RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group plans to take its casual dining format Au Bon Pain national by the end of this fiscal. The group, which runs 28 restaurants in Bangalore, is going to foray into Kolkata and the NCR with plans to become a 50-joint chain by March 2014.
Au Bon Pain Café India chief executive Sanjay Gupta said the group would first set up a chain of stores in a city for economies of scale before expanding into another city. “We ideally would like to have 30,000-40,000 square feet of operating space in a city to make it commercially successful. We have also increased the size of the average stores from some 850 sq ft to 1,800 sq ft,” he said. Gupta said plans are there to set up at least 30 stores in a year. The group is currently setting up 10 stores in Kolkata. “We are signing property in various locations. Our flagship store in Kolkata at Park Street will come up soon, hopefully around the Christmas-New Year eve,” Gupta said.
RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group is the master franchisee for the chain and Gupta said there are no plans for sub-franchising at the moment.
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