The Hindu Business Line : Cookie Man plans to open 20 more stores by March `06

AUSTRALIAN cookie chain Cookie Man plans to open 20 more stores in the country by March 2006, according to Mr John Lynch, Director and Chief Cookie Taster, Cookie Man. This will take the total number of stores to 40.

Speaking to Business Line, he said that Cookie Man's Forum Mall in Bangalore, which recorded high sales volume last year, is expected to be the largest volume store in the world this year. "Last year, the Spencer Plaza outlet which did a business of Rs 1.1 crore, got this title." The Forum Mall outlet is expected to do sales of Rs 1.5 crore by March 2005.

Cookie Man opened its first outlet in Chennai in January 2000. Now, it is present in various malls in Bangalore, Gurgaon, Hyderabad and Mumbai. Explaining that this is essentially a mall type of business, Mr Lynch said that when Cookie Man was first launched in Australia in 1958, there were no malls in the country. "Just like the scene here when we first came to India five years ago," says Mr Lynch.

Cookie Man outlets are all franchisee stores. The recipes come from Australia and the dough comes from Chennai. There are mother stores across the five cities where cookies are freshly baked and supplied to other outlets. In fact, the conveyer belt type oven at the outlets comes from Australia. The company recorded a turnover of Rs 3 crore by the end of March 2004. By the end of March 2005, it is expected to clock a turnover of Rs 9 crore and by March 2006 touch Rs 18 crore, according to Mr Lynch.