Navin Gurnaney, chief executive officer (CEO), Tim Hortons India, said the chain is currently focussed on expansion in north India with plans to subsequently enter markets such as Mumbai, Pune, and Surat.
“The commitment that I made to the board is that in the first 36 months of operations i.e. the first three years there’ll be 120 stores. We’re currently focused on the north, which is Delhi and and Punjab but early summer, late spring we will be in Mumbai, Pune, Surat, Ahmedabad, there’ll be some off-highway locations. We’re actually considering a few different locations in Bangalore as well," Gurnaney said at the sidelines of an event in Delhi on Monday.
The chain currently operates six stores in the country—largely in North of India I.e. Delhi-NCR as well as Chandigarh. On average—a Tim Hortons cafe costs ₹2 crore to 2.5 crore to build.
The chain that sells coffee and baked goods opened its first two stores in India in August. In India, beverages account for a little of over 60% of its sales.
Tim Hortons Inc., that is one of North America’s largest coffee chain, entered into an exclusive master franchise agreement with AG Café, the joint venture between global fashion and lifestyle retail conglomerate Apparel Group and emerging markets alternative investment manager Gateway Partners, to open outlets in India.
“We’re building a foundation in the first year—in the first 12 months we are doing only 20 (outlets), we want to make sure that we get the operations right, we get the unit economics right and then we accelerate. The next 12 months will be 50 new stores and the next 12 months will be 60 new locations," Gurnaney said. In all, it plans to open over 250 outlets in India over the next five years.
Gurnaney said consumer spending in India continues to be on the rise. “The global aspiration, the number of industries that are coming to India and adding to people’s ability to spend more, the social media that makes them think differently—any any retail brand has prima facie the ability to succeed," he added.
Tim Hortons, operated by Restaurant Brands International (RBI) Inc., operates more than 5,o00 stores around the world. RBI also owns QSR brands such as Burger King, Popeyes, and Firehouse Subs.
