The Global Trendz Retail – GTR JV between Hardcastle Restaurants [owners of McDonalds India] and Jalans of Prakash Mills Mumbai have joined hands to launch Bungee Stores for kids. The first store opened for business in Kalyan Mumbai.
Disney Baby is a their brand targeted for toons between the age group of 0 – 4 years, while Disney Jeans is targeted for kids between 4 and 14. Currently, Bungee will retail only appareal and some accessories though the brands globally have assorted merchandise from food to shoes. They also plan to add more brands like baby Mickey Mouse, baby Donald Duck, Pooh and Tigger.
Mr. Amit Jatia of GTR said,
After having dealt with the Indian consumer so closely through Mc-Donald’s for the last 10-12 years, we feel we have a good sense of their requirements. The Indian consumer is price-sensitive and if you do not price your products right, then market penetration will be a challenge. Kalyan is a midsegment market and is representative of India in many sense. We shall be able to judge consumer-reaction much better here.
GTR plans to open 50 stores in 20 cities by 2009-10. Going forward, Bungeee would be rolled out in Hyderabad, Nagpur, Bangalore and Mysore. Disney Baby and Disney Jeans will also be made available in MBOs like Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle and more. GTR plans to own most of the stores in Tier-I cities. However, it is open to the idea of franchisees andi s already looking for them for Tier-II cities.