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INDIA’S BEST SELLING APRIL 2013 • VOL. 12 NO. 4 MAGAZINE `50 US$10 ON MODERN RETAIL

The Big-Box Format Evolution of Hypermarkets in India

ENTREPRENEUR RETAIL EXCELLENCE Prakash Babani Punit Agarwal Director CEO Satguru’s Arts & Crafts Promart The Way of Art High Fashion at Value Pricing

01-COVER-Final.indd 2 3/25/2013 6:03:11 PM www. indiaretailing. com APRIL 2013 • PAGES 98 • VOL. 12 NO. 4

Editor in Chief Amitabh Taneja Beginning last issue, we started a series on retail formats in Editorial Director R S Roy India. In this issue, we are taking a step further and presenting Publisher S P Taneja a detailed coverage of the evolution of the largest retail format Editorial “hypermarket” and how it has become a signifi cant growth Chief of Bureau (Mumbai) Nivedita J Pawar (Sr. Assoc. Editor) Chief of Bureau (Bangalore) Rajeev Kumar (Assoc. Editor) driver for organised retailers. Copy Editor Shipra Sehgal As the leading players in this format are consolidating their Sr. Correspondent (Delhi) Payal Gulati position, they have undertaken the most tried and tested Sr. Correspondent (Mumbai) Shanti Padukone Correspondent (Kolkata) Shubhra Saini route for success – innovation and rationalisation to improve Correspondent (Bangalore) Roshna Chandran profi tability. Creatives Yet lack of large retail space at reasonable pricing has been a Art Director Pawan Kumar Verma big deterrent to the rapid expansion of this concept in metros. Dy. Art Director Deepak Verma Sr. Layout Designer Prakash Jha As the government opened the FDI fl ood gates in multi-brand Layout Designer Rakesh Kumar retail, many foreign retail companies are expected to enter Sr. Photographer Vipin Kardam India. And the major advantage of the entry of these companies Circulation & Support is the enhanced fl ow of investments in overall infrastructure Assoc. VP - Consumer Connect Anil Nagar and the establishment of new supply chains. This will in turn General Manager – Administration Hemant Wadhawan Sr. Manager – Circulation R P Singh boost the expansion of hypermarkets, which are already gaining Dy. Manager – Operations Rajesh Kumar momentum after a period of lull. Sr. Executive – Subscriptions Kiran Rawat India is poised to become a competitive market that will have Production some of the best retail players providing products and services General Manager Manish Kadam Sr. Executive Ramesh Gupta on a par with global retail standards. ADVERTISING So, stay innovative, keep experimenting and think out of the box to keep the customer satisfi ed. After all, the customer is the Waseem Ahmad, KOLKATA: assoc. vice president (real estate & technology) Piyali Oberoi, assoc. vice president one who can either make or break you. [email protected] [email protected] On the same notes, India Fashion Forum 2013, held on 20-22 Mob.: +91 9833628852 Mob.: +91 9831171388 March in Mumbai, has witnessed the congregation of fashion Mansi Chawla, Rohan Narayan, business leaders and CEOs under one roof to discuss about sr. exec. (real estate / retail support & tech.) senior general manager (retail support) creating opportunities by increasing fashion consumption and [email protected] [email protected] Mob.: +91 9899900399 Mob.: +91 9830961388 market size. Along with two concurrent events - India Shoes &

