The Hindu Business Line : KFC plans to open nine outlets this year

Having a network of 16 restaurants in eight cities across the country, KFC proposes to open nine more restaurants during the year, its Senior Marketing Manager, Mr Unnat Varma, said. At present, KFC is present in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Pune and Hyderabad, serving over two-lakh customers every week, he said.

Mr Varma, who was here on the occasion of inauguration of KFC's second restaurant in Hyderabad, told Business Line that the company opened its second equity (self-owned) store backed by the success of its first equity store. Of the 16 restaurants, 13 are managed by franchisees, while three are self-owned. The other equity store is in Delhi.

National footprint

"KFC aims to build a national footprint and expand its presence to all major metros in the coming year through franchisee and self-owned restaurants," he said. Of the nine restaurants planned for the current year, eight would be by franchisee and one would be self-owned. "We are planning to open another KFC restaurant at Vikrampuri in Secunderabad. We have also tied-up with GVK-One Mall for setting up another restaurant in the Banjara Hills here," Mr Varma said.

Stating that the company's immediate focus would be on consolidating its presence in the metros, he said KFC would be entering Chennai before the year-end. Chennai is the only metro where KFC does not have a presence so far.

In the next phase of expansion, KFC proposes to aggressively tap the markets of tier-II cities and towns. Refusing to divulge further details on this, Mr Varma said the pace of this expansion would largely depend on the availability of retail space.