Academy Of Broadcasting Ranked At # 33 Amongst The Top 100 Indian Franchise Opportunities

The Academy of Broadcasting is very proud to announce that it has been ranked at position # 33 amongst the Top 100 Franchise opportunities in India. This ranking has been done by Maverick Franchise Brands, India’ s leading name in the franchise opportunity business. “Your hard work, dedication and innovative ideas towards franchising have made your franchise brand a success in your business. Maverick Franchise Brands is pleased to be able to recognise you with this award, for the inaugural annual India Franchise Rankings 2010,” said Mr Dhawal Shah, Certified Franchise Executive & Co-Founder of the company.

Feeling excited quite expectedly, on this wonderful achievement Mr. Anil Jinsi, the Vice-President  remarked, “We are very happy that our efforts have been recognised at the national-level & that too by the franchise experts. Over these years, we have created Academy of Broadcasting a brand to reckon within the radio industry and have even touched global shores by sheer grit and determination.”

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Impact of Taco Bell Franchise on Indian Fast Food Industry

After having KFC and Pizza Hut as successful brands in India, Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM) is now focusing on developing Taco Bell as the third brand in India. As a part of its strategy, the fast food restaurant operator opened the first Taco Bell restaurant in Bangalore, India.

The sluggish sales in the U.S. have prompted Yum! and other international food chains, to focus more on emerging markets, such as India, which still remains untapped fully. The company remains confident about the success of Mexican-inspired quick-service restaurant brand, whose menu features tacos, burritos, nachos, quesadillas and Crunchwraps with menu pricing starting as low as 35 cents. 

Taco Bell faces competition in USA from Baja Fresh, Chipotle,Taco Johns,Taco Bell,Taco Cabana,Taco time, Del Taco. India is a virgin market for Mexican Food. With the saturation of the U.S. market and the recession taking its toll on restaurants, the industry is concentrating more on the overseas market. Apart from India, Yum! operates Taco Bell restaurants in Canada, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Dominican Republic, Guam, Iceland, Philippines, Dubai, Spain and Cyprus. As of fiscal 2009, the company operated over 250 Taco Bell restaurants outside the U.S. 

Louisville, Kentucky-based company, Yum!, plans to accelerate its expansion in India. The company, which currently operates about 158 Pizza Hut restaurants in 34 cities and 72 KFC outlets in 13 cities in India, plans to increase its total restaurant count to 1,000 by 2015.

The Indian market has been virtually recession-proof providing ample growth opportunities. Yum! plans to tap India's organized food and beverage market, which is growing rapidly. Yum!’s restaurants in India, which are managed by Niren Chaudhary, faces stiff competition from other fast-food chains such as McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) and Domino’s Pizza Inc. (DPZ).

Taco Bell India Strategy

- 100 Taco Bells by 2015

- Price Range between Rs. 18 and Rs. 79

- Unlimited Pepsi Refills at Rs. 35. 

- 22 Mexican Food Varieties, 11 Vegetarian and 11 Non Vegetarian

- Will offer Mexican fast food like tacos, burritos and quesdillos, apart from Nachos

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Taco Bell Franchise finally launches in Bangalore

Yum! is Largest and Fastest Growing Restaurant Company in India and Building Taco Bell into Third Powerhouse Global Brand. 

24th May 2010: Yum International announces the grand opening of the first Taco Bell in India by its international division, Yum! Restaurants International (YRI). Yum! is the leading restaurant company in India with its KFC and Pizza Hut brands. The introduction of the first Taco Bell in India reflects the Company's strategy of creating a third global brand.

