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TexMex Cuisine India Private Ltd, which has the master franchise rights for American casual dining restaurant chain Chili’s Grill & Bar, is investing $10 million to expand its footprint in West and South India over the next two years.
At present, the chain, operated by Texas-based Brinker International, has 10 restaurants across the country – five in the South and West (Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Pune) and five in the North and East (Delhi, Kolkata and Chandigarh).
“The ₹1,500-crore casual dine market in India which is growing at 10-15 per cent per annum has great potential for growth. Last fiscal, our same store sales grew at 40 per cent over the previous fiscal and we are expecting to grow at 20 per cent this fiscal. We will open 10 new Chili’s restaurants at an investment of $1 million per restaurant, spanning 3,000 – 4,000 sq ft each in Kochi, Goa, Chennai and in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai, where we are already present,” said Ashish Saxena, Executive Director, Chili’s Grill & Bar, South & West, TexMex Cuisine India Pvt Ltd, a company backed by TVS Capital. Chili’s competes with American casual dining restaurants Hard Rock Café and TGIF, both of which have already garnered a huge fan following in India.
Pointing out that the flavours of Tex-Mex cuisine are close to the Indian palate and is relatively untapped in India compared to Chinese, continental and Italian cuisines, Saxena said it has great potential for growth especially since, Indians have started experimenting a lot with new cuisines as disposable incomes continue to increase.
“Our restaurants are targeted at three sets of customers – corporate, families and youth. We expect 40 per cent of our business from corporate, followed by 30 per cent from families, 20 per cent from youth and the rest from a mixed set of walk-in customers,” he said.
Founded by Larry Levine in Texas in 1975 and currently owned and operated by Brinker International, Chili’s Grill & Bar has 1,400 outlets in the US and 300 outside the US in 32 countries.
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