bakery items," he added.

The rest is history; today the Hot Breads curry buns are a big hit even in Paris.

Sawlani plans to offer a range that has grown well beyond the curry bun. On the menu at his and his franchisees' Hot Breads cafes will be puff pastries, Danish, brownies, masala cookies, cakes for every possible occasion, sandwiches, burgers, pizzas, pav bhaji, vada pav, samosas, Masala Chai, smoothiesâ?¦

Sawlani thinks big: he estimates the central production facility he's setting up will be able to cater to 60 - yes, you heard that right, 60 - franchise operations. And, the facility has room to expand further.

Nor does he view this as only an operation catering to South Asians: "Look inside any restaurant offering Indian cuisine, and you'll find more than 60-70 per cent of the diners are of non-South Asian origin."

And after all, bread is more a mainstream Western concept than Indian.

As a chain, Hot Breads has deservedly won a reputation for offering top quality products at competitive rates. Now Sawlani wants to take it to the next level, by offering patrons a distinctly classy cafÃ© feel - at very reasonable rates.

He points out that as a brand, Hot Breads already enjoys a very strong brand recall among local residents who've come from South India and the Middle East. "We'll build up from here on in," he promises.

Tags:hot breads franchise,bakery franchise, hot bread franchise,franchised operation,bakery chain franchise,Hot Bread Cafe, Cafe Franchise,franchising bakery, franchised bakery.

Source:South Asian Focus. CA.

This Blog is posted by Sparkleminds, A End To End Franchise Solutions Company, Based at Bangalore, India.We offer customized services to businesses seeking expansion through the franchise route and over the last decade have helped numerous clients to scale up their businesses.Visit us on www.sparkleminds.com and speak to us, and we are sure you will be more than glad to understand how we could grow your existing business multi-fold times.

Vivafit A Portugese Gym Franchisor Sign India Master Franchise

2010-07-10T14:34:00.000+05:30

NEW DELHI: Vivafit, a Portuguese gym chain has signed an agreement with Rose Red-Lifestyles as master franchisee for expansion in India. The company is planning to have 10 to 15 outlets by 2011 and 1,000 outlets in the next 10 years.

Vivafit has the largest gym chain in Portugal with more than 110 locations. It aims to have consolidated gym chain of 250 locations in Portugal and Spain and five master franchises in Europe, Latin America and in the middle east & asia by 2014.

The agreement was signed by Pedro Ruiz, CEO, Vivafit—Love Living Fit and Manisha Ahlawat, Master Franchisee for India.

Tags:Manisha Ahlawat, Vivafit, portugese gym chain, rose red lifestyles, pedro ruiz,international gyms in india, Master Franchise, franchise expansion in india, gym chain, love living fit.

This Blog is posted by Sparkleminds, A End To End Franchise Solutions Company, Based at Bangalore, India.We offer customized services to businesses seeking expansion through the franchise route and over the last decade have helped numerous clients to scale up their businesses.Visit us on www.sparkleminds.com and speak to us, and we are sure you will be more than glad to understand how we could grow your existing business multi-fold times.

Indian Fast Food Franchise Expanding In Different Forms Across The West.

2010-06-25T16:16:00.000+05:30

Two CTM plates,” hollers Akash Kapoor. That’s chicken tikka masala. Kapoor is trying to streamline operations at his curry truck but the queue is building up outside. His CurryUpNow, a Mexican taco truck refurbished to sell desi street food, is only a few months old. But word’s gotten around and Kapoor and a couple of new employees are struggling to keep up.

Kapoor says he was really inspired by the success of the Kogi Korean barbecue trucks in Los Angeles. Since then, street food has taken off in the SF Bay Area as well. There’s the Crème Brûlée man, Sexy Soup Cart, Magic Curry Cart. It was only a matter of time before Indian street food joined the bandwagon.

Indian chaat, (unlike crème brûlée) has a certain street pedigree.

“In India the chaat vendors used to come right outside your door,” laughs Kapoor. “That’s how I grew up. That’s how my wife grew up. We like that dirty food.” He hastily points out Curry Up Now has its health inspector’s certificate prominently displayed. His wife Rana, a chatty woman who greets regulars by name, says she’s always missed street food. “Pav bhaaji, kaathi rolls, chholey bhaturey,” Rana lists off her favorites. “I am cooking what I miss. And I am cooking what I want everyone to experience. So when they look at it they say ‘khaya tha yaar’ (we’ve eaten that).”

This, in a way, is nostalgia for a life left behind—of college students on tight budgets slurping pani puri. Street food is like the overtures of first love—a quick, spicy cheap date. It’s the first taste of rebellion—don’t eat that pani puri, that water will make you sick—your mother would warn you.

It’s also probably the one piece of Indianness you have to give up on when you move to America.

Vinod Chopra and his son Amod Chopra say they learned that the hard way.

“I stopped eating it after my kidney disease,” says Vinod Chopra. “Then I had to be very careful, especially of the water. I still sneak it in sometimes.” “Our relatives would call me and tell me ‘Your dad is eating chaat on the street again,’” retorts Amod. “I learned my lesson when I ate chaat and got sick.”

Vinod Chopra could probably be called the godfather of chaat in the Bay Area.

He started a chaat corner in the back of their grocery store in Berkeley in 1987. Now people drive miles to line up for a table on weekends. But, he remembers, when he told his wife that he wanted to sell chaat she was so aghast she almost didn’t come back from a trip to India.

“In India this type of cuisine is mostly done by vendors on the street,” says Vinod. “In the Indian scenario that is looked down upon. You are not a restaurateur. You are just a hawker.”

Viks quickly became a Bay Area landmark. It rapidly outgrew the back of the grocery store and expanded to the warehouse next door. Now it’s moved into its own building down the street. Amod Chopra proudly shows off the dedicated bhatura frying stations at the new venue. But he says they are resolutely sticking to the no-frills ambience, so don’t expect table cloths.

“Nobody has asked us for tablecloths,” laughs Amod. “They have definitely asked us for cleaner tables. We are working on that.”

Viks success has spawned a slew of imitators across the Bay Area. Many regular restaurants have added chaat to their menus. Chaat has entered the foodie parlance.

Vinod Chopra says when he started Viks, he had to do a lot of explaining to do. Indian food, in the American imagination, was all about naan and tandoori chicken. People were befuddled by the chaat menu. “They used to ask what we had in the samosas? Potatoes. What’s aloo tiki? Potatoes. They wondered if we ate anything other than potatoes!” Vinod eventually added some non-veg items like kaathi kebabs and lamb roti to the menu. But he said he knew all along that to succeed he had to appeal to an audience larger than the Indian community.

It worked. Alan Triester says he has been a Viks regular since 1988. A painter, he often stops by Viks, newspaper in hand, before he goes to his studio. “It puts me in another world—the spices, the music, the people,” he says. He imagines this is what an Indian market must feel like. Triester has never been to India but he says eating at Viks has made him want to go.

In a way Viks is about getting that Indian street food experience without having to go there (and risking the diarrhea). And the rise of social media has meant the food cart revolution can spread virally in a way it couldn’t a decade ago. CurryUpNow has over 1,000 followers on Twitter. Really popular ones like the Crème Brulee Cart have over 10,000.

The growing popularity of chaat has meant that newer entrants are finding it a tough market. Jayshree Patel says anyone who has sampled her cooking keeps telling her she needs to open a restaurant. But she fears there is a real glut of desi eateries in the South Bay. Her husband’s job does not allow a move out of the area to a place like Sacramento where they might have an easier time starting up a restaurant. Instead she decided to try something smaller with less overhead—the back of Sugandh grocery store in Milpitas.

“It’s small, I can only do 5 or 6 items,” she says. Other stores have asked her to open a chaat counter as well. But she prefers instead to cater chaat parties at home. Even there she won’t cater for more than 100 people. Chaat parties are becoming more popular. You can have it at home. Chaat ladies like Patel take care of the aloo tikis and dahi sev puri. They will come and set it all up for you. “I don’t have to use your kitchen at all,” says Patel. With the economy down, she says the home catering business has taken a hit as well. “People say it’s too costly,” she says. “But it’s hard work.” But she has adjusted her prices as well.

Others like Akash Kapoor at CurryUpNow are giving their menu more of a multicultural twist. For example, they have chicken vindaloo burritos and saag paneer burritos. “And we also have the weird burrito—it’s whatever I feel like that day,” says Kapoor.

Paawan Kothari is trying a whole different tack—chai on a bicycle. “You need something unique, otherwise the barrier of entry is too high,” says Kothari. She decided what was missing in the street food scene was some good chai. Within ten days she got a bicycle trailer made, added carafes and a thermos and took it down to Dolores Park in San Francisco. A burned out marketing strategist at IBM, Kothari suddenly found a new passion.

“I can’t say I was passionate about chai,” she chuckles. “I was more of a coffee drinker really. And I used to just use tea bags.”

But the chai was really the excuse. “I realized how much I enjoyed meeting people,” she says. “And it allowed me to be creative.”

She started off with masala chai. Soon she was experimenting with mint and lemongrass, cardamom and ginger. She’s even done Mexican chocolate chai and green chili chai.