After much speculation, Taco Bell Food Franchise finally launches in India. It was rumoured to be in talks with several corporations for its franchise rights and it was even considering launching by themselves. The current Taco Bell restaurant is managed directly by Yum India. It is not sure as of now, in terms of how is it, that Taco Bell aims to expand. Since, they are currently aiming at 100 Taco Bell restaurants by 2015. Taco Bell was slated to launch two locations in India in 2009 

"We're delighted to be offering Taco Bell to consumers in India, a key growth market in our global portfolio," said Graham Allan, president, Yum! Restaurants International. "Based on customer feedback so far, we expect it will become extremely popular, just as it is in the United States. The Mexican-style food is perfect for the Indian taste palate and we will be offering a variety of vegetarian meals as well so that everyone can enjoy it."

Yum!'s new Taco Bell international restaurant, located in Bangalore, India, is the country's first experience with the Mexican-inspired quick-service restaurant brand. Taco Bell's "Think Outside the Bun" positioning and brand essence is expected to resonate extremely well with India's young population. The new Taco Bell India menu features tacos, burritos, nachos, quesadillas and Crunchwraps, including spicier products tailored to the Indian market. The menu offers breakthrough value priced items starting at 35 cents. In addition, fifty percent of the menu features a vegetarian range of products specially created for Indian consumers including potato paneer burritos and crunchy potato tacos, among others.

"We are confident that Taco Bell will redefine the eating-out market in India with incredible taste catering to many consumer segments, day parts and occasions at an unmatched price," said Niren Chaudhary, managing director, Yum! Restaurants International India. "We are excited to be opening the first Taco Bell in India and we plan to expand it nationally as an incredibly vibrant and youthful brand."

Yum! Brands is focused on developing Taco Bell into its third global brand after KFC and Pizza Hut. Taco Bell is the second most profitable brand in the United States. Over the past few years, the Company has expanded Taco Bell beyond Canada and Puerto Rico to other markets including Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Dominican Republic, Guam, Iceland, Philippines, Dubai, Spain and Cyprus. Yum! is optimistic about the long-term potential of growing Taco Bell internationally. As of year-end 2009, there are more than 250 Taco Bell restaurants outside of the United States.

India is a key growth market for Yum! Brands due to its extremely young and large population of 1.1 billion people, growing middle class and emerging economy. Over the past 12 years, Yum! has become the largest and fastest growing restaurant company in India by successfully developing a strong infrastructure, highly-skilled workforce focused on providing outstanding customer service and innovative, localized menus offering value options. By 2015, the Company expects to have at least 1,000 restaurants in India, up from 230 restaurants as of year-end 2009.

KFC is the fastest growing quick-service restaurant brand in India with 72 restaurants in 13 cities as of year-end 2009. Yum! opened 27 new KFC restaurants in India in 2009, which is among the highest number of store openings in the country's quick-service restaurant industry. KFC is a young, vibrant brand in India from its contemporary restaurant designs featuring bold colors, open seating areas for large groups and flat-panel televisions to innovative marketing programs to unique signature products, including vegetarian items. Last year, the Company opened its first KFC Krushers beverage bar and store design in India highlighting YRI's popular new line of yogurt and fruit smoothies, dairy-based and soda-based drinks and teas.

Pizza Hut has been named the "Most Trusted Food Service Brand" in India for the fifth year by The Economic Times (India), ahead of all other Indian and global brands, demonstrating its popularity in the country. As of year-end 2009, there are 158 Pizza Huts in 34 cities offering a range of localized products including masala pizza, chicken tikka appetizers and spicy Indian drinks.

YRI is the largest division of Yum! Brands with more than 13,000 restaurants outside the U.S. and China Division. One of Yum! Brands' four key business strategies is to drive aggressive international expansion and build strong brands everywhere. In 2009, operating profit for YRI was $491 million. The year 2009 also marked the tenth year that YRI has opened more than 700 new restaurants outside the U.S. and China.

Way2Franchise.com take at Taco Bell Franchise is that they will spend some time creating awareness about Mexican Food. Mexican Food is not quite popular except for the metros that too enjoy some brief amount of awareness. Indian's havent really caught on to much of western cuisine, other than Burgers and Pizzas, thanks to one McDonalds and the many pizza companies. Mexican Food is still unknown to most. Initially, Indians may try out once a month or so, as it would be considered exotic, but during rest of the days, they would be back to the regular Indian stample diet. 