DELHI: BANGALORE: Accessories Forum and InFashion, the event turnout far exceeded Suvir Jaggi, assoc. vice president Sachin Khanna, asst. manager (real estate) the expectations. [email protected] [email protected] Mob.: +91 9611127470 Mob.: +91 9818818142 Ashraf Alom, asst. manager (tech.) Mohd. Iqbal, asst. manager (tech.) Amitabh Taneja [email protected] [email protected] Mob.: +91 9871249479 Mob.: +91 9980965890 AHMEDABAD: Naveen Chauhan, dy. manager (retail supp.) All material printed in this publication is the sole property of Images Multimedia Pankaj Vyas, manager [email protected] [email protected] Pvt. Ltd. All printed matter contained in the magazine is based on the information provided Mob.: +91 9891390763 Mob.: +91 9909977088 by the writers/authors. The views, ideas, comments and opinions expressed are solely of the writers/authors or those featured in the articles and the Editor and Printer & Publisher MUMBAI: LUDHIANA: do not necessarily subscribe to the same. Nayan Shetty, manager ( retail support) Hemant Gupta, associate Printed & published by S P Taneja on behalf of Images Multimedia Pvt. Ltd. Printed at [email protected] [email protected] Modest Print Pack (P) Ltd. C-52, D.D.A. Shed Okhla Industrial Area Phase -1, Mob.: +91 9892769533 Mob.: +91 9814019745 New Delhi - 110020 and published by S P Taneja from S - 21 Okhla Industrial Area Chandan Singh, CHENNAI: Phase – 2, New Delhi.110020 Editor: Amitabh Taneja sr. exec.- sales (real estate) S. Venkataraaman, associate In relation to any advertisements appearing in this publication, readers are recommended [email protected] [email protected] to make appropriate enquiries before entering into any commitments. Images Multimedia Mob.: +91 9769653976 Mob.: +91 9444021128 Pvt. Ltd. does not vouch for any claims made by the advertisers of products and services. Images Multimedia Pvt. Ltd. The Printer, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the publication shall not be held for any consequences in the event of such claims not being honored by the advertisers. Delhi: S 21, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase II, New Delhi 110020 Ph: +91-11-40525000, Fax: +91-11-40525001 Copyright Images Multimedia Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any manner is prohibited. All disputes are subject to the jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Mumbai: 1st Floor, Bharat Tin Works, Opp. Borosil Glass Works, Off. Military Road, Delhi/New Delhi only. Images Retail does not accept responsibility for returning unsolicited Marol Maroshi, Andheri(E), Mumbai 400 059 manuscripts and photographs. Ph: +91-22-42567000, 29200043/46, Fax: +91-22-42567022 Bangalore: 523, 7th Cross, 10th Main, (Jeevanbhima Nagar Main Road), HAL 3rd Stage, Bangalore 560 075 Ph: +91-80-41255172/41750595/96, Fax: +91-80-41255182 For subscription related queries, email to: [email protected] Kolkata: 30-B, Anil Roy Road, Ground Floor, Kolkata 700 029 For feedback/editorial queries, email to: [email protected] Ph: + 91-33-40080480, Fax: +91-33-40080440 visit us at www.imagesgroup.in

02-Editorial-RETAIL.indd 6 3/29/2013 6:33:34 PM CONTENTS APRIL 2013

IN THIS ISSUE

Retail Launch ...... 38 Spotlight ...... 70 Future Is Gourmet Ready Gobol: Opportunity in Electronic Surplus Market Future Group has opened its fi rst premium lifestyle food chain Gobol supports sales of surplus and refurbished CDIT goods. “Foodhall” in 2011 in Mumbai. In less than two years, the group is all set to expand the chain in major metros and tier I cities. Column ...... 74 More Stores or Sales: Which Way Retailers Should Go? Entrepreneur ...... 40 Retailers should not just keep on opening stores, rather fi rst focus on The Way of Art increasing the footfall, thereby generating more same-store sales. Prakash Babani of Satguru’s Arts and Crafts shares his success story. Leader Speak ...... 76 Retail Excellence ...... 44 Retail CEO: The Business Man, Pied Piper or Juggler – III An astute CEO requires to have a long-term vision with an eye on High Fashion at Value Pricing short-term deliverables. Promart opened its fi rst store at Ahmedabad in November 2011, and in less than 2 years, the multi-brand retail chain has Events ...... 80 expanded its presence to more than 40 cities. INDIA FASHION FORUM 2013 – FASHION YOUR FUTURE Franchise Excellence ...... 60 The India Fashion Forum witnessed the congregation of fashion “We are in the business of selling franchises” business leaders and CEOs under one roof to discuss about creating Manpreet Gulri of Subway talks about the brand’s experience in India. opportunities by increasing fashion consumption and market size. It also recognised and honoured the industry titans across various Profi le ...... 62 categories for their signifi cant contribution towards the fashion Eye for Retail industry’s growth. Sarat Binani of Himalaya Optical shares his vision about the future of his brand. Concept ...... 66 R EGULARS “Paucity of recreational facilities for children in India has triggered the seed of SCM” 12 ...... International Round Up Anjana Menon of Stellar Children’s Museum talks about the rationale behind creating the museum in India and future plans. 18 ...... National Updates Interview ...... 68 34 ...... New Openings “We plan to achieve 60 percent of addressable market share” 94 ...... Personality of the Month Zubair Alam and Amit Bhatia of NEC India discuss the relevance of technology in retail and the company’s solution to enhance customer. 96 ...... Index

