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The RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group run café chain, Au Bon Pain, is looking to double its store count to 55 from 27 over the next 18 months.
According to Avarna Jain, Founder, Au Bon Pain, the expansion will mostly be carried out in Kolkata, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Puducherry. The second phase of expansion will include Mumbai and Goa.
Jain is the daughter of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group Chairman, Sanjiv Goenka.
“Over the next 18 months we will look to have around 55-odd stores, mostly across Kolkata, Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai. Mumbai and Goa will be in the second phase of our expansion,” she said.
New stores will, however, be on a “leaner format” with an average size of around 1200 sq ft.
According to her, Au Bon Pain will also look to explore the franchise model in the coming days. Currently, all 27 of the Au Bon Pain stores are company-owned.
The The RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group has an 80 per cent stake in Au Bon Pain Café India Ltd, which runs the eponymous café chain.
The Goenkas own the chain through Spencer’s Retail, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the group’s flagship CESC Ltd.
The café chain reported around Rs 17 crore of revenue last fiscal (FY-15) and is looking at a Rs 7 crore jump in revenues (to Rs 24 crore) this year.
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