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Franchising as a Career Option for Students

Are you a student, considering entrepreneurship? Have you not determined which business would really excite you? Are you the one that fears failing and do not have a strong conviction. Are you looking for an additional income source? Finding it difficult to locate a suitable job? Would you be considering bank funds to start your business? If you answered a YES to any of the questions. Then, franchising is a option you should consider. 

Franchising is a great option for entrepreneurship. Students should actively consider franchise opportunities to begin with. Some of the advantages in comparison to starting by themselves, is that they get an established brand, proven system, training, advertising assistance and a dedicated team that is committed to help make this work for you. I have heard it many times that 

Entrepreneurship (other than franchising) is for adventure seekers. It reminds me of the Mumbai - Pune visit, when needs to drive down from Mumbai to Pune, he has the option to take either the expressway or the Old Mumbai Agra Road. When one decides to take the expressway, he will come across marked roads, adequate road signs, designated food zones, re-fuelling stations and phone connectivity in case of any problems and for all of this he would have to pay a fee to get access to. Vis a vis, taking the old Mumbai Agra road, he may not reach on time, may encounter robberiers, may be delayed due to absence of all weather roads. The Mumbai Agra road, definitely sounds more like an adventure. (Ofcourse, on the flip side, franchising is definitely at a startup level, a more expensive proposition.

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India Franchisee-Entrepreneur Workshop held on 12^th March 2010 
 

The wheels of justice turn very slowly in India, causing hardships to franchisees who can ill afford the cost of litigating in India’s Courts and sustain money, time and opportunity loss due to delaying tactics employed against them. Indian entrepreneurs are rather confused about franchise opportunities that exist. While some think a franchise opportunity is a business opportunity, others take it more like an investment or an opportunity to rent/lease out their real estate. Hence, it is essential to dispel such myths. 

Hemal Manek, Head – Network Development, Cartridge World South Asia, highlighted on the critical challenges in franchising in India and hence the need of such workshops for organized growth of franchising industry.

 

The India Franchisee Workshop aimed to explore and address Franchisee-StartUp Queries pertaining to Franchise Opportunities. Speaking at this event, Dhawal Shah, Founder, Maverick Franchise Ventures (MFV India) said that, 'Franchising in India is much lesser successful than the much touted 85 to 90% by the media, and one of the reasons is not having a holistic understanding of franchising, MFV India and Cartridge World is proud to organise such events and shall continue organising such events across India. After receiving a positive response in Mumbai, our next workshop is in Bengaluru and Hyderabad.' He made a brief presentation for the much successful and globally acclaimed, India Franchise Rankings. 

According to Naveen Rakhecha, CEO, Cartridge World South Asia ' Franchising is not a business in itself, it is a way of doing business. He highlighted that franchising requires specific expertise and how franchise evaluation process helps both the franchisor & the franchisee ’. Highlighting the Industry facts, he indicated that in India, the printer cartridges market which is pegged at over Rs 3000 crores and is growing at over 30% Year on Year. Cartridge World is well positioned as ‘OEM quality at an affordable price’ service provider to make the most of the opportunity.

 

Cartridge World which is only 3 years old in India is ranked 1st in its category and 29th best franchise opportunity in India (Rating by Way2Franchise.com) & Ranked 27 of the Top 100 Global Franchises (Rating by Franchise Direct) The Brand has already won 7 prestigious awards in its 3 year of operations in India.

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Maverick Franchise Brands launches India Franchise Rankings 2010

Mumbai, India 2nd March 2010: With an aim to encourage and promote best practices in franchising in India, Maverick Franchise Ventures (MFV India) announced the launch of the first-of-its kind 'India Franchise Rankings 2010'- awards to honour the achievements and the entrepreneurial spirit of Indian franchisors. India Franchise Rankings 2010 is an annual exercise aimed at encouraging franchise companies. 