Cover Story 52

IN INDIA, HYPERMARKET IS AN AMALGAMATION OF MODERN TheThe Big-BoxBig-Box FormatFormat RETAIL AND REASONABLE PRICE OFFERING. BEGINNING LAST ISSUE, WE STARTED A SERIES ON RETAIL FORMATS IN INDIA AND IN THIS ISSUE WE ARE TAKING A STEP FURTHER TO BRING YOU A DETAILED COVERAGE OF THE EVOLUTION OF THE LARGEST RETAIL FORMAT “HYPERMARKET” AND HOW IT HAS BECOME A SIGNIFICANT GROWTH DRIVER FOR ORGANISED RETAILERS IN THIS COUNTRY

03-Contents new.indd 8 3/29/2013 6:37:05 PM retail launch Future is Gourmet Ready FUTURE GROUP WENT THE GOURMET WAY BY OPENING ITS FIRST PREMIUM LIFESTYLE FOOD CHAIN “FOODHALL” IN 2011 AT PALLADIUM MALL, MUMBAI. IN LESS THAN TWO YEARS, THE GROUP IS ALL SET TO EXPAND THE CHAIN IN MAJOR METROS AND TIER I CITIES. IN AN EXCLUSIVE INTERACTION WITH IMAGES RETAIL, AVNI BIYANI – CONCEPT HEAD, FOODHALL, TALKS ABOUT THE FUTURE OF GOURMET RETAILING IN INDIA AND FOODHALL’S EXPANSION PLANS By Payal Gulati Avni Biyani and Kishore Biyani at the launch of Foodhall, DLF Promenade, Delhi

PLEASE SHARE YOUR VIEWS ABOUT overseas and increasing health and evolving and asking for exciting GOURMET FOOD RETAILING IN INDIA. nutrition awareness have made options in a new and interesting Food retailing in India is now moving gourmet food a huge opportunity in manner. to the next level with increased the country. Gourmet food retailing appetite of Indians to experiment is only going to get bigger in India. WHAT IS THE USP OF FOODHALL? with various cuisines. As new age India has a very young population We have been constantly trying to Indians are travelling more, within that is willing to experiment and fl irt distinguish ourselves from many other India and abroad, they are acquiring with new cuisines. The expatriate food retailers in the country. Foodhall and developing their taste buds for population in the country is also is a food lifestyle store designed for various kinds of food. Also, cooking constantly demanding newer someone who enjoys and understands channels and reality cooking shows specialised products such as gourmet the fi ner nuances and aspects of are becoming increasingly popular. cheeses, artisanal breads and so on. food. Hence, we are probably one of Consumers are now wanting to That’s going to increase consumption. the only stores in the country selling eat and cook new cuisines more and Also, especially in the metros, with eight different varieties of mushrooms more. There is also a large expatriate time and space reducing, a woman is and a wide range of exotic fruits population in cities such as Delhi, going to look at outsourcing a lot of and vegetables from blueberries and Gurgaon, Bangalore, Mumbai and her kitchen activities. Thus, categories raspberries to avocados. Pune who are already well versed with such as pastes, sauces, chutneys, We keep engaging with our these kinds of food. Hence, a gourmet peeled and chopped vegetables, customers and even conduct food store such as Foodhall comes into the curries and other value added workshops on a regular basis. Our picture where everything from around products are going to emerge. focus is to ensure that a customer the world as well as India is available who walks into our store not under one roof. Through such formats, WHAT IS FOODHALL’S MARKET only shops but also discovers and we will meet the requirement of the POSITIONING? experiences something new each time. well-travelled new age Indian. Foodhall as a brand caters to Indians We have constant sampling activities as well as expats who are well- in all our stores and our chefs are WHAT FACTORS ARE PROPELLING THE travelled and well-versed with fi ne constantly delighting customers with INDUSTRY GROWTH? foods and have a refi ned palette. new ingredients, recipes and dishes. Rising incomes, more people travelling We believe that our customers are It’s the experience that one gets while

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Retail Launch-Foodhall.indd 38 3/25/2013 7:00:45 PM entrepreneur The Way of Art

