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Franchising: The Key To The Future
Of Malls
 Amidst
retail boom, the nascent franchising industry
may well be on a roll, but the franchise
financing landscape is yet to evolve fully.
When Arun Diaz from Thane and five of his
business partners took Apollo Health &
Lifestyle franchisee, they needed Rs 4 crore
as loan to start their clinic. They approached
private banks, co-operative banks and SIDBI.
The problem with co-operative banks was
that they asked for guarantees from a third
party. And family members or friends possibly
could not stand guarantee for such a huge
loan. The private banks like Karnataka Bank
declined credit as they simply did not understand
the concept of franchise business. However,
both Sate Bank of India and SIDBI were willing
to provide the loan. But Arun Diaz and his
partners finally settled for SBI which had
a special tie-up with Apollo Health &
Lifestyle Ltd and offered a better deal
than SIDBI.
more
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Prospects
Rosy For Apparel Retailing
Ranked
as the second biggest consumption category
after food items at domestic malls, apparel
retailing is one of the fastest growing
segments in the country’s burgeoning
retail scenario. Its growth curve is likely
to get more accentuated in the near future
with a majority of discerning shoppers showing
a marked preference for branded apparel.
And in a highly competitive retail market
where reach is all that matters, the action
is now shifting to harnessing the vast untapped
potential of Tier II cities, reveal Chetan
Shah, country head, Pepe Jeans-London, and
Asim Dalal, managing director, The Bombay
Store, in an interactive chat with Rajesh
Kulkarni. |
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“A Path-breaking Institution”
‘Quality,
service and innovation’ sums up the
philosophy of Dr Lal Pathlabs which aims to
provide the patients with timely, accurate
and cost-effective results from the widest
test menu. Being the first in the world to
introduce the franchise model in healthcare
sector, it has today the largest network in
the country. In a conversation with Priyanka
Kapoor, Dr Arvind Lal, MD, LPL, speaks about
the franchise model and its impact on the
healthcare segment. |
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Cartoon
Network Consumer Products Are Here
Don’t
get caught off guard if your cute little princess
browbeats you for a school bag, not just any
bag, but specifically ‘Powerpuff Girls’
one. Take it in your stride if your hip son
pesters you for ‘Johnny Bravo’
footwear.
Cartoon Network Enterprises, the licensing
division of UK’s top kid’s channel
in India, Cartoon Network, is all set to launch
a consumer products programme on its cartoon
characters. |
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Innovation Works Wonders For Book, Music Retail
We
may not read books in the running brooks and
sermons in stone, but the stuff that is traditionally
available between two covers, hard-bound or
paperback, continue to fascinate and provoke
us. So do the strains of music, the channel
that have been feeding our emotions from time
immemorial. The stores in the neighbourhood
or in high streets which provide this double
entertainment have today undergone a profound
change and offer the customers an ambience
of charm with enticing layouts and smart service,
all part of well thought out product mixes
to heighten the pleasures of browsing and
listening. Priyanka Kapoor
reports.
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The
Dragon Soars
China
has the highest number of franchise
chains in the world employing
1.8 million people. According
to the official estimate, 2,000
or so companies have about 120,000
franchised stores.
China’s contemporary image
is a far cry from the ‘sleeping’
Dragon of the nineteenth and
most of twentieth century. The
economic ball, which clairvoyant
Deng Xiaoping had set rolling
in 1978, has gathered much momentum.
The Red Country is no longer
highlighted by gray horizons,
grim faces clothed in drab blue
suits, pedaling their rickety
cycles to work factories. Urmila
Rao reports.
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Retail
To Progress, Despite Hiccups
By
all accounts, Indian retail
has for some time now been proclaiming
its credentials from the platform
of several economic fundamentals.
These include factors like rise
in the proportion of upper income
households, increasing consumption
expenditure and greater use
of credit cards, all contributing
to the demand pull. The supply
push is also at work, two significant
drivers of this force being
the financial flexibility of
the large retailers and the
rapid development of malls.
The consumers’ preference
for organised retail is growing,
improving the climate for investment
in this sector.
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Is FDI in retail actually
happening?
FDI
in retail has been at the threshold
of Indian economy for long.
Its loud tap is not bothering
the Indian retailers. In fact,
they are too eager to welcome
it. A talk with top-notch executives
from varied background establishes
that FDI in retail is a healthy
prospect for the Indian retail
market and the government is
likely to allow it soon. Urmila
Rao records their views.
Karan Verma, CEO, Mark
Pi
Gagan Deep Sachdeva, CEO, Velocity
Enterprises Pvt Ltd
Sharad Batra, Franchisee, Nirula’s
Adarsh Gupta, Executive Director,
Liberty Shoes
Sameer Modi, President, Twenty
Four Seven Retail Stores Pvt.
Ltd
Brotin Banerjee, Ex-COO, Barista
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