Despite there being several initiatives to award franchise brands, none of them have the a clear methodology on the basis of which they are ranked. The current awards gauge franchise recruitment progress and is where number and expansion driven, leaving behind a lot of more important parameters, no. of franchisee locations closed, franchisee profitability and success ratios. 

The franchisee - entrepreneur of today complements the core Indian values of respect, freedom and hard work. Franchising shapes the lives of 85,000 Plus Franchisees across India, these franchisee - entrepreneurs transform and mould the franchise system and spreads the same entrepreneurial idea, within their family. 

Considering the undividable association of celebration and entrepreneurship, MFV India decided to salute these 'solid gold franchisors' and acknowledge their contribution to the Indian Economy.

Speaking on this occasion, Dhawal Shah, Founder of MFV India said, that, 'We are pleased to launch the inaugural India Franchise Rankings 2010. Today's franchisees and businessmen are always on the lookout for franchise and business opportunities, but are not aware of various companies. With our propreitory index, we have developed a methodology for evaluating and assessing India's leading franchise companies'. 

Silvio Zannoni, one of the investors in Maverick Franchise Ventures, on this occasion said that, 'Our Partnership with Way2Franchise.com has been quite successful in helping us launch unique-first initiatives like the India Franchise Rankings, Similar to our online franchise portal in Italy, we will definitely see us increase our market share in India as well.  

Since, November 2009, the MFV India Team has been constantly examining franchisors and confidentially surveying franchisees. Participation in the franchisee’s surveys is anonymous; franchisees receive codes for confidentiality. Some of them, that prefer to speak over the telephone are not asked for their identity or location. Here is how we compile this mega-list--the first, best and most comprehensive franchise ranking in India. The process began in November 2009, when we asked franchisors to participate in this year's survey. Each submission was vetted before being entered for data analysis, with 164 companies making the first cut. Of those, the top 100 companies made the Franchise 100 ranking, based on franchisee satisfaction and profitability.

Geetanjali Mehlwal, a legal expert and an experienced franchise veteran said that, 'India Franchise Rankings is a much needed initiative that will benefit everyone in the franchise industry in India as well as provide foreign franchisors with a fair idea about the performance of the Indian franchise industry'

All companies, regardless of size, are judged by the same criteria: objective, quantifiable measures of a franchise operation. The most important factors include financial strength and stability, growth rate and size of the system. We also consider the number of years a company has been in business and the length of time it's been franchising, start-up costs, percentage of terminations, and whether the company provides financing. 

All the factors are plugged into our proprietary methodology, with each eligible company receiving a cumulative score. The 100 franchises with the highest cumulative scores become the India Franchise 100. Remember that the India Franchise 100 is not intended to endorse, advertise or recommend any particular franchise. It is solely a research tool you can use to compare franchise operations. MFV India stresses that you should always conduct your own independent investigation before investing money in a franchise. 

The winners of the inaugural annual India Franchise Rankings 2010 Competition honoring excellence in franchising are: 