ART IN ANY FORM – BE IT A PAINTING, SCULPTURE, MURAL OR IDOL – SPEAKS TO EVERY CONNOISSEUR IN A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE. BUT IT TAKES MORE THAN MULTI-LINGUAL TALENT TO BE ABLE TO SELL ART. THIS TRADE TAKES PASSION, INSPIRATION AND YEARS OF EXPERIENCE. HOLDING THESE VALUES TRUE TO HIS LOVE FOR THE SUBJECT IS PRAKASH BABANI, DIRECTOR, SATGURU’S ARTS AND CRAFTS. SATGURU HOUSE IS A LANDMARK IN ITSELF ON LINKING ROAD IN MUMBAI. SET AMIDST HIGH-END APPAREL AND ACCESSORIES STORES, SATGURU BOASTS OF FIVE LEVELS OF ATTRACTIVE ART DISPLAYS INVITING EVERY ART LOVER IN FOR A PEEK – AND POSSIBLY A SALE. SHANTI PADUKONE CATCHES UP WITH BABANI ABOUT THE STORY BEHIND SATGURU’S JOURNEY SINCE THE PARTITION

FROM THE START We had a very humble beginning. Our family hails from Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan, where we had a successful business of custom frames complete with our own glass house. During the partition, my grandfather along with his six brothers came to India as refugees. It was but natural Prakash Babani, Director, Satguru’s Arts and Crafts that they continued the business they were familiar with. So, the family set up a custom framing store at Princess Street, Mumbai. All the seven brothers brought with them diverse and combined skills; hence, there was no need to hire labour. Soon they pioneered the best of framing technologies from the West and quickly became the leading framing store in the city. After sometime, the store was shifted to DN Road, Fort, from where we began to participate in exhibitions and competitions at Oval Maidan – something that got lost with that era. From there, the lineage was passed down to my father. His brothers soon diversifi ed into other fi elds and my three brothers and I were next in line. However, I branched off into the printing industry at 18 till I had some labour issues and turned towards the family business. Soon, my brothers joined our family’s construction company and I was left with the custom framing shop. With artists constantly entering the store with their canvases ready for framing, I slowly developed an interest in art. Add to that the network we developed with artists and architects, soon we started keeping art prints and paintings. With time, we decided to expand and set up our Stores are spread across 12,000-13,000 sq.ft. and stocking up for a 1,500 sq.ft. ` fi rst store on Linking Road in Khar in 1993 – we were the store requires an investment of at least 30 lakh

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Entrepreneur-Prakash Babani-Satguru Art.indd 40 3/25/2013 7:52:32 PM entrepreneur

fi rst to do so. But space was never enough; soon we took up a space on the side and so on till we had about three shops between which our attendants would shuffl e. Finally, in 2000, we decided to consolidate all our stores into one big shop and Satguru House was born. It is now a one-stop store (possibly, the fi rst of its kind) where customers who love anything to do with art can come in and fi nd a wide range of idols, sculptures, paintings, murals, etc. We have recently launched a new store at New Link Road, Andheri, Mumbai. Apart from this, we have the The products vary from `50-60 for a magnet or miniature idol to `5-6 lakh for a signed painting by original store at Fort, one at Worli and Hussain or Raza. However, on an average, a customer spends ` 5,000-6,000 an outlet each in Pune and Chennai. Both our Worli and Chennai stores are franchise outlets. In total, we have six stores in West and South India. THE AMBIENCE OF A STORE, ESPECIALLY OF OUR STATURE, SHOULD KEEP CUSTOMERS, OFTEN VERY AFFLUENT, AT EASE ON DISPLAY AND RELAXED. HENCE, OUR SALESMEN AREN’T KEPT IDLE Today, we have a wide product WAITING FOR CUSTOMERS. THEY ARE CONSTANTLY IN ACTION, mix including paintings, statues, ARRANGING WINDOW DISPLAYS, DUSTING OR POLISHING sculptures, murals, idols, clocks, vases, frames (of course) and IDOLS, ETC. OVERALL, WE GET A DECENT FOOTFALL OF 50-60 corporate gifts. All these products are CUSTOMERS PER DAY available in various themes ranging from religious, ethnic and traditional one of the largest collections of art just 3-4 frames of the Lord Ganesha, to modern and contemporary from various parts of the country. today we have an entire fl oor of 3,000 Indian. Having established exclusive Our products vary from `50-60 for sq.ft. dedicated to just Ganesha. I partnerships with artists from various a magnet or miniature idol to `5-6 believe that religious images are art genres, we pride ourselves on having lakh for a signed painting by Hussain items by themselves. As a result, or Raza. However, on an average, combining both art and religion a customer spends `5,000-6,000. I we have more than 5,000 varieties believe that the ambience of a store, of Ganesha in the form of idols, especially of our stature, should keep paintings or sculptures at any given customers, often very affl uent, at ease time. We also encourage artists to and relaxed. Hence, our salesmen create more abstract forms of Ganesha aren’t kept idle waiting for customers. to attract the youth. They are constantly in action, We procure all our pieces from arranging window displays, dusting across India and the world. I love or polishing idols, etc. Overall, we get travelling and just pick up art pieces a decent footfall of 50-60 customers and inspirations from anywhere – art per day. galleries, villages, artists, etc. Apart from this, Satguru’s is well- known for its Ganesha Festival, which ‘STORE’ING UP is celebrated every year, just a month The Indian market for arts and before Ganesh Chaturti. We dabbled artefacts has tremendous potential in the fi eld of Feng Shui for around with customers becoming more and three years before we decided to wrap more aware of the aesthetics of their up the concept. We had dedicated an homes. As a result, they constantly entire space to items associated with seek to add art pieces to their homes science, but soon converted that area to express their character -- making into our Ganesha fl oor. Having started it an extension of their personality. this concept around 15 years ago with Today, we have customers coming

