Spencer’s Ties Up With US Eatery

Calcutta Telegraph:

Spencer’s, the retail arm of RPG Enterprises, is bringing US-based café eatery Au Bon Pain to India.

Spencer’s has teamed up with entrepreneur Varin Narula to form a joint venture company — Noble Confectionery Ltd. The joint venture entity has taken the master franchisee of Au Bon Pain for the domestic market.

The JV, in which Spencer’s has 90 per cent stake, is planning its first 2,000-square-feet flagship store in Bangalore by December.

However, Calcutta, where RPG is headquartered, will have to wait more than one-and-a-half years to taste the bread, soups, salads and sandwiches that Au Bon Pain excels in.

The city is expected to have its first eatery in early 2010. “In the next couple of years, 100 standalone stores with an average size of 1,500 square feet will come up in tier I and II cities on a pan-India basis,” Sanjiv Goenka, vice-chairman of RPG Enterprises, said today after announcing the JV.

The chain would be different from the regular outlets of coffee houses such as Barista, Café Coffee Day or Costa Coffee as the focus will be more on the food.