But the food trucks have also attracted their share of problems. Each city has its own permit laws. For example, Burlingame doesn’t require permits but the truck needs to move at least 500 feet every hour. Palo Alto does not allow trucks on public property. San Francisco has tough sanitation rules. There is also some opposition. Bricks and mortar restaurants complain that food carts steal their business with none of their overhead.

“We have been called carpetbaggers,” says Kapoor. “On our very first day, a lady who is a restaurant owner called the cops on us. But the cops said that we were permitted to be there.”

Burlingame sent out surveys asking residents to weigh in on the flurry of food carts. Those results, says Kapoor, were largely favorable to the street carts.

The popularity of street carts means cities are having to figure out new rules. Kothari was part of a delegation that met with San Francisco supervisors recently. She says the permit process right now is really about taco trucks which need three-part sinks and bathroom facilities and refrigeration units. They don’t really work for vendors like her who might be parked somewhere for only two hours. But she says the permits will have to adjust in order to accommodate the street carts because their popularity continues to rise.

“It’s a more social way of eating than restaurants,” says Kothari.

But it’s not just about what street carts are bringing to the neighborhood. Kothari says going out on the streets with her chai cart has also helped her.

“I feel so much more part of the community now. As an immigrant I always felt this is a place I live in. But I didn’t feel I belonged. Now I am part of my neighborhood. I am part of the street cart movement. If I don’t go out for a few days I feel the pressure of people looking for you.”

Kapoor understands why restaurants gripe that street carts don’t have to pay the kinds of rents a restaurant does. But he says they have to contend with their own problems—like truck accidents (they’ve had that) and the weather.

“We probably do 20% business when it rains. On the other hand that might be better than a really gorgeous day when people want to do other things,” says Kapoor. “Our perfect weather is in between—not raining, but not a perfect California day.”

Kapoor has big plans for his street carts. He wants to have five trucks in the Bay Area. “And I want to do Panda Express style kiosks in malls,” says Kapoor.

Amod Chopra at Viks vehemently opposes franchises.

“I think here are two elements to this—chutney and passion,” says Amod.

He thinks franchises will dilute both. He wants to keep Viks the way it is—one of a kind where a brain surgeon and a newly arrived college student get treated exactly the same. Both have their names hollered in the cavernous dining hall when their food is ready.

Jayashree Patel is waiting for her green card to decide if she wants to open a restaurant or not. She worries right now a restaurant will leave her little time for her five-year-old.

Paawan Kothari is expanding into Green Coriander, her venture into a delivery service for home cooked Indian food with organic ingredients. “I don’t want a restaurant, just a pick up window,” she says though she fantasizes sometimes about a train station style chai shop with stubby little glasses. But first she’s busy figuring out if she wants to try a Bhutanese salty buttery chai.

But while Kothari dreams about creating a chai franchise so every city could have their own chai cart, she concedes as a business her chai on a bicycle is not raking in the cash. It’s still more about the passion.

Amod Chopra of the hugely successful Viks would agree. “We want chaat ourselves,” he says. “The reason we run the chaat shop is so we can have an endless supply of chaat.”

Tags:CurryUpNow, Indian Street Food Franchise, Creme Brulee Cart,tack-chai ,Green Coraider, viks, Amod Chopra, chai franchise,kiosk franchise, bicycle franchise, truck franchise.Indian Food Franchise.

Source:Sandip Roy is the host of New America Now, a news magazine show on KALW 91.7 FM, produced by New America Media.News Feature, India Current.

This Blog is posted by Sparkleminds, A End To End Franchise Solutions Company, Based at Bangalore, India.We offer customized services to businesses seeking expansion through the franchise route and over the last decade have helped numerous clients to scale up their businesses.Visit us on www.sparkleminds.com and speak to us, and we are sure you will be more than glad to understand how we could grow your existing business multi-fold times.

Howards Storage World Opens Its First Outlet In India at The Mantri Square Bangalore

2010-06-24T16:17:00.000+05:30

Howards Storage World (HSW) – Australia-based speciality retailer of storage and organisational products for home and office – has debuted in India with the launch of its first store at the Mantri Square mall in Bangalore. The 3,000 sq.ft store opened on June 23, 2010.

Alex Dobrin, principal CEO, HSW International, said, “Our unique Australian retail concept is enjoying success not only in Europe, but also in various regions across the world. The introduction of HSW in India is an exciting addition to our international presence and important part of our global expansion programme. The plan is to open 30 stores in the next five years in India itself.” .

Balachandra Yadalam, MD, Skanda Retail, the master franchisee for HSW in India, said, “We are very optimistic about HSW’s prospects in India as we realise that our target audience is ready to pay a premium for quality, range and service – our key differentiators in this space.”

Howards Storage World is a franchise operation selling all forms of storage, space saving and organisational products. The retailer has more than 3,500 products and solutions for the home.

The extensive product range includes kitchen baskets, food containers and pantry organisers, shower caddies and bathroom accessories, laundry trolleys, clothes baskets and drying aides, bedroom storage baskets, jewellery organisers and shoe racks, modular wine cellars and entertainment, among other things.

Tags:Howards Storage World, Alex Dobrin, HSW International, Balachandra Yadalam, Skanda Retail, International Franchise, australian franchiser in india, australian companies in india, master franchisee

This Blog is posted by Sparkleminds, A End To End Franchise Solutions Company, Based at Bangalore, India.We offer customized services to businesses seeking expansion through the franchise route and over the last decade have helped numerous clients to scale up their businesses.Visit us on www.sparkleminds.com and speak to us, and we are sure you will be more than glad to understand how we could grow your existing business multi-fold times.

Sign Up Of $100 Million Indo-Oman Joint Investment Fund In July 2010.Franchising & Joint Ventures Between both countries to take off.

2010-06-19T12:04:00.000+05:30

New Delhi: The much- awaited India-Oman Joint Investment Fund will be signed early July during the visit of the minister of national economy Ahmed bin Abdul-Nabi Macki, also Oman’s acting minister of finance.

Talking to FE, Humaid Al Maani, ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman, said, “Our minister of economy will visit India next month and the MoU will be inked then. Under this agreement, both the countries can use the funds to further develop infrastructure, tourism, education, etc.” The envoy also said the 50-50 venture signifies closer ties and mutual trust both countries share. The partnership fund would evaluate investment opportunities in both the countries and decide on merit. The investment could be in any sphere—it should only be beneficial to both the countries, he said. Once the fund is in place, it will encourage more direct investments from both sides in various sectors.

The fund will initially have a corpus of $100 million, which could go up to $1.5 billion and will primarily be used to finance infrastructure development, education, tourism and IT training. Apart from infrastructure, another major sector where this fund could be useful is education. “We are holding talks with several educational institutions to open up their franchises in Muscat. Areas like IT, training institutes for human resources, are important to us,” Humaid Al Maani said.

Senior Ficci officials said during the joint working group meeting in April, in which Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia was leading the Indian side in Muscat, the broadbase of the MoU was discussed and finalised. Some of the sectors identified for focused attention were agriculture, IT, education and training, manufacturing, earth sciences and R&D.

Anil Wadhwa, India’s ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman, said, “The India-Oman Joint Investment Fund is very special because the fund is the first of its kind that India has set up with any country in the world, which reflects the importance that India attaches to its relationship with Oman.”

In 2009, Oman was the first country in West Asia to announce the setting up of such a fund in partnership with India.

In November 2008, India’s largest commercial bank, State Bank of India and Oman’s State General Reserve Fund signed an MoU to promote a joint investment fund with a corpus of $100 million, to be contributed equally. The MoU is valid for two years from the date of signing and can be extended by mutual consent...

Source:Indo-Oman fund MoU in July, Financial Express,Huma Siddiqui
Posted: Saturday, Jun 19, 2010 at 0058 hrs IST

Tags:Franchisees In Muscat,Franchise In Oman, Indian franchisors abroad, India-Oman Joint Investment Fund, International franchise expansion,india oman franchise, franchising in oman,

This Blog is posted by Sparkleminds, A End To End Franchise Solutions Company, Based at Bangalore, India.We offer customized services to businesses seeking expansion through the franchise route and over the last decade have helped numerous clients to scale up their businesses.Visit us on www.sparkleminds.com and speak to us, and we are sure you will be more than glad to understand how we could grow your existing business multi-fold times.

Aptech Looks at 150 Franchise Centres In Russia,Vietnam,Middle East & India In The Next 12 Months.

2010-06-18T16:30:00.000+05:30

NEW DELHI: IT training and learning solutions provider Aptech will focus more on emerging markets such as Vietnam, Russia and countries in the Middle East and Africa to boost its growth, chief executive and managing director Ninad Karpe told ET in an interview.

Aptech said it plans to add 150 franchise centres in India and abroad in the next 12 months. This includes 55-60 centres in Russia.

“We are focusing on becoming a global career education company. We are following a multi-product , multi-geography strategy. These emerging markets are interesting — they are not very easy to enter, but they provide fairly long-term prospects,” said Mr Karpe.

“The early signs of this year show a far better upward market trend in enrollment , with a lot of enrollments happening in June-July . Overall, the market scenario seems to be far better than last year for career enrollments,” he said.

