The Hindu Business Line : Pizza Corner plans overseas foray

THE home-grown quick-service retail chain Pizza Corner would be investing $9 million (Rs 39.4 crore) in opening food retail outlets in China, Sri Lanka and Malaysia during the year 2005. It proposes to make an investment of about $3 million (Rs 13.1 crore) in each of the three countries.

"We have already identified a 3,000 occupant place in Beijing and are looking at two other properties in Shanghai. We plan to open our first store in Beijing early 2005 and then showcase the same to our prospective franchisees. Later, we plan to get into Shanghai," Mr Parag Dutta, Chief Operating Officer of Pizza Corner India (P) Ltd, told Business Line.

Claiming that investors from Russia, Argentina and UAE had also approached the company for opening up franchisee outlets in their respective countries. However, the company was yet to take a decision in this regard.

Global Franchise Architects (GFA), founded by Mr Fred Mouawad, launched Pizza Corner in the country in 1996. It currently has a chain of 28 outlets across the country (in New Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Mysore, Hyderabad and Pondicherry). The company is now leveraging its expertise to franchise specialty retail brands worldwide.

On the domestic front, Mr Datta said, Pizza Corner was looking towards starting franchisee outlets in satellite towns. While it has signed up a franchisee to be set up in Visakhapatnam, plans are afoot to open an outlet shortly in Coimbatore. The other towns in the South where the outlets would eventually come up included Vijayawada, Rajahmundry and Guntur in Andhra Pradesh; Manipal, Mangalore, Hubli and Belgaum in Karnataka.

In the second phase of growth next year, the company would be opening outlets in the west and eastern parts of the country including Agra, Jaipur, Chandigarh and Jallandar. Besides, negotiations were being held for opening one more franchise outlet each in Hyderabad, Mumbai and Tamil Nadu. The company's growth strategies included introduction of new food products every three months, Mr Datta added.