New Delhi, Oct 03: US restaurant chain `Thank God Its Friday' today said it will open eight new outlets in India with over Rs 40 crore investment over the next three years even as it has had to slash prices across the board by 20 per cent to bring in more footfalls and maintain sales. The company has been raking in sales of about Rs 10-12 crore per year but this figure was beginning to take a hit with lesser number of customers trying out TGIF fare over the last two years, leading to the price slash.
A division of Carlson Hospitality Worldwide, TFIG set shop in India in 1995 after Carlson appointed Bistro Hospitality in India as its master franchisee in the country.
"We have not done business as targeted. There are several reasons for this but we have now taken various steps to fuel growth in India. Among them is slashing prices by as much as 20 per cent across the menu while maintaining portion sizes and going on an aggressive expansion mode," vice president of Bistro Sanjoy Roy said from Mumbai.
One of the problem areas in India was acquiring real estate, he said.
"We need Rs five crore investment per year initially to open a new outlet. But in India, we take as long as three years to recover our money against maybe a year-and-a-half in operations in other countries," Roy said.
Bureau Report