Aptech, which earns around one-third of its retail revenue from outside India, mainly from some 35 emerging markets, has also started offering animation and English language training, besides IT training , the MD said.

“After the acquisition of animation firm MAAC for Rs 76 crore, the revenue from animation education is far greater than from IT education. There is a big demand for multimedia from web designing and ad agencies,” said Mr Karpe.

Aptech which provides training to some 4,42,326 students across the world will have a different strategy for its brands such as Aptech computer education and Arena, which provides animation training and new brands such as english express and Avalon, which deals with travel and tourism.

“This does not mean we are taking focus off the Indian market. With the matured brands, we are certainly getting into class C and class D cities. What is happening is, a lot of students don’t want to travel to big cities, they want education in their home towns.

The new brands we are targeting for the big cities,” said Mr Karpe. The training firm said the entry into the school segment is not on the cards as its diversification into ICT (information and communication technology) projects, had not turned out to be a good experience.

“We did try a bit of diversification, we did some government projects such as Delhi school project and we incurred some losses there. We have now decided to focus mostly on career education, after that the world is open for us,” Mr Karpe added.

Source:TOI,June 18, 2010.

Tags:franchise centre, aptech franchise, ninad karpe, education franchise,avalon, english express, english franchise, computer education franchise, I.T. franchise, animation franchise,top franchise, best franchise

This Blog is posted by Sparkleminds, A End To End Franchise Solutions Company, Based at Bangalore, India.We offer customized services to businesses seeking expansion through the franchise route and over the last decade have helped numerous clients to scale up their businesses.Visit us on www.sparkleminds.com and speak to us, and we are sure you will be more than glad to understand how we could grow your existing business multi-fold times.

Havmor India Ice Cream Chain Looks For Overseas Franchise For Expansion

2010-06-12T13:17:00.000+05:30

Works on diet ice creams.

Ahmedabad-based Havmor Ice cream Limited is considering overseas expansion for its chain of restaurants and ice cream parlours.

The largest ice cream manufacturers in Western India are looking at enquiries for setting up franchises in US and Dubai.

"We might give Dubai a shot but have our hands full at the moment with India. Earlier, we had explored Singapore for overseas expansion but did not take it up for the same reason," said Ankit Chona, CEO of Havmor group of companies while his father Pradeep Chona, director, Havmor Ice Cream Limited, adds, "In fact we have been receiving calls from the US where people are keen to start franchises across the country. We are giving the plans a thought but nothing is concrete as of now."

The company which has come up with novel ice creams, including the non-alcoholic whisky-flavoured ice cream for premium clientele for parties or weddings last year, is also experimenting on diet ice creams.

"We already have sugar-free ice creams which are doing well in the market. In fact, my father had tried to market ice creams with less than two but did not go down well with the masses. However, now that people are becoming so health conscious, this may be the right time to launch such an ice cream and we are experimenting with the same," Pradeep Chona said.

The ice cream that began its branded life in 1944 in Karachi, during undivided India by Satish Chona had to start from scratch again in the form of a hand-cart business on a railway station in Ahmedabad, post-partition. Since then, the ice cream business has taken innovative forms and given newer heights to the company, which aims to a turnover of Rs 175 crore this year by manufacturing 1.5 crore litres of ice cream this year.

"The company has been seeing a growth of 25-30 per cent every year. In fact, with the completion of our Naroda plant in January next year, we will be able to add 1 lakh litres of ice cream per day to our current capacity of 60,000 litres of ice cream per day," Pradeep Chona said at an event to announce winners of its Mera Flavour contest. The interactive contest involved people to suggest flavours and send in recipes, of which three top flavours will be included in the menu of Havmor restaurants and ice cream outlets. Havmor's HavFunn outlets were expanded from 15 in 2008-09 to 50 in 2009-10.

"We are planning to take our HavFunn outlets to 100 by 2011. Of these 50 new outlets, 30 will be in Gujarat, a few in Mumbai and Rajasthan. In fact Rajasthan is a growing market for us with a lot of potential, where we enjoy 15 per cent market share in just two years. In Gujarat, Havmor enjoys 35 per cent market share and we may soon lead the ice cream market", Ankit Chona added.

"Innovation is a way of life at Havmor", the senior Chona says, adding on a lighter note, "We had recently sent 6000 Havmor paan ice creams to Shilpa Shetty."

Tags:overseas expansion,ice cream parlours, franchise expansion in dubai,ice cream outlets, Havmor franchise, HavFunn,ice cream kiosks, ice cream business, ankit chona,pradeep chona,sugar free ice cream,

Source:BS Reporter / Mumbai/ Ahmedabad June 12, 2010, 0:06 IST

Apollo Hospitality Group Plans To Franchise Their Hotels In India

2010-05-07T16:14:00.000+05:30

US-based hotel renovation and construction company, Apollo Hospitality Group plans to foray into the Indian market by establishing its regional offices in Mumbai and Pune in next few months. Aaron Plante, CEO, Apollo Hospitality Group said, “We feel that the three-star, four-star and the upscale/luxury category of tourist accommodation in India has a huge potential for the next coming decade and we will like to contribute meaningfully towards making the new hotel projects at par with international standard and also renovating the old hotel properties in India to match the required standards.”

Dr Dipankar Roy, Principle Consultant in India, Apollo Hospitality Group said, “With proven track record and the ever expanding Indian market, we foresee a great future for the Apollo Hospitality Group in India. Also, since we already have served most of the brands which are franchising here in India, it would become easy for us to lay our case.”

Tags:Apollo Hospitality, Hotel Franchise, Aaron Plante, Dr Dipankar Roy,Five Star Hotel Franchise, Top Hotel Franchise, Construction Franchise,

The British Based Easy Group Seeking Franchisees In Asia

2010-04-29T12:26:00.000+05:30

easyGroup looking for franchisees to expand brands in parts of Asia

SINGAPORE: The British-based easyGroup, which has a range of businesses including aviation, hotels and car rentals, is eyeing the market potential in Asia.

But it's looking for franchisees instead of setting up its own operations in the region.

The group which is widely known for its easyJet budget airline believes the most promising brand for Asia will be its hotel line.

This was according to easyGroup founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou, who was speaking on the sidelines of a leadership dialogue series organised by the National University of Singapore.

Visit the easyGroup website and you'll find a long list of brands under the easy umbrella. They range from watches to pizza stores.

But it's the budget hotel line that easyGroup believes is most suitable for the Asian market.

It is aiming to do this through a franchisee. easyGroup currently has over 10 hotels mostly in London and others in Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, and Greece.

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, founder & chairman, easyGroup, said: “The first business that I have plans to expand in Asia is easyHotels. easyHotels is a franchise hotel business, a budget hotel.

“If you understand the concept of a low cost airline like easyjet, you're more likely to understand what easyHotel stands for.

The easyHotel brand is one that you can actually take from Europe and put into a place like Singapore. The underlying real estate and the business of knowing the economy will come from a franchisee.

The easyHotel brand is currently being franchised overseas by Istithmar Hotels, which has been renamed Nakheel Hotels in markets like the Middle East and North Africa.

However, the expansion schedule has been hit by the financial crisis.

None of the eight hotels across Pakistan and India scheduled for completion last year have yet to be launched.

Sir Stelios continued: “We had a contract with a company called Nakheel which is part of the Dubai group to expand the franchise actually into India and the subcontinent. And we all know the finances of Dubai are not exactly where they used to be.

“They are opening the first hotel in Dubai next month hopefully. But we haven't actually been able to expand beyond that."

The group's initial intentions to expand its budget cruise line appear to have also sailed into uncertainty.

A few years ago, Easy had planned to base part of its cruise operations out of Singapore, but that has since been franchised to a Greek company, Hellenic Seaways.

The chairman added: “Remember we are in the middle of a difficult recession in Europe. easyCruise is based in Greece. I actually sold the underlying interest in the business to a Greek ferry company. At the moment, it's focused on Greece and given the financial problems in Greece which are at the moment dominating the headlines. I doubt it will be able to expand.”

Coming out of the downturn, easyGroup believes its cautious approach to expanding has helped it emerge relatively stronger.

For now, easyGroup said it will focus on its European operations.

It also believes that building on its branding will help keep its edge against rivals who copy its business model.

Source:Ryan Huang | Posted: 28 April 2010 2232 hrs

Tags:EasyGroup, EasyJet, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, Easyhotels, franchised overseas, easycruise, british franchisors, european franchise companies,

Licensing companies beginning to make their mark in India

2010-04-29T12:13:00.000+05:30

Bradford Licensing has entered the Indian market with plans to launch four new brands with licensing as well as franchisee partners. The 20-year-old company plans to launch brands such as Beverly Hills, Marilyn Monroe, Pepsi, Beverly Hills Love etc and figure licensing partners in sync with global standards of the brands. License India, a division of Franchise India Holdings Ltd, which has been a sub-agent for Bradford Licensing, will help the company find prospective licensees in the market.