APRIL 2013 . IMAGES RETAIL . 41

Entrepreneur-Prakash Babani-Satguru Art.indd 41 3/25/2013 7:52:38 PM cover story

A hypermarket is a big-box store that combines IN INDIA, HYPERMARKET IS AN AMALGAMATION the attributes of a supermarket and a department OF MODERN RETAIL AND REASONABLE PRICE store. It is usually bigger than a supermarket, with OFFERING. THUS, THE FORMAT HAS A HIGH APPEAL size of around 150,000-300,000 sq.ft. Hypermarkets WITH THE MIDDLE AND UPPER MIDDLE CLASSES retail a wide range of products including groceries OF THE COUNTRY, WHO SEEK A HIGHER LEVEL OF and general merchandise under one roof. The idea SHOPPING EXPERIENCE WHICH COMES WITH A of this type of market is to satisfy the diverse needs LOT OF CONVENIENCE AND VALUE, ADDRESSING of a customer in one shopping trip. The merchandise ALL THEIR NEEDS IN ONE PLACE. BEGINNING LAST mix of a hypermarket includes all items that are ISSUE, WE STARTED A SERIES ON RETAIL FORMATS required to manage a household. Usually, there is a IN INDIA AND IN THIS ISSUE WE ARE TAKING A STEP heavy focus on private label brands too. Generally, hypermarkets have more than 200,000 different SKUs FURTHER TO BRING YOU A DETAILED COVERAGE OF of merchandise available at any given time. Globally, THE EVOLUTION OF THE LARGEST RETAIL FORMAT in terms of location, these are usually located in “HYPERMARKET” AND HOW IT HAS BECOME A suburban areas that allow for larger store space and SIGNIFICANT GROWTH DRIVER FOR ORGANISED easy accessibility to vehicles. RETAILERS IN THIS COUNTRY By Priyanka Dasgupta With information support from Wazir Advisors TheThe Big-BoxBig-Box FormatFormat

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Cover Story-Hypermarket-Priyankadas Gupta.indd 52 3/25/2013 7:22:57 PM cover story