1              Raymonds

2              Angel

3              Subway

4              Eurokids

5              NIIT

6              Helen O Grady

7              Siyarams

8              Aptech Computer Education

9              Coffee Day Xpress

10           Reliance Money

11           Koutons

12           Career Launcher

13           TIME

14           Motilal Oswal

15           Institute of Management Studies

16           Spykar Jeans

17           Max Mind Abacus

18           Kwality Walls

19           Bachpan Play School

20           Levis

21           ICICI Securities

22           Animaster

23           N Power

24           The Apollo Clinic

25           VETA

26           Jawed Habib Hair Xpreso

27           Podar Happy Kids

28           Golds Gym

29           Cartridge World

30           Easy Bill

31           Sharekhan

32           Suvidha

33           Academy Of Broadcasting

34           Flair English

35           India Infoline

36           Karrox

37           Snap Fitness

38           Srinathjis

39           Way2Wealth

40           Abacus Mental Mathematics Academy

41           US Dollar Store

42           Texas Chicken

43           US Pizza

44           K Lounge

45           Sykes and Ray Equities

46           Fashion and I

47           Sarva Jal

48           The Loot Store

49           VLCC

50           Institute of Computer Accountants

51           English Express

52           Sykes and Ray Equities

53           Remax

54           Go Chaatz

55           iPlayiLearn

56           LJ Hooker

57           Avalon

58           Ace Tours and Travels

59           Clipso beauty School

60           Jumbo King Foods

61           Desk to Desk Couriers (DTDC)

62           Belmonte Apparel (S. Kumars)

63           Animation Traning School (ANTS)

64           Oxford Book Store

65           Zapak Gameplex

66           Time Zone India

67           Frameboxx

68           Castol Bike Zone

69           Tanclean

70           SVK Institute of Management

71           Pizza Corner

72           Re-Feel

73           Jetking Infotrain

74           Ideal Play Abacus (IPA)

75           Comfort Securities

76           Sagar Ratna

77           Sykes and Ray Equities

78           Mahindra First Choice

79           Zee Institute of Creative Arts

80           Russell's Institute of English

81           Geetanjali Group

82           Dandy Collection

83           Adidas

84           Kaati Zone

85           Gini and Jony

86           Kidzee

87           REBI

88           Baskin Robbins

89           Java Green

90           Slice of Italy

91           ABC Montessori

92           Western Union Money Transfer

93           Multi Utility Solutions

94           Appin Knowledge Solutions

95           Talwalkar's Gyms

96           Ventura Securities

97           Reebok

98           Sharkey's Cuts for Kids

99           Tropical Sno

100         Vichare Couriers

Notes to Editor: 

Maverick Franchise Ventures India (MFV India) 

MFV India (FranchiseExpo.in and Way2Franchise.com) is the leading knowledge company in the franchise industry, assisting prospective franchise buyers with the help of rating and analysis tools for India's leading franchise systems.

Legal Disclaimer: 

Before making any commitment, or paying any money, it is essential that prospective buyers make their own careful enquiries, discuss the franchise opportunity with any other franchisees and take appropriate professional advice from an experienced lawyer and accountant. Neither Way2Franchise.com Corp. or Maverick Franchise Ventures Pvt. Ltd. nor any of its sponsors or endorsers or related companies will be responsible or liable for losses, costs and expenses, including consequential losses and any failure of business which may result from the use of this information or the use of or reliance on data contained in it.

India Franchise Rankings 2010 - Winners from 1 to 25

India Franchise Rankings - Franchise Opportunities from 26 to 50

India Franchise Rankings - Franchise Opportunities Rank 51 to 100

The Business of Schools in India

Since, franchising is so very prevalent in education and training business, with english learning institutes, schools, preschools, colleges, vocational education, preparatory entrance examination coaching, after school programs, grooming institutes and so on. I visited India International Premier Schools exhibition at Nehru Centre last week. It seemed like the first, in its respective category. 

The schools business in India is fragmented, you have a few good schools in every town that are govt. aided / subsidised, it is quite competitive to get admissions, However since 2008,  the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has allowed allowed companies registered under the Companies Act to start private unaided schools In the primary and secondary education space, as a non-profit entity under Sec. 25. Since 2008, a lot of new fancy schools have come up, offering different curriculums, beyond the SSC (Maharashtra Pune board), CBSE, ICSE to IB and IGCSE. There are more than 200 Plus New Private International schools in India

At the India International Premier Schools The entry was restricted for parents only, there were about 20 to 30 companies participating, very few people visited the exhibition, although the exhibition was in its 6th edition. Not many new about the exhibition. Interestingly, none of the large corporate brands that are looking at aggressive expansion by franchising, were participating at the show, that includes Delhi Public School, Educomp, Eurokids and others. For specific business opportunities in education, it is better to attend smaller workshops, then to attend these large format exhibitions like the one in Mumbai