Licensing as a process allows leasing of rights to a protected, trademarked or copyrighted entity. The entity, known as the property, could be a number of things, including but not limited to, a name, an image, a logo, a signature, etc. The owner of a property is known as the licensor, while the "renter" of the rights is called the licensee. Licensing fortifies a brand by increasing its use to products outside the licensor's core categories of interest. “It’s an important step to build a brand beyond its geographical reach. As global markets get closer and well bound, it’s pertinent to create consistency of the brand throughout”, adds Michelle Minieri, President, Bradford Licensing. The company is looking at tieing up with manufacturers for supplying merchandise or any other product categories, for the new incoming brands.

The financial model works by the franchisee paying a royalty on the gross sales, which works out to about 10 per cent. Thereafter, a minimum guarantee has to be committed by the licensee. The average length of a deal is about 3 years.

Excited about bringing in licenses for non-core business to India, Gaurav Marya, President of Franchise India, explains: “A non-core business comprises of branching out various tangents of brands under the same copy-righted name. This could comprise of creating another product or service which is not the company’s core business. For instance, a beverage company making t-shirts under their brand name as an extended marketing effort.”

On the scope of licensing in the Indian market, Gaurav adds: “An important step in the Indian licensing industry would be India becoming a part of the trademark tribunal by 2010-11. If India makes it to this global body, the global rules will comply with Indian companies and International trademarks will have a more secure presence in India.”

License India, handles licenses for brands such as Zoo-Zoo, Ford, Pepsi, 7Up, Felix the cat, etc and is India’s first licensing solution provider supporting the growth of licensing in India.

Source:Business World 28 April 2010.

Tags:Bradford Licensing, franchisee partners,prospective licensees,licensing,licensor,zoo-zoo, ford, pepsi, 7up, felix the cat, licensing solution provider, licensing in india.

Brand Calculus Brings Kiwi Kiss To India Through The Master Franchise Route

2010-04-28T11:26:00.000+05:30

Brand Calculus launches Kiwi Kiss Fro Yo in India

Wednesday, April 28, 2010 08:00 IST

Brand Calculus, the pioneers in the smoothie business and the master franchisee of Jus Booster Juice in India, has launched Kiwi Kiss Frozen Yogurt which is a Canadian chain of frozen yogurt. As part of first launch phase in India, the chain has opened its second outlet at Koramangala in Bangalore. The company's first outlet is at Chennai.

The 1550 sqft store with a seating capacity of up to 40 people provides consumers with a new genre of frozen dessert.

Commenting on the launch, Anoop Sequeira, CEO, said, "Brand Calculus's main objective is to bring the best Quick Service Restaurant brands from across the world to India. Kiwi Kiss is a perfect fit with today's fitness oriented healthy eating lifestyles. We feel Kiwi Kiss bridges the gap between indulging your sweet tooth on a dessert or ice cream and eating smart, making Kiwi Kiss a perfect fit with today's fitness oriented healthy eating lifestyles."

Brand Calculus is a QSR franchising company and the Indian master franchisee for Booster Juice and Kiwi Kiss. The store in Bangalore is their second store in India after Chennai. The company plans for 6 other locations simultaneously for the brand. Kiwi Kiss aims to become a cornerstone of the urban Indian scene.

Brand Calculus set up in early 2008 is the master franchisee in India for Canada's popular Booster Juice and Kiwi Kiss, Canadian pioneers in frozen yogurt. It currently has Booster Juice stores across Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai.

Source:Food And Beverage News,Bangalore Bureau

TGC seeks to Franchise N.Bar,1847,JetSet ,Tilia & Finn Across The Globe

2010-04-23T11:41:00.000+05:30

Dubai, UAE, 22 April 2010 - The Grooming Company (TGC), the founding company of the increasingly popular grooming concepts - N.Bar, 1847, JetSet & Tilia & Finn - will soon launch a franchise program to export its home grown brands to cosmopolitan cities around the world.

The Grooming Company, which owns the four concepts, was founded in 2001 by UAE businesswoman and entrepreneur, Negin Fattahi-Dasmal, who remains its Executive Chairwoman. Negin created the pioneering concept of a high-end nail care that came to life as N.Bar. The instant success of N.Bar, one of the UAE's most recognisable brands, was soon followed by the launch of 1847, the male grooming lounge, JetSet, a high end hair care concept and Tilia and Finn, a distinctive beauty lounge for natural beauty.

With an overwhelming response to its concepts and the consequent success, The Grooming Company planned international expansion through franchise operations, requests for which have inundated the company since it commenced operations. All such franchising inquiries are being professionally addressed by The Grooming Company's appointment of an international franchise consulting company, which is helping to expedite making its concepts widely available around the world.

Commenting on the impending launch of the franchise program, Yunus Armien, Projects & Business Development Manager at TGC said, 'With personal grooming options having moved from being a luxury to a necessity, investing in the grooming industry makes for a sound investment. And being the grooming leader in the region, this marks a significant milestone for us and opens up greater opportunities to strengthen our regional and international presence'.

A large number of the franchising inquiries are GCC concentrated with many more pouring in from Europe, North & South Africa, Iran, Russia, Pakistan and India.

About The Grooming Company
The Grooming Company is the parent company of three unique grooming concepts founded in the UAE - N.Bar, the Middle East's first chain of nail treatment bars, 1847, the region's first brand of dedicated grooming lounges for men, and JetSet, the region's first 'wash and blow dry' hair care concept and Tilia & Finn a dedicated beauty lounge. A fully-fledged division, WellBe, serves as the company's distribution arm for premium retail grooming products.

Source:Press Release 2010
Tags:International Salon Franchise,Unisex Salon Franchise, grooming franchise.

Franchise Your Business Internationally:How to Take Your Brand Globally Using the Franchise Route

2010-04-22T16:51:00.000+05:30

If your company has a successful brand and you want to expand it into other countries, but you aren’t sure why, how, where or what it takes to do it successfully, you either can seize “opportunities” that present themselves, or you can plan for future opportunities and seize those which are most likely to be profitable.

Although some companies begin international franchising because it seems impressive to be known as a “multi-national company,” or because a prospect appears at a trade show booth or establishes contact via the Internet, experienced international franchisors have learned to be more methodical in deciding whether and when to expand.

If a company understands its reasons for international franchising, it can do a better job of planning for foreign expansion. Some companies look to international franchising as a way to hedge against domestic economic downturns. During the current recession, several foreign markets have outperformed the U.S. economy. Franchisors often target countries or regions for growth after analyzing the likely market for their business, the likely number of customers, the number of units each market could support, the investment required, the return on investment which they can generate from a market and the likely speed of the return on investments. Often they target markets which are similar to their home markets or they are attracted by overtures from a strong prospective franchise partner.

For years, U.S. franchisors have expected that a significant portion of fees paid by franchisees for rights to a country would be profit. They often have failed to appreciate the transaction costs they would incur, such as the cost of translating their concept into one which is workable in a foreign market, the support required from every department within their organization, and the need to train and support master franchisees in recruiting and supporting unit franchisees. Sometimes both franchisors and franchisees have underestimated the capital foreign franchisees will need to successfully adapt and grow franchises in new countries.

According to Kay Ainsley, CFE, managing director of Michael H. Seid & Associates, “There is a difference between selling a master franchise and developing an international market. Long-term and sustainable growth can only be achieved if the franchisor is prepared to invest the time and money and to delay their return on investment to properly develop a market.”

No Two Markets the Same
Many franchisors have locked themselves into initial and ongoing fee structures which are based upon a “rule of thumb” or what a competitor has charged, rather than upon an analysis of the costs of providing franchise services in a new market.

Experienced franchisors recognize that no two foreign markets are the same. Expenses and returns differ depending upon the expansion strategy a franchisor selects for use, the nature of the market and the capabilities of the franchisee. International franchise candidates are naturally interested in setting financial terms early in negotiations and memorializing franchise fees in a letter of intent. However, until both parties have researched the market and their costs of fulfilling their duties under a franchise agreement, they should refrain from committing to a fee structure which may bind them for 20 years if the relationship can survive that long. Franchise relationships are only successful when all parties involved achieve a level of profitability which warrants their investment and risk.

John Dring, CFE, president of Instant Imprints Franchising, Inc., and veteran international franchisor says: “It is essential for franchisors to prove the concept will work in a country before offering franchises there.” His company is investing in pilot development to test of its concept with an Australian partner before allowing franchising to commence.

Care must be taken to structure a foreign franchise program that will create and support successful franchised outlets. Market research, supplemented by a foreign franchisee prospect’s own effort, should be undertaken to evaluate differences between a proposed market and the franchisor’s home market or other foreign markets in which it has had experience. Every item of expense, gross income and net income should be analyzed before committing to a market or a transaction. If building costs are higher, rents are higher, available sites are smaller than in the franchisor’s home market, and businesses in the proposed market are closed on Sundays, will the franchisor’s business model work? If government approval is required to pay more than 5 percent in royalties, and if 25 percent of royalty payments must be withheld to pay income tax in the franchisee’s country, can a franchisor realize its minimum cash flow requirements? Can high import duties on equipment be overcome through local sourcing?

