India Says Thank God It’s Friday

Bistro Hospitality To Launch Carlson's Brands In India

Mahesh Tharani - Mumbai

Bistro Hospitality Pvt Ltd the owners of the 'Thank God It's Friday', 'Friday American Bar', 'Pickup Sticks' and 'Frontrow' restaurants brand names in India are all set to extend their brands and introduce the Friday American Bar concept to India.

The hospitality chain also intends on opening up their second edition of TGIF in Mumbai bringing up the count of outlets to six in India. The restaurant already has two outlets in Delhi, one in Bangalore and Gurgaon and one in Mumbai. Based in South Mumbai, the group is looking at the northern part of the city as a prospective area to launch their second TGIF in the city. A likely site for the new outlet would be the mall under construction by Intercon Constructions Pvt Ltd.

Sanjoy Roy, vice-president, operations, Bistro Hospitality Pvt Ltd, says "The TGIF concept fits the profile of larger cities and entails a cost of Rs five crore each. This is one of the reasons why we are venturing into the market very slowly. We launched the first outlet in Mumbai in October, 2003. Considering the favourable response the outlet received and the change in spending patterns of consumers we believe that it is time for the launch of the second outlet in the city."

Friday American Bar (FABs), which is built on the lines of TGIF is slightly smaller and is meant for smaller cities. The brand will be introduced in Chandigarh, Pune, Hyderabad and Chennai at a cost of approximately Rs three crore each in the next three years. FABs is known more for its beverages as compared to TGIF, which concentrates on food. Both are multi-cuisine restaurants.

Still in the conceptualisation stage are the brands, 'Pickup Sticks' and 'Frontrow restaurants'. Nothing has been decided as yet on where these will be introduced nor does the group have a specific time-frame launch them into the market. Both brands are based on fine-dining concepts.

"Since all our plans are long term and these restaurants call for huge investments we need to research the market in a systematic and detailed manner. We study each city before making a decision on entering the market. Right now the smaller cities seem appropriate to introduce the concept and we are also seriously considering Kolkata as prospective market," concluded Roy.