Today's children are tomorrow's future. That's why parents are investing in their children with educational activities along with supplement in-school learning. This exhibition also raised some pertinent issues as they arise in this time and era. Its the debate between residential school and 

Since, a lot of people are still to be aware of residential schools, here is some brief information. A residential school is one where students stay in the hostels and pursue their studies. They live in with fellow students. Some schools offer residence as an option for outstation students while in some others, availing the residence facilities of the school is compulsory. Residential schools essentially provide food and lodging for a specific fee. Varied number of students share rooms or dormitories and remain under the guidance of house master or house mistress or matron. 

In traditional convention schools, kids stay with their parents. Parents regularly take the time to teach and groom them about kids, life and religion. In a residential or a boarding school, parents cannot teach the kids about religion, since otherwise they would loose the secularity badge and students. Students also speak to teachers and counsellors, instead of parents, when they are confused or in dilemma. They will always stay away from their mother's home cooked food and parental love.

However, despite that, these residential schools have anything between 50 to 500 students as there are several parents with a nuclear family, working parents, busy schedules and no time, in some cases, single parents, divorced families. Hence, it does make sense for them to enrol their kids in residential schools and therefore these residential schools are doing good business, as for the schools business opportunity, they charge anything between, Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 13 Lakhs per student. 

India is one of the largest markets for the education business, thanks to the recent liberalisation, there will be more schools and to leverage that business opportunity, as an entrepreneur you can consider taking up a franchise.

Al Futtaim to open Carrefour Franchise Hypermarket in Iraq

19th February 2010: The UAE company with the licence to operate the Carrefour SA franchise in the Middle East is looking to open its first store in Iraq as part of a wider expansion plan in the region. Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) Retail manages a joint venture in the Middle East with France's Carrefour, the world's second-biggest retailer by revenue after Wal-Mart Stores.

In the past three years, the joint venture opened 14 hypermarkets, bringing its total to 37 in the Middle East. MAF is now turning to countries such as Iraq, Yemen, Oman, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Lebanon to open new Carrefour stores in a bid to tap growing consumer appetite in the Middle East and North Africa. MAF will open the store in Arbil, one of Iraq's largest cities, probably towards the end of 2010. "The north of Iraq is a very promising market and a stable area," Muhammad Naeem, an executive at MAF Retail, told Reuters on the sidelines of a treasurers conference.

"We studied the economy, the infrastructure, we see no uncertainty and no security issues in that part of the country," he said. Northern, predominantly Kurdish, Iraq has emerged relatively unscathed from the violence that affected the rest of the country. MAF, owned by billionaire UAE businessman Majid Al-Futtaim, traditionally enters markets with Carrefour as anchor tenant of its malls and recently opened a local version, under a different brand name, of the hypermarket in Iran's capital Tehran. 

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Hamleys To Expand Further Into Middle East

Hamleys, the world-famous toy retailer, intends to broaden its reach into the Middle Eastern markets to sustain a record year-end festive-season performance which saw the company increase its like-for-like (LFL) sales by 11.6 per cent over 2008 within the six-week period leading to January 2, 2010. From the second quarter leading up to the last quarter of 2009, Hamleys’ LFL sales were up 7.2 per cent on 2008. The buoyant performance and cost benefits derived from a restructuring programme completed in 2009 combined to significantly boost company profits, with Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) advancing 42.8 per cent over the same period last year. 

Hamleys’ productive run extended to the Middle East, where its franchise store in Dubai (at The Dubai Mall) run by partner Retail Arabia International reported a festive-season LFL sales increase of 54 per cent – boosted in part due to the fact that Hamleys at The Dubai Mall was the exclusive regional retailer of Ben 10 Alien Force merchandise.

Commenting on the performance, Gudjon Reynisson, CEO of Hamleys, said: We are delighted with the performance of the business during this important trading period and for the whole financial year. The festive-season sales figures were very strong with our flagship store in Regent Street having its best season on record and we are also very pleased with the strong performance in our new flagship store in the St.Enoch Centre in Glasgow where sales significantly exceeded our expectations.”