Which franchising strategy should franchisors use in new markets? Cafe2U Pres. Andy Simpkin, who is expanding his Sydney, Australia based mobile coffee franchise to the United States and the United Kingdom says “selecting the proper franchising concept is critical to a company’s success. When planning to enter a foreign market, a franchisor has to understand what effect the selected franchising system will have on profitability of the franchisor and for its franchisees.”

Excellent Expansion Strategies
Master franchising used to be the strategy almost all U.S.-based international franchisors used. It permits the collection of relatively high initial fees, permits the fastest growth of any franchising strategy and typically requires master franchisees to bear most of the cost of translating and implementing the concept to a market. Although the “too good to be true” characterization of master franchising has resulted in many unfulfilled expectations, a well-planned and executed master franchising program can be an excellent expansion strategy.

Area-development franchising is attractive to franchisors because they can rely upon a single individual or entity to build and operate an agreed number of outlets over a defined period of time. Because of the capital required to fulfill development schedules, few area developers are willing or able to commit to the development pace which is generally expected of master franchisees. Franchisors tend to like being able to collect significant initial fees from developers, as well as their full “standard royalties,” as opposed to sharing royalties with a master franchise.

Single-unit franchising is used internationally in different circumstances. Some franchise concepts only require one or two points of sale in a country. Some markets, e.g. small island countries, only can support a few units. Some concepts require such large investments, e.g. luxury hotels and resorts, that unit franchising is used by their franchisors rather than other formats. Unit franchising also may be used for complex businesses where a franchisor believes that it requires a direct relationship with a franchisee.

Joint ventures are sometimes used for expansion into new markets. However, this form of partnership in which the franchisor is an investor is not a strategy most franchisors routinely use. Besides requiring investment beyond what is required for a traditional franchise, a joint venture can create conflicts of interest between the franchisor and its foreign franchisee partner, expose the franchisor to taxation in a foreign country, complicate financial statement reporting requirements and generate disputes over management of the business. Joint ventures, however, can give the franchisor more control over how its franchise concept is adapted in a new country and give the joint venture organization greater credibility in negotiations with prospective unit franchisees and with suppliers.

The franchising strategy selection usually depends upon an evaluation of multiple factors, including: the resources and commitment of the prospective franchise partner; the size of the market; whether a master franchise can be profitable for unit franchisees, master franchisees and franchisor; the investment required to adapt and establish the concept in a new market; how franchised outlets are to be supplied; the existence of franchise sales laws; and the resources a franchisor has to invest in a given market. When selecting a franchising format for a transaction or territory, an understanding of the differences in investment, cost and profits also should be explored. For example, the costs of establishing a single-unit franchise in a country with a language, culture and legal system which differ from a franchisor’s may be so high that neither a franchisor or prospective franchisee could recoup that investment from a single outlet.

Plan and Budget
What type of “platform” is needed for successful international franchising? Franchisors should develop a business plan and a budget for dealing with each of the following:

1. IP protection in territories planed for expansion, including trademark and domain name registrations.
2. Prototype international franchise agreements and disclosures.
3. An international franchise recruiting process.
4. If master franchising is to be used, manuals and training programs designed to support master franchisees in functioning as franchisors.
5. Manuals and training programs to support different practices outside the United States.
6. An overview of business, legal and tax issues in each market which is identified as a priority. Before expending resources for a deal, a franchisor should know whether its business model can be lawfully and economically conducted in a market.
7. Commitments from each operational department and allocated resources to support franchisees in different countries, at different times of the day, and sometimes, in different languages.
8. A business promotion plan for launching new franchised businesses in foreign markets where the franchise concept may be unknown.
9. An understanding of how foreign franchisees can be supplied with equipment, supplies and inventory on a cost effective basis outside the franchisor’s home market.

If these issues are addressed in advance, a franchisor is poised to move quickly when an opportunity arises. Rather than creating or recreating resources for each new deal, a franchisor will have documents and processes which will require relatively little modification from country to country. That is not to suggest that significant changes do not exist when taking franchises to different countries. Translating documents, obtaining government approvals, modifying legal documents to be lawful and enforceable in the new country each will require time, patience and money.

Picking the Best Markets
How do franchisors select the best markets for their international growth? By considering the following factors:

Proximity: Expanding into nearby markets requires less of a strain on resources than traveling far away. Franchisors are more likely to be somewhat familiar with doing business in neighboring countries.

Language and culture: In countries which share the same language, similar cultural heritage and similar legal systems, franchisors feel more comfortable than when franchising into countries where these factors are all “foreign.”

Countries with similar market characteristics: The greater similarity between consumers of two countries, the greater the likelihood exists that products will be equally appealing to consumers of both.

Countries with a rapidly growing economy and middle class: China and India are examples.

The criteria for multi-unit franchisees who will be granted significant territories in foreign countries may differ from what a franchisor uses in its home market. This is especially true if the franchisor is using a franchising strategy internationally which it does not use at home. Many franchisors look for successful, sophisticated business people. U.S. franchisors expect franchisees to speak English and to have the financing needed to execute their business plans (including development schedules). Many franchisors prefer to do business with established companies. Some are especially fond of granting franchises to companies which already are involved in a related business in the country or which already operate franchises there. Many franchisors believe that it is very helpful for their foreign franchisees to have political connections which can help them cut through bureaucratic obstacles. A sound reputation and an open mind are also sought-after characteristics.

As franchising is growing in popularity throughout the world, franchisors which want to access new markets must be prepared to cope with the uncertainties and costs of entering foreign markets and be prepared for professional franchise development resource deployments and to face competition from other international franchisors as well as franchisors based in the markets they target. More than ever, planning is required for successful international franchise growth.

Sources:Carl E. Zisler and Katherine L. Wallman

Italian Artsana Groups Kidswear Brand Chicco Enters India

2010-04-19T15:47:00.000+05:30

Italian kidswear franchise Chicco Starts Its India Chapter at Select City Walk Delhi.

Apr 19, 2010

The kidswear market is hotting up. After the recent launch of Kidology, India's first designer wear store for kids, Italian baby products brand, Chicco, has just opened its first flagship store in Delhi’s Select City Walk Mall.

The brand plans eight exclusive stores in all major cities including Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Hyderabad by next year.

“All the eight stores would be master franchisee driven. Two would be opened this year in Mumbai and Bangalore. To make the brand available across India, we are building a large distribution network in a year’s time,” said Michele Catelli, chairman & MD, Artsana Group, which owns brand Chicco.

“Chicco is in talks with many departmental stores and also baby products shops to open shop-in-shops across India,” said Vineeth Nair, CEO, Artsana India.

Chicco’s portfolio ranges from baby nursing products to fashion clothing, shoes, beauty care products, toys, travel systems. The brand caters to different requirements of babies from zero to 36 months. Said Nair, “Depending on the demand, we would modify the products in the next 12 months.”

Chicco considers India to be the fastest growing market in Asia. “We are quite bullish about the Indian market and want to double our business every three years. Though the brand awareness already exists in India, we are still going to spend 15 per cent of our revenues on marketing,” said Catelli.

Catelli says Chicco is a premium brand,not luxury,with a maximum price limit of Rs 20,000. He finds the Indian consumer price sensitive. “Despite being fully imported, the products are priced ensuring the brand has a much wider appeal.”

Chicco, started in 1958, is the flagship brand of the Italian conglomerate Artsana Group.

Tags:Kidswear Franchise,Kids Franchise, Kids Apparel Franchise,Kids Stores,Retail Franchise.

Franchising Seing Momentum With Economies Recovering

2010-04-16T14:27:00.000+05:30

Optimism returns to franchising sector

IN THE FRANCHISING WORLD, the Philippines stands out because it was one of the first countries in Asia to embrace the concept.

And decades after American companies introduced their business expansion system to the Philippines, the franchising sector continues to thrive.

In an e-mail interview with Business Friday, Philippine Franchising Association president Yvette Pardo-Orbeta, who also heads Wendy’s Philippines, shares how the sector performed last year and why there are many reasons to be bullish in 2010.

Q: How did the franchising industry perform last year?

A: Because of the global financial crisis, the franchise sector got off to a slow start because of cautious consumer outlook. But as the months rolled by and seeing that the Philippines was fairly insulated by the global financial crisis, consumer confidence began to improve, which made the Philippine franchising sector perform better than expected. In fact, some of our members even went ahead with their respective expansion plans and these were sustained by a growing number of Filipinos who had been made aware of looking for a more secure investment option, who became their franchisees. Worth noting are Mang Inasal’s nationwide expansion and Potato Corner’s foray in the US.

Q: What were the biggest adjustments franchising companies had to do last year to weather the global crisis?

A: It was really more of the jitters in the first months that made things difficult for franchising, but once the fears subsided and consumer confidence went up again, things also began to improve.

Q: How do the franchising association and franchise companies see 2010?

A: The PFA is confident in the positive economic outlook for 2010. Being an election year helps since most people will be more optimistic. The incoming president will also be given its traditional honeymoon for 100 days, which means three months of continued optimism. After the honeymoon will be the “ber” months, which will sustain the optimism until 2011.
A projected healthy inflow of remittances and robust public spending would further fuel consumption, the major growth driver of the domestic economy. With opportunities in tourism, business process outsourcing (BPOs) and agriculture as possible areas of growth which the franchising sector can explore, there is still room for growth in franchising.

