Retail in the target of foreign franchises
DCI 05/18/2009
The positive performance reported by the Brazilian retail at this moment of crisis has attracted a greater number of foreign companies interested in starting operating in the Country. It seems that the segment of corporate franchises is moving in this direction, since only in this first four months ten North-American franchisors examined the market, a figure which represents the total of companies that showed interest during the whole last year.
The main company in this list is Cold Stone Creamery, the greatest chain of ice-cream and ice-candy in the world, whose Vice-President of International Development, Sean Bock, is in the Country looking for partners to start its operations here in 2010. The executive says there is potential for the opening of 100 stores, 20 of which in São Paulo, however without a specific term for that.This is the second time Bock comes to Brazil, and in these visits he took the chance to see several street stores and taste the available products, besides verifying there is room for his brand. This week, he took part in 14 meetings with entrepreneurs interested in knowing the business plan of the chain. Among those which met him are Brazil Fast Food Corporation (BFFC), master franchisor of the brands Bob's, KFC, Pizza Hut and the newly-arrived Doggis, besides the investor Peter Rodenbeck, the owner of Cafés Sereia do Brasil, which manages Starbucks Coffee Brasil and brought Outback to the Country. Investment funds that operate in the food sector also integrate that team.In spite of not disclosing the current stage of the negotiations, DCI discovered that soon a Brazilian committee shall fly to the United States to know the company. Cold Stone registered an income above US$ 500 million in 2008 and it owns 1.5 thousand stores in 11 countries, 1.4 thousand of them in its place of origin. The brand belongs to the Kahala Corp. holding that owns 12 other brands and has an annual income of US$ 1 billion.