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Carrefour Plans To Enter Indian Market

Carrefour, the French retailer, plans to enter the Indian market by establishing a wholesale business. The Indian economy is one of the fastest growing in the world, with an increasing middle-class. However, unlike China, India’s growth has been fuelled by consumer spending, a fact that has caught the attention of foreign retail giants. However, restrictions on foreign retailers have meant that they have had to find a different route to enter this fast growing market.

Carrefour joins Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), and Metro AG from Germany, which have started cash-and-carry ventures in India. “Carrefour will develop its activities in India with the start of cash & carry activities in 2010," the company said in an email statement to Reuters.

Indian law allows foreign retail firms to have franchise agreements with local players, and Carrefour has been in talks with local firms for 4 years now. "Carrefour and some Indian companies have been discussing partnerships," the company said, but would not to comment on which firms it had spoken with.

MUMBAI: Gordon Reid — the chief operating officer, who oversaw the expansion of Trent’s Star Bazaar retail outlets — is returning to his parent firm Tesco to head its Chinese operations. According to an official Trent release, Mr Reid’s India stint was part of a franchise arrangement with partner Tesco, and he is now moving back. The company said his replacement at Trent will be announced soon. Trent officials that ET spoke to felt that managing director Noel Tata may opt for international expertise until Star Bazaar strengthens its operational set-up in the country. Mr Reid took over at Trent in 2008 after Tesco inked a deal with the retail arm of the salt-to-software Tata Group.

A pharmacist by training, he had worked with Boots for about 15 years earning his spurs in organised retail. He eventually ran the South East of England Region, responsible for around 200 stores. In 2005 he joined Tesco in Central Europe as the COO for their Hungarian business before coming to India. That stint is expected to come to an end on March 1.

Star Bazaar is estimated to have around seven operational stores and plans to scale that up to 11 by end of the year. That figure is slated to touch 50 in five years, according to company plans. Star Bazaar sells fruits, vegetables and non-vegetarian products, dairy, home care, health and beauty products, apparel, home decor, gifts and household items.

Tesco, the world’s third-largest retailer, is currently concluding its supply-chain integration with Star Bazaar as part of its franchise agreement with Trent. Tesco chose Trent as its partner almost two years after calling off talks with the Bharti Group. The wholesale outlets will sell groceries and other goods to small retailers and restaurant owners and supply Star Bazaar, Tesco said. Tesco’s first wholesale store in India is scheduled to open sometime this year. The UK retailer is keen to get a foothold in India where chain-store sales are expected to touch $97 billion by 2012, according to consultant Technopak Advisors. Tesco officials have said the retailer is relying on emerging markets of China, South Korea and India for future growth.

Chavana Spa forays into India with Four Points by Sheraton property Navi Mumbai

19th February 2010: Thailand-based Mandara Spa Asia Limited (MSAL) has forayed into the Indian market by launching its spa brand Chavana Spa through Four Points by Sheraton, Navi Mumbai. In October 2009, MSAL had launched the spa brand to cater to the mid-market and four-star hotel segment. The facility in Navi Mumbai marks the first establishment of an international spa brand in Asia. MSAL has entered into a franchise-management under a revenue sharing model agreement for the spa facility in the hotel. The hotel’s spa facility will offer Balinese therapies with traditional Balinese massages along with Indian head massages, Asian foot massages, purity facials and head and foot massages. The hotel has four treatment rooms and treatment costs range from Rs 1,400 to Rs 6,500.

About 85 per cent of the hotel’s in-house guests are inbound travellers who are likely to be the prime clientele for the spa facility. Besides its in-house guests, the hotel plans to direct its marketing efforts to the local market for this facility. It will focus on advertising and developing collaterals to educate and inform the local market about the offering.

