US coffee store chain Barnie's Coffee & Tea Co. is embarking upon company-funded expansion of India, with the possibility of further expansion vie direct franchising into the market in the future. The company plans to open 300 stores across the country over the next five years, including sites in Bangalore, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Jalandhar and Lucknow.

"Barnie's opened its first store in Noida and we are looking at setting up 25 stores in the country in the first year itself with an investment of about Rs 25 crore," says Barnie's India Managing Director Gaurav Marya. "It is important for us to put our operations in place and set up the entire supply chain first. We would look at all options but we are not in a hurry to adopt the franchisee model.

Published: 18 September 2006

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