Q: What would be the biggest threats and opportunities presented by 2010?

A: Threats. “Pseudo-franchises—these scams continue to be the biggest bane in the sector because they destroy the good reputation of franchising and may result in an unwarranted regulation of franchising, and which could lead to restrictions in investments, concept development and others. Regulation should be maintained to self-regulation. Presently, PFA is a self-regulatory body, which sees to it that its members adhere to its Fair Franchising Standards (FFS).

Opportunities. “Tourism— tourism in the Philippines will continue to pick up especially with the new tourism law. With this, franchising opportunities are expected to grow as well.”

The Bottom of the Pyramid— Since the Philippines has a high poverty incidence rate, it will be a good business decision to cater to the poor as what has been done in other countries like India and Pakistan. The tingi system is one adaptation pioneered by Philippine retailers. Another important development is the generics drugstores and a social enterprise which franchises sari stores.

Q: Are there new trends in franchising?

A: Franchises that cater to BPOs will continue to perform well this year and in the coming years like convenience stores and quick service restaurants that are open 24 hours. A proof of this is the rising trend of 24/7 establishments in commercial and business districts. These 24/7 stores, however, are not only seen in CBDs but also in residential areas because more and more people now see convenience as a prime commodity. Somehow, people see it comforting when they can grab a bite to eat at any time of the day.

It would also be good to see restaurant chains that offer Southeast Asian favorites because we must start thinking beyond our borders. Though the Philippine market is already large at more than 90 million, just imagine the opportunities when we begin serving a 600 million market.

Another very important sector that we must develop is tourism. Franchises that offer services, such as health spas, beauty salons, medical/dental clinics, Internet cafes and hotels are facing good prospects. Speaking of tourism, the PFA believes it is high time that we develop an Asean budget hotel chain.
For those in the developmental sector, it would be good if they consider franchising as a means to reach to more beneficiaries through micro-franchising or social franchise.

Q: Are Filipinos investing more in franchising? Why or why not? And who are investing?

A: Interest in franchising as an investment option continues to grow as evidenced by the continuous growth of number of visitors in the Philippine International Franchise Conference and Expo (PIFCE). In 2009, we had 25,000 visitors, up by 12 percent in 2008. The profile of franchise investors continue to be professionals, retirees (especially early retirees), graduates who are not able to find a good, high-paying job and OFWs.

It is good to warn potential franchise investors, however, to do their homework when investing on a franchise because of the rise of franchise scams, whose proliferation can be attributed to the popularity of franchising.

Q: Is there anything you would like the next president to do to foster further growth in the industry?

A: 1. More support for the sector. In Malaysia, the franchising sector is heavily supported by the government especially in terms of overseas expansion, which paved the way for opening of Malaysian brands—like Secret Recipe, Marrybrown Chicken, Smart Reader in the foreign markets.

This is ironic because the Philippines is the Southeast Asian leader in franchise concept development; but because of lack of support, we are not able to export our brands as fast as our Asean neighbors.

2. More business-friendly environment. Because of its strategic position, reinforced by a well-educated, English-speaking workforce gifted with a quick smile, the Philippines has the potential to be the franchise hub of Asia, where international franchises can establish their headquarters for their regional operations. But if we look at the Philippines’ standing in competitiveness report, we are habitual mediocre players. That is probably why international franchises pick Singapore as their base of operations even if the market there is very small.

3. More incentives, less regulation. One reason why we always lag in international competitiveness reports is that business is much too regulated because foreign investors would prefer more leeway in running their business—from registering their business to hiring or firing their workers.

Because of too much regulation, Philippine labor productivity is ranked way below our Asean neighbor, which is really a disservice to the Filipino worker and manager who is considered to be among the best in the world.

By Tina Arceo-Dumlao
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:12:00 04/16/2010
Filed Under: World Financial Crisis, Economy and Business and Finance

2010-04-13T14:01:00.000+05:30

Jashanmal: The master of retail

Dubai: Whether you are particular about Yashica cameras, Clarks boots or Elizabeth Arden cosmetics, all these brands and many more are brought to the Gulf by Jashanmal.

Jashanmal has maintained a strong presence in the region, focusing on wholesale and retail operations involving consumer goods in the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman. In its 90th year of operation, Gulf News had a chat with Jashanmal's group president Gangu Batra about how the organisation grew from a small retail store in Basra, Iraq, to a regional heavyweight.

The group's founder, Rao Sahib Jashanmal, a businessman of Indian origin, launched a retail store in 1919 in Basra. At that time, Basra was a bustling trading hub, and Jash-anmal offered his consumers household items, men's clothing, stationery, as well as books and newspapers in a region where convenience stores weren't very common at all and goods used to be traded or bartered at souqs or bazaars.

"In those days, such a shop was a novelty, as the region was not very developed," Batra said. "People travelled even from Kuwait to Basra to shop at our outlet."

Rao Jashanmal, looking for opportunities outside India, obviously made the right choice. As the store in Basra proved extraordinarily successful, he decided to expand to Kuwait in 1934.

Kuwait, at that time, was an independent principality under British protection. "There was nothing [in terms of store retail] in Kuwait those days," Batra said.

Rao Jashanmal received permission from the then British political agent in Kuwait, Harold Dickson, to open a store at Safaat Square, Kuwait City. He was the first to import canned food, bottled fruit juice concentrate and items such as ginger beer, "which became very popular", as Batra puts it.

"There was no supply of such goods at all at that time," Batra said.

In those days, Safaat Square was the destination of camel caravans from Saudi Arabia. Shoppers had to make their way among camels resting in the square to reach the Jashanmal store, he said.

Encouraged by the successful business launch in Kuwait, Jashanmal set his sights on expanding into Bahrain, where his eldest son Narain established the next store in 1935.

No competition

"This seemed only natural, as Bahrain was the region's only destination of British Airways at that time, being a hub for travellers," Batra said. "We had no competition in those days, which made the launch of new stores even easier."

However, as time went by, other retail groups discovered the opportunities of the region, such as Barakat from Lebanon and eventually British supermarket chain Spinney's.

"This was the moment, in the 1950s, when Jashanmal stepped out of the food business," Batra said. He himself joined the group in 1953, when Jashanmal started to restructure its portfolio and set up new divisions to sell an extended range of consumer goods.

In 1956, the first store in Dubai opened, followed by another one in Abu Dhabi, when the Abu Dhabi Marine Exploration Company approached Jashanmal with the offer of a facility on Das Island. "This was when oil exploration started in Abu Dhabi. The customers came from the oil companies, and we received our store supply from Bahrain," said Batra.

The first Jashanmal store in Dubai was opened at Al Nasr Square, known as Baniyas Square today. "Everybody came to Al Nasr Square for shopping, even from Abu Dhabi. Dubai was very different from what it is now, there where no tall buildings and no road congestion. One could even see the Airport Road from Al Nasr Square."

Travellers, regional shoppers, and merchants from the nearby Dubai Creek port made the majority of Jashanmal's customers of those days in Dubai, which was the region's hub for imports and re-exports due to its low customs tariffs.

At that time, Jashanmal hadn't given much thought to establishing a corporate identity. "All of our stores looked different and not even modern," Batra said. "But the region and especially Dubai was growing, and Jashanmal was growing with it." Stores soon got a facelift and the group's brand name was emphasised.

Besides the retail business, Jashanmal started to supply the region with a broad range of major international consumer brands on a wholesale basis. A warehouse was built, and the company started to act as franchisee for selected international brands. In 1998, for example, Jashanmal was appointed exclusive regional distributor for Clarks Shoes, and launched a shoe warehouse in the Jebel Ali Free Zone.

In November 1998, Jashanmal entered into an agreement with US-based Warnaco for the exclusive regional distribution of Calvin Klein underwear and leather accessories for men. In 1999, Jashanmal acquired Carlton Cards Gulf, the regional franchisee of American Greetings, the largest greeting cards company in the world

In the meantime, Jashanmal had been opening stores in Oman, expanding its business range to four countries (UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman), but had retreated from Iraq.

"Our first store in Basra was closed down long before that," Batra said. "When communism was implemented in Iraq [in 1958], there were so many restrictions imposed that we decided to close down the store. For example, it was no longer allowed to import goods from Western Europe. So we left Iraq. We are happier in a good and peaceful place."

Jashanmal also never expanded to Saudi Arabia, which — at first sight — seems incomprehensible as the kingdom is the region's largest economy. Batra observes: "Yes, I agree, but we also would have to struggle with legal restrictions. For example, if we establish a ladies boutique, customers can only be served by women and men are not allowed to enter. For this and other reasons we decided against an expansion to Saudi Arabia."

Today, Jashanmal runs 116 shops and employs more than 1,000 people in various divisions. In the UAE alone, Jashanmal operates seven department stores and dozens of franchise stores and bookshops.

However, the global economic crisis did not pass by unnoticed. "Our growth has been well over all those years, but of course we felt the economic crunch," Batra admitted. "Our business has come down, yes, but we were not the only ones affected. But I understand this as part of life. Sometimes it goes up, and at other times it goes down."

