POC
to expand through franchising
PEOPLEONE
Consulting (POC), an HR solutions company, is taking the franchisee
route for expanding into the Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in the country.
It will be in addition to the existing presence of POC in seven locations
in the country and the Middle East. The first phase of the expansion
plan will take the company to cities like Mangalore, Mysore, Goa,
Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Vishakapatnam, Vijaywada, Chandigarh, Lucknow,
Allahabad and Kolkata among others.
Reliance
to follow franchise route
RELIANCE
Infocom's WebWorld chain across the country, will undergo a major
management change wherein all 250 Reliance WebWorlds will be converted
from company-owned and company managed stores into company owned and
franchisee operated ones. The selection and training of franchisees
are already on and all 250 stores will be handed over to them for
management, as an innovative and proven retail business model.
Apollo
to set up health insurance company
INDIA is
about to get its first standalone health insurance company. After
making it big in the hospital business, Dr Prathap 'Apollo' Reddy
is currently drawing up plans for an ambitious foray into the health
insurance business. Apollo also plans to enter the health insurance
sector for which it will rely on its experience in the business through
their third party administration (TPA) operations in some of the developed
countries.
Another
boutique from Ferns 'N' Petals
YET another
feather adds to Ferns 'N' Petals (FNP) cap with its new franchisee
at Vasant Kunj in Delhi. The outlet will service the customer base
in Vasant Kunj and the nearby areas with fresh and artificial flowers
and other exclusive merchandise characteristic to FNP. FNP is not
only the leader in flowers but also in wedding décor and wedding
arrangement, and is catering to the who's who of the society. As part
of the corporate strategy FNP provides logistical, marketing and merchandise
support to its franchisees from time to time and plans promotional
activities with them for special occasions.
Funkie
Orbits to expand in India
FUNKIE Orbits,
an interactive play station, developed around the concept of "Play"
being an interactive activity, has been able to establish itself as
the first premier play station for children. Funkie Orbits is devoted
to letting urban children rediscover the joy of interactive play,
exploration and learning. Funkie Orbits is a platform for self-expression
for kids. Keeping up with this, special workshops on dance, theatre,
singing, drawing cartoons and many more such events and activities
are organized on a regular basis. With organized retailing set to
grow, Funkie Orbits goal is to become the most preferred indoor wonderland
for children and parents and an essential benchmark of quality retailing.
Every new outlet has a special theme. The theme for this one is Time
and Space. This has a unique spaceship like ambience with great new
features in them.
FranchiseGuru
assists in new sign-ups
FranchiseGuru,
business brokerage division of Franchise India Holdings Limited, Asia's
largest integrated franchise solution company facilitated three companies
in opening up their outlets at Dehradun, Chennai and Indore in March.
Franchise Guru, through its well-placed network of 30 offices, interacts
on regular basis with franchisors, real estate and mall owners and
investors and the team has mapped prime locations and upcoming malls,
which will help the franchisor and franchisee to choose the right
franchise regionally. FG also provides state financial assistance
to prospective franchisees. FG has assisted the following in finalising
business deals:
Marrybrown
takes kiosk route for expansion
MARRYBROWN,
one of the leading fast food chains spread across Asia, is taking
the 'kiosk' route for its expansion in south India. Called the 'Marrybrown
Delco', these kiosk are aimed to come up at high density populated
areas, where real estate is quite costly. Started in 1981 in Malaysia,
the chain continues to expand rapidly throughout Malaysia, China,
Brunei, Singapore and India. In a span of three years, it has grown
into a 11-outlet strong chain. Over the next three-four months, they
will be opening up more restaurants in Bangalore and Hyderabad.
Miracle
to offer sports drink
THE Rs 15-crore
Miracle Group has now developed a coconut water-based sports drink
for the global market. Miracle Food Processors, a joint venture with
Winter Umwlttechnik, Germany, had been fine-tuning its production
unit in Perintalmanna till recently, when the pesticide controversy
broke and gave Miracle's tender coconut cola the big break. The yet-to-be
named sports-drink needs few additives to the Miracle formula since
tender coconut water is already mineral rich. To meet demand, Miracle
has installed 50 vending machines in Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad
and pilgrim spots like Sabarimala and Guruvayoor.
Otik
Food Plaza plans 10 more outlets
OTIK Food
Plaza, a unit of Otik Hotels & Resorts Pvt. Ltd. has plans for
further expansion by offering franchises. Within a short period of
just over three years, this fast food chain of restaurants has already
established a very healthy growth, opening its outlets at premium
locations in Greater Kailash-II, Rajouri Garden and Pithampura besides
having its captive unit for manufacture of cakes, pastries and bakery
products.
Varie
to set up Garcias
IN a significant
move, Varie Marketing Concepts is planning to set up 200 Spanish coffee
shops called 'Garcias' across the country within a year. The objective
behind the move is to enable its distributors to interact at the coffee
shops where 'Varie' products will be displayed and promoted. Through
these 200 outlets, their aim is to market homecare, laundrycare and
personalcare products. They are planning to gain a competitive edge
through coffee-retailing and launch of 27 products in the multi-level
marketing segment. Of the 200 'Garcias' outlets, 20 outlets will be
company owned for which they are planning to invest Rs 4 crore. The
remaining 180 will be franchisee-operated.