According to an independent Carrefour and other major American locations coupled with high rentals analysis by Wazir Advisors for Images chains. In the early 1990s, the three made them realise that hypermarket India Retail Report 2013, in India, major discount store chains in is the more profi table format in hypermarkets contribute to almost the US (Wal-Mart, Kmart and Target) India provided the location, product 2.50 percent of the total organised started developing discount stores in assortment and sourcing are right. retail sales. As space crunch is an the hypermarket format. Wal-Mart Hence, the retailers increasingly issue in this country, hypermarkets introduced Hypermart USA in 1987 started focussing on strengthening here tend to be smaller than global and later Wal-Mart Supercenter, and their back-end in order to make their standards, average store size being Kmart developed Super Kmart. hypermarkets more profi table. around 40,000 sq.ft. Lack of large In 1991, Dayton-Hudson retail space at reasonable prices has Corporation (now Target Corporation) GLOBAL STANDARDS been a big deterrent to the rapid expanded their Target Greatland Globally, large-format hypermarkets expansion of this concept in metros. discount store chain in Columbus, have been most successful. Carrefour Ohio, where they learned that their Planet is one of the most prominent HISTORY OF EVOLUTION general merchandise superstores examples of hypermarket regeneration In 1962, Meijer opened their fi rst were unable to compete against in Europe and the rollout of the hypermarket “Thrifty Acres” in Grand the Meijer hypermarket chain. In concept. Planet emphasises category Rapids, Michigan, and in Europe response, Dayton-Hudson entered excitement and fresh food in a big- Carrefour launched their fi rst store in the hypermarket format in 1995 by box format. Each store has a zoned 1963 at Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois, opening their fi rst Super Target store approach with a strong focus on France. The hypermarket concept in Omaha, Nebraska. partnerships with branded suppliers. started spreading in the US in 1987 On the other hand, modern retail The Mostoles store in Spain is the with the introduction of stores by itself is not more than a decade old in most recent version of the format,

Carrefour Planet is a prominent example of hypermarket regeneration in Europe and the rollout of the concept

India. The concept of hypermarkets which forms the basis for a wider started taking shape in this country rollout of the concept. hardly seven to eight years back. Also for global players, mastering Some prominent hypermarket chains Twitter and Facebook is becoming in India include Big Bazaar, Spencer’s, as crucial to success as standard Reliance Mart, Star India Bazaar, retail skills such as implementing Bharti Easy Day Hyper, HyperCity, pricing strategies and curbing out- More, etc. Large organised retail of-stocks. Enormous amounts of players such as Future Group, K online connections are taking place Raheja Corp, Aditya Birla Group, among retailers, consumers and and recently rechristened RP manufacturers. Web reviews, feedback Sanjiv Goenka Group have started panels, dedicated fan clubs and user- experimenting with this format. created content are emerging as new Almost all the players tried to bring communication channels. Shoppers in innovation and customisation to are giving their opinions and smart suit the diverse Indian market place. companies are using these to improve Initially, the focus was more on their products and services. supermarket format as that amounted Co-op Schweiz, one of the largest to rapid expansion. But after a year retail groups in Switzerland, has a and a half of expanding in wrong club initiative called “Hello Family”

APRIL 2013 . IMAGES RETAIL . 53

Cover Story-Hypermarket-Priyankadas Gupta.indd 53 3/25/2013 7:23:01 PM franchise excellence “We are in the business of selling franchises”

SUBWAY - THE AMERICAN QSR CHAIN ENTERED INDIA 10 YEARS AGO. TODAY, IT HAS 335 OUTLETS ACROSS OVER 65 LOCATIONS IN THE COUNTRY. SELLING FOOD – SANDWICHES – THAT WAS ALIEN TO THE EATING HABITS OF MOST INDIANS, THE COMPANY STRUGGLED IN THE people in India were not big sandwich FIRST FEW YEARS BEFORE IT MANAGED TO CRACK THE MENU CODE. eaters. Subway in a way inculcated MANPREET GULRI, DEVELOPMENT AGENT AND COUNTRY HEAD, this habit of eating fresh sandwiches SUBWAY SYSTEMS INDIA, TALKS TO VARUN JAIN ABOUT THE BRAND’S among the people here. Once we EXPERIENCE IN INDIA zoned in on our economic model and the target audience, things started to move pretty well for us.

SUBWAY ENTERED INDIA IN 2001. WHAT locations. The business is growing and HOW ARE THE INDIAN SUBWAY WAS YOUR STRATEGY? the journey has been fantastic so far. OPERATIONS DIFFERENT FROM THAT IN At that time, we did not employ any THE WEST? professional agency to do an extensive HOW EASY OR DIFFICULT WAS IT FOR Indian operations are different in a market research for us. We relied on SUBWAY TO MAKE INDIANS ACCEPT ITS few aspects but not much. One is the dipstick studies, our own assessment OFFERINGS? menu itself. We have six varieties of the available retail avenues, and It was extremely diffi cult. We ran of sandwiches that are exclusively started our fi rst outlet at Saket in through a diffi cult phase in the initial developed for the Indian market and New Delhi. three to four years. you won’t fi nd them anywhere else in We were trying to fi nd our positioning the world. We have recently launched HOW HAS BEEN THE JOURNEY SINCE? in the market. Once the customer toasties and an egg mayo sandwich. In 10 years in India, we have grown understood our USP, it has been a Apart from that, India is the only to 335 outlets across more than 65 great going. Our diffi culty was that country where we have two separate units for vegetarian and non- vegetarian offerings.