Crisis response

The economic crisis reflected in Jashanmal's declining profit in 2009. "Yes, our profit has been reduced, but we can live with it. At least we earned a small profit."

However, the company reacted with internal restructuring and tighter financial control. No staff were laid off. "Thank God. We don't want people to leave who have worked with us for many years," Batra said, adding that no stores have been closed due to the crisis.

"The good thing is, this year we are already feeling an upturn. The Gulf economies will be growing again. Our business will be slower in the future as it used to be, and this is good for us. When things go up too fast, they can fall down fast as well. However, new shop openings will not take place as frequently as before," he said.

The business environment too has become more reasonable, he added. "Earlier, rents [for retail space] in Dubai and elsewhere went up constantly, now things are a lot better for us."

Another issue is the number of malls in Dubai, which, he reckons, has reached a point of saturation. "You only have to take a look at the malls on the map and compare it with the population. Where are the sales revenues supposed to come from? We have high prices now in the malls, compared to earlier times, when prices were low. You can buy fashion brands everywhere in the world, and today they are not necessarily cheaper in Dubai, despite its tax-free status. There are no bargains anymore," he said.

Tourist clientele

In this respect, one important target group for Jashanmal remain tourists. Batra thinks that tourism to the Gulf is beginning to pick up after a slowdown caused by the global financial crisis which, however, led to lower travel and hotel prices. "Dubai still has many tourist attractions, and tourists are supposed to shop here. We want the people to buy here, and not in Europe or elsewhere."

But what is it, in the first place, that makes the difference in shopping at Jashanmal stores, compared to its competitors?

"We offer value for money, meaning that customers are getting more for what they spend," Batra said. "Besides that, our staff gets special training to give customers a good welcome and to show they know the products they are selling. And we provide after-sales service as an additional support to the warranties of the manufacturer." To trace and detect the newest trends, Jashanmal constantly sends senior staff to visit suppliers and discuss with trading partners, he added.

However, the question remains: Why is Jashanmal, a family business giant whose founders originate from India, not a dominant player in the subcontinent's retail sector apart from a few wholesale operations? "We don't run own shops in India for the time being due to the different market regulations there," Batra explained. "However, we are constantly evaluating this issue, and eventually it will be a decision of the board if we put a foot on the retail market there or not."

Is it such a difficult decision to step into an emerging market with 1.2 billion people? "The population size is not the issue. Most of India's population lives in the countryside," Batra argues. "But I agree, there is a growing middle class which are our target group. One has to think about it."

Concerning the debt restructuring efforts of Dubai World and its allied entities, Batra believes that this would "definitely" be helpful. "Finance should always be under good control." But he says that "what has been built in Dubai was no waste, Dubai will continue to grow. It was the first time ever that Dubai had to deal with a restructuring issue like this, it was an eye opener."

Broad range of products

The Jashanmal Group is a wholesale distributor of consumer goods and a broadly-based retail operator in the Gulf region. The company currently operates 116 stores and franchise shops. The stores stock everything from pens, cameras, luggage, leather, fashion accessories, shoes, linen, houseware, crystal, glass, giftware, books, household and kitchen appliances. Among the brands in store are Clarks, Burberry, Yashica, Cross Writing Instruments, Victorinox (swiss knives), Rimova, Kenwood, Hoover, Courvoisier, Elizabeth Arden, Calvin Klein and Carlton Cards. The newspaper and books division offers books and titles from Penguin, Random House, Hachette as well as international magazines and newspapers. Jashanmal currently operates in the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman. The group employs more than 1,000 staff and total annual revenue is estimated at $500 million. Group president Gangu Batra is retiring this year after spending more than half a century with the company.

Timeline:

* 1919 Rao Sahib Jashanmal opened his first general store in Basra, Iraq. Initially, he imported Household Goods, Men’s Clothing, Stationery and Books and Newspapers.
* 1934 Rao Sahib opened a general store in Safaat Square, Kuwait. In those days, Safaat Square was the destination of the camel trains from Saudi Arabia. 1935 - The first store in Bahrain was opened by the Late Narain Jashanmal, eldest son of Rao Sahib.
* 1936 Atma Jashanmal, younger brother of the Late Narain Jashanmal, fresh from University, took over the responsibility for Bahrain.
* 1956 Jashanmal opened their store in Dubai.
* 1957 Abu Dhabi Marine Exploration Company approached Jashanmal with the offer of a facility on Das Island, an Island off the coast of Abu Dhabi.
* 1958 Hiro Jashanmal, the third of Rao Sahib’s sons took over the Dubai store.
* 1963 A second store was opened on Fahad Al Salem Street in Kuwait.
* 1964 Mohan Jashanmal, the youngest brother, took charge of a new store in Abu Dhabi.
* 1964 A Wholesale Division was created in Kuwait by Gangu Batra, then General Manager of Kuwait.
* In subsequent years, wholesale divisions were also developed in the UAE and Bahrain.
* 1998 Jashanmal were appointed exclusive regional distributor for Clarks Shoes, and operate a shoe warehouse in the Jebel Ali Free Zone
* 1998 Jashanmal entered into an agreement with Warnaco Inc for the exclusive regional distribution of Calvin Klein underwear and leather accessories for men in the lower GCC countries.
* 1999 This relationship was expanded to include distribution of Olga, Warners and Body Slimmers range of intimate apparel.
* 1999 Jashanmal acquireS Carlton Cards Gulf, the regional franchisee of American Greetings Corp, the largest greeting cards company in the world. Carlton Cards Gulf operates 7 stand-alone stores in the UAE and Oman and widely distributes greeting cards to all major supermarkets, gas stations and gift stores in the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait.
* 2000 Jashanmal developed the concept of stand-alone underwear stores named “Calvin Klein”. The first store opened in 2000 at the Deira City Centre in Dubai, followed by one in Abu Dhabi, one in Sahara Centre, Sharjah, one in Al Ghurair City, Dubai and one more in the recently opened Mall of the Emirates, Dubai.
* 2008 Jashanmal enters a joint venture with Burberry group and created Burberry Middle East LLC. Burberry Middle East will manage all Burberry retail and wholesale distribution within the UAE markets including Dubai and Abu Dhabi, as well as Qatar, Oman and Kuwait under a fifteen year agreement.

Laura Ashley Keen To Franchise In India.

2010-04-10T12:33:00.000+05:30

Clothing and Homeware retailer Laura Ashley is making plans to expand its business into more overseas territories, and is also considering the launch of a new kids’ store format.

Laura Ashley currently has 230 franchise operations over 26 countries and is now looking at opening up shops in India, Russia, Thailand and the Philippines.

Also on the cards are five more Laura Ashley Gift & Accessory stores, following a successful trial at Liverpool Street station in London, which was very well received by customers.

Laura Ashley saw group pre-tax profits rise 7.8 per cent to £11 million in the year to January 30, a clear sign that its concerted efforts to win over consumers with months of special weekend deals and seasonal promotions throughout the recession had stood it in good stead. Group revenue for the same period increased 3 per cent to £268.4 million.

The company is currently looking at expanding its product ranges before going into further details of its future store opening plans. However, it is thought to be seeking more outlets in high footfall locations, including train stations and airports.

Singaporean Komala's to Open 10 Veg South Indian Restaurants By Dec 2010 In India.

2010-04-09T11:44:00.000+05:30

Singapore restaurant to open fast food chain

The battle in vegetarian fast food space seems to be heating up with Komala’s Restaurants, a popular South Indian fast food chain from Singapore, set to mark its footprint in India. The firm has teamed up with Primary Cuisine as the master franchisee, to put in place a chain of at least 15 quick-dining outlets, kiosks across the country over the next couple of years, Gautam Shewakramani, director, business development, told Financial Chronicle.

Komala’s, currently has 10 restaurants in Singapore, with operations in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Middle East. In India, Komala's will primarily take on Haldiram's in India to eat into the large veg fast food slice.

Shewakramani said, “Those who travel abroad, should be familiar with the Komala’s. In India priority would be brand identification and then brand building.” “We are going to position Komala’s as a hygienic, value for money, authentic South Indian fast food chain in India,” he added.

Komala’s will open another three outlets by December 2010, mostly in Western and northern India and then in the next fiscal, the restaurant chain would open at least another 10 pan India. That will be the take-off stage, he said.

“Although we have an aggressive expansion plans for India, we are not going too fast. That’s because we want to have a strong oversight, control and monitoring over the quality,” said Shewakramani.

Komala’s concept is similar to that of western quick service restaurant chains.

Paste:
By Ritwik Mukherjee Apr 08 2010 ,Financial Chronicle, Kolkata

Tags: Vegetarian Restaurant Franchise, Veg Franchise, Veg Fast Food Franchise,South Indian Restaurant Franchise, South Indian Fast Food Chain, Komala's, Haldirams, Shewakramani, quick service restaurant chain

Japan's Brewery and Soft Drink Major Asahi Looking at India Entry.

2010-04-09T11:36:00.000+05:30

Japan’s Asahi Breweries eyes India entry

Japanese brewery and soft drinks major, Asahi Breweries, is preparing to enter the Indian market. The 1.47 trillion yen firm is in the process of studying the market and liquor sales regulations in different states.