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Thai store chain CP All Q4 net profit more than doubles

18th February 2010: CP ALL Bangkok, Thailand's largest convenience store chain, reported on Thursday that its fourth-quarter earnings more than doubled, beating analysts' forecast, thanks to a rise in sales and better gross margins. CP All, a proxy for domestic consumption in Thailand, posted an October-December net profit of 1.09 billion baht ($32.86 million), up from 509 million baht a year earlier, but lower than the 1.42 billion in the previous quarter.

According to Thomson Reuters StarMine SmartEstimates, which predicts future earnings by putting more weight on recent forecasts by top-rated analysts, CP All had been forecast to post a net profit of 1.07 billion baht for the quarter and 4.8 billion for 2009. Its full-year profit of 4.99 billion baht was higher than the 3.3 billion baht in 2008.

Analysts expect to see further earnings growth in 2010. It has been resilient during the economic downturn, has a strong balance sheet and is debt free, allowing for sustainable dividends, they said.

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Raymond eyes 40% rise in retail biz revenue in 2 years

8th February 2010: Apparel house Raymond today said it is aiming to increase revenue from retail business by up to 40 per cent in two years from the current Rs 1,000 crore, for which it will add more stores in smaller towns. "We are looking at 30-40 per cent jump in revenue from retail business in the next two years from the current turnover of about Rs 1,000 crore," Raymond president (retail and business development) Rakesh Pandey told reporters here on the sidelines of an AIMA event.

In the third quarter ended December 31, Raymond reported a total income of Rs 375.9 crore and for the nine-month period it stood at Rs 1,017.95 crore. Under its retail vertical, Raymond has the Raymond Shop (premium retail store offering complete wardrobe solutions for men), Brand Shop (exclusive stores for stand-alone brands of the firm) and Be:Home(a specialty multi-brand home retail chain for soft home furnishings and accessories).

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Videocon to launch mobile services in Mumbai, Chennai next month
19th February 2010

Videocon’s foray into mobile services has been delayed. Starting with Mumbai and Chennai, the company now plans to roll out its GSM mobile services from March

Consumer electronics giant Videocon Group will launch its mobile services in Mumbai and Chennai by March, according to a senior official. Earlier, there were reports that the company would launch its GSM mobile services in Mumbai by 20th February.

Although the company has not fixed any date for launching its services, it is planning to increase the number of its retail outlets across the country to facilitate its foray. “We are launching our GSM mobile services by next month in Mumbai and Chennai which will require us to add more outlets. We are planning to add approximately 500 or more outlets across the country over a year,” said SM Hegde, director, Videocon Group.

Mumbai is one of the busiest telecom circles in India, which delivers a large chunk of revenues to various mobile operators. Average revenue per user (ARPU) of many mobile operators in India is highest in the Mumbai circle. Earlier this month, while speaking with PTI in Davos, Videocon Industries' president and vice chairman Pradeepkumar N Dhoot had said that the company plans to cover the entire country with its GSM mobile services within the next 18 months.

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Wyndham Hotel Group signs four franchise agreements in India

19th February, 2010: Wyndham Hotel Group has signed four franchise agreements in India, bringing the total number of hotels that the company has opened or under development in India to 14. The Group currently has 7,100 hotels under 11 brands across the world.

The properties currently being built and scheduled to open later this year, include the 140-room Ramada Amritsar hotel, owned by Starex Developers Pvt Ltd; the 130-room Ramada Gurgaon Expressway New Delhi hotel, owned by Sartaj Hotels Pvt Ltd; the 392-room Ramada Plaza Dwarka New Delhi hotel, owned by Tirupati Buildings & Offices Pvt Ltd and the 100-room Ramada Gurgaon Central hotel, owned by Greenland Hospitality Private Ltd.

Tom Monahan, Executive Vice President of international development, Wyndham Hotel Group said, “India is seeing the most hotel development activity in the Asia Pacific region, behind China. These new hotels will strengthen the brand’s presence in New Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR) region as well as mark our presence in Amritsar.”

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