WHAT IS YOUR ASSESSMENT OF THE SUPPLY CHAIN SCENARIO IN THE COUNTRY? The supply chain is a big challenge. We had to import some of raw material required for making subs. Sometimes, it was very diffi cult to fi nd the right vendor. But things have improved over the last few years. Right now, most of our ingredients are sourced from India itself.

WHAT ARE THE MAIN CHALLENGES YOU FACE WHILE SELECTING A SUITABLE FRANCHISEE FOR A SUBWAY OUTLET? There are a lots of people in the country who are interested in doing business with us. But to fi nd people with right mind-set for working with a big global company like us remains a big challenge.

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Franchise Excellence -Subway.indd 60 3/26/2013 11:04:51 AM concept “Paucity of recreational facilities for children in India has triggered the seed of SCM” STELLAR GROUP OF COMPANIES, A REAL ESTATE DEVELOPER, HAS LAUNCHED STELLAR By Payal Gulati CHILDREN’S MUSEUM, FIRST EDU-RECREATIONAL MUSEUM, AT THE AMBIENCE MALL, GURGAON. ANJANA MENON, CREATIVE DIRECTOR OF THE MUSEUM, TALKS ABOUT THE RATIONALE BEHIND CREATING CHILDREN’S MUSEUM IN INDIA AND THEIR FUTURE PLANS

PLEASE TAKE US THROUGH THE we found a paucity of recreational WHAT KIND OF LEARNING IS BEING JOURNEY OF STELLAR CHILDREN’S facilities for children other than parks PROVIDED HERE? MUSEUM (SCM). and the Zoo, which are weather At SCM, we engage children and The concept came from having seen dependent and provide only restricted families in exciting experiences children’s museum in the US, where hours of access during summer and that instil an appreciation of our we lived. We believe that hands- monsoon, or play areas in shopping environment, develop fundamental on learning through unstructured malls which typically focus on video skills, and ignite the thirst for learning. play in areas that are designed for games and/or swings and slides and We believe in the intrinsic value of children is highly benefi cial for early have no educational value. play and provide opportunities for learners. Since there was no such concept in India – which triggered the seed of SCM – we had to reach out to international experts and came upon Redbox Workshop, a leading design, concept, fabrication and operational team of experts who specialise in children’s museums and have managed projects across interactive and immersive children’s environments such as Chicago Children’s Museum, Lincoln Park Zoo, Louisville Science Center, and Mid- Michigan Children’s Museum. The designing of the museum for India took over six months. We entered into a concept design phase with Redbox where we provided inputs on what we believed would work Our target audience is SEC A and B parents with children in the age group of 2-10 years best with Indian children and what they were able to suggest from their A few facilities that provide experiential learning and multi-sensory, experience. It took another six months educational entertainment are the object-based exploration. Through to fabricate the various exhibits and get National Science Centre, National our educational play-based exhibits the space at Ambience Mall ready for Rail Museum, and Dolls Museum, and programme, we focus on key installation. The museum opened to but they lack interactivity. Parents developments areas such as gross and public on the Children’s Day (i.e. 14th are therefore engaging children at fi ne motor skills, sensory awareness, Nov) last year. cinemas, food courts, and a few social and emotional learning, problem amusement parks which do not have solving, and language and literacy. FROM WHERE DID YOU GET INSPIRE TO elements of learning or education. Our educational focus is built OPEN SUCH UNIQUE CONCEPT? As part of the Stellar Group, we on the theories about open-ended The concept came from my own saw an opportunity in fi lling this opportunities for play and its potential experience during my stay overseas void and have built India’s fi rst to support and enhance a child’s ability in the US, where most major cities edu-recreational museum that will to learn and solve problems. We believe have children’s museums. When we provide an innovative learning that children learn through active relocated back to India four years ago, experience to children. experiences and moments of shared

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Concept-Anjana Menon-The Museum-NEW.indd 66 3/26/2013 11:12:25 AM