“Asahi plans to open a chain of firm owned kiosks in luxury malls and hypermarkets. It hopes to start off with sale of beer and wine in select cities. They may also look at the option of forming joint ventures with domestic partners to enter the country,” said Arvind Singhatiya, of Indian Franchise Association.

Asahi officials who visited India recently visited cities like Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi to understand the regulations governing liquor sales. They are studying the operations of foreign liquor brands here, Singhatiya said.

The regulatory framework for selling alcoholic drinks in India is highly complicated and different states follow one among of the three types of sales -- open, auction or government-controlled retail network.

Asahi is looking at states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa and the NCR.

Tags:Brewery Franchise,Japanese Franchisers,International Franchisers

Source:By Sangeetha G Apr 08 2010 ,Financial Chronicle, Chennai

Australian Franchisor Chocolateria San Churro Finds Master Franchise In India and Looks To Expand Further

2010-04-07T12:25:00.000+05:30

7 April 2010

Melbourne-based food franchise Chocolateria San Churro has stepped into the international scene with a store in Seoul, South Korea, just four years after the company opened the doors to its first outlet in Fitzroy.

The Korean launch has taken more than 18 months of planning and research and Mark Attard, CEO of Chocolateria San Churro, told Franchising it will be the springboard for the region.

"We've had a few enquiries from Asia, particularly China. But we did our due diligence and found Korea was a style leader that China looks to for trends in new fashion and eating styles.

"We pulled out of a deal with China to set up this joint venture. Koreans are quite savvy about coffee and a chocolate cafe seemed the next logical step. It's an opportunity to be a category leader."

Three or four stores are planned for this year and Attard confirmed there is room for the brand to grow beyond Seoul through a master franchise arrangement.

"Companies are quite conservative in their approach and want to see the business in place. So we've put our money where our mouth is."

The Korean joint venture partner is running the new store like a franchise to prove the franchise model works, explained Attard.

The new outlet incorporates the design changes unveiled in the latest stores open in Victoria's Southland, and Subiaco and Leederville in Western Australia.

Chocolateria San Churro has 21 outlets across Western Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, with plans for another five this year.

And expansion is not limited to these shores. Attard said sites in New Zealand have already been earmarked and India is the next major overseas franchise development, later in 2010.

"The master franchise has been sold in India," he said. "There is one site planned in Bombay and an office in Science City Road in Ahmedabad, in a new retail precinct, an affluent area."

Japanese Looking at Franchising In India:Seek relaxation on FDI Limitations

2010-04-02T17:19:00.000+05:30

Japan retailers want India to remove FDI restrictions
Press Trust of India / New Delhi April 2, 2010, 15:50 IST

Terming India as one of the most vibrant and potential markets, the Japan Retailers Association (JRA) today said over a dozen players from the East Asian nation are willing to invest here, provided the government relaxes foreign direct investment norms in the sector.

It said that at a time when said the home market in Japan has saturated, major players are ready to invest up to $10 million individually in India but mainly in the multi-branded segment where FDI is currently prohibited.

"In the last few years, the retail scenario in India has become most promising but we will be even more happy if current restrictions on FDI are removed. The big Japanese chains are interested in entering India's multi-brand retail trade," JRA Director Jun Omi said.

Omi is heading a seven-member team to India to study the organised retail market here. He said the Japanese companies are willing to explore the franchise option also and JRA today held discussions with Indian Franchise Association in this regard.

"Japanese retail firms have invested heavily in China over the years and the next frontier for us is India. We are interested in various product segments like apparels, merchandise and electronic items," Omi said.

Major Japanese retail companies like Yong, Seven & Holdings and Ito Yokado currently have huge bases in China and South-East Asian countries with scores of supermarkets and back-end sourcing.

The JRA said its members are not interested in venturing into the Indian wholesale cash-and-carry market, like some of their western counterparts like Walmart and Tesco.

"Japanese retail items are basically known for being high-end but with foray into India we could even tap the sourcing market here to make value products," Omi said.

Currently, only around five per cent of the Indian retail market of over $450 billion falls under the organised segment. Under government rules, FDI of up to 51 per cent is allowed in single-brand retailing, while no FDI is allowed in the multi-brand segment.

Presently, none of the Japanese retail chains have operations in India, while some players like Asaka Corp do small amount of sourcing.

Destination Maternity Opens 2 More Motherhood Maternity Stores In India

2010-04-01T11:21:00.000+05:30

PHILADELPHIA, March 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Destination Maternity Corporation (Nasdaq: DEST), the world's leading maternity apparel retailer, announced the opening of two more Motherhood Maternity® shop-in-shops in India. Motherhood's trendy, affordable maternity fashions are now available for the first time at the Mantri Mall in Bangalore, India and the Korum Mall in Thane, India. Motherhood Maternity shop-in-shops are found in Mom & Me® stores which are owned and operated by Mahindra Retail, part of the Mahindra Group, Destination Maternity's franchisee in India. Mom & Me stores offer an extensive range of pre- and post-natal products including maternity wear, baby clothes, toys, wellness products, nursery furniture and more. Including these two new locations, there are now a total of eleven Motherhood shop-in-shops in Mom & Me stores in India.

Under a multi-year franchise agreement, Destination Maternity has granted to Mahindra Retail the exclusive rights to operate branded retail locations and market merchandise under the Company's Motherhood Maternity, Destination Maternity®, and A Pea in the Pod® brands in India. Mahindra Retail is part of the Mahindra Group. The Mahindra Group is one of India's leading federation of companies with operations in several key sectors of the Indian economy.

About Destination Maternity Corporation

Destination Maternity Corporation is the world's largest designer and retailer of maternity apparel. In the United States and Canada, as of February 28, 2010, Destination Maternity operates 1,689 retail locations, including 711 stores, predominantly under the tradenames Motherhood Maternity®, A Pea in the Pod®, and Destination Maternity®, and sells on the web through its DestinationMaternity.com and brand-specific websites. Destination Maternity also distributes its Oh Baby by Motherhood® collection through a licensed arrangement at Kohl's® stores throughout the United States and on Kohls.com. In addition, Destination Maternity is expanding internationally and has entered into exclusive store franchise and product supply relationships in India and the Middle East.

About Mahindra Retail

Mahindra Retail is an extension of the Mahindra Group's trading foray in the domestic India market. Apart from distributing toys, games and wellness products under licenses from various international brands like Mattel® and NUK®, it has now entered into a unique venture with the launch of Mom & Me stores, which specialize in infant and maternity care franchise store.

Mom & Me stores are built around the unique needs of mothers to be, young mothers, infants and children up to the age of nine. The absence of a single retail outlet addressing mother and child product and non-medical advisory needs is the most critical need gap that Mom & Me seeks to address with a one-stop store for moms and kids across the country. Mom & Me stores carry a range of the best international brands and private labels to give Indian mothers unparalleled choice. Mom & Me now has stores in Ahmadabad, Bangalore, Delhi, Ludhiana, Mumbai, Pune and Vadodara.

About Mahindra Group

Mahindra is a US $6.3 billion Indian multinational company. It employs over 1,00,000 people across the globe and enjoys a leadership position in utility vehicles, tractors and information technology, with a significant and growing presence in financial services, tourism, infrastructure development, trade and logistics. The Mahindra Group today is an embodiment of global excellence and integrity.

Mahindra is one of the few Indian companies to receive an A+ GRI checked rating for its first Sustainability Report for the year 2007-08 and has also received the A+ GRI rating for the year 2008- 09. For more information, please visit www.mahindra.com

Destination Maternity Corporation (the "Company") cautions that any forward-looking statements (as such term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) contained in this press release or made from time to time by management of the Company, including those regarding international expansion, results of operations, financial condition, and various business initiatives, involve risks and uncertainties, and are subject to change based on various important factors. The following factors, among others, in some cases have affected and in the future could affect the Company's financial performance and actual results and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any such forward-looking statements: the impact of the current global economic slowdown on the retail industry in general and on apparel purchases in particular, our ability to successfully manage our various business initiatives, our ability to successfully implement our merchandise brand and retail nameplate restructuring, the success of our international expansion, our ability to successfully manage and retain our leased department and licensed relationships and marketing partnerships, future sales trends in our existing store base, unusual weather patterns, changes in consumer spending patterns, raw material price increases, overall economic conditions and other factors affecting consumer confidence, demographics and other macroeconomic factors that may impact the level of spending for maternity apparel, expense savings initiatives, our ability to anticipate and respond to fashion trends and consumer preferences, anticipated fluctuations in our operating results, the impact of competition and fluctuations in the price, availability and quality of raw materials and contracted products, availability of suitable store locations, continued availability of capital and financing, goodwill impairment charges, our ability to hire and develop senior management and sales associates, our ability to develop and source merchandise, our ability to receive production from foreign sources on a timely basis, potential stock repurchases, potential debt prepayments, changes in market interest rates, war or acts of terrorism and other factors set forth in the Company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or in materials incorporated therein by reference.

SOURCE Destination Maternity Corporation
Tags:Baby Product Franchise,Maternity Stores,Toy Stores, Toy Franchises