OTB’s plans for December 2021 accounts for approx. INR 60 crores while projects in Bangalore, Pune, and Mumbai are in the pipeline. After a successful stint in Khan Market, the restaurant launched its another outlet in Connaught Place with plans to open one outlet in every capital city.
“Even if we open one outlet in every capital city, we’ll have 25-30 outlets within 3-5 years. There is a saturation in metropolitan cities, but tier 2 and tier 3 cities are a good bet right now. We will be creating one or two more complimenting brands and opening Indian dine-in restaurants along with oriental diners. We will also be experimenting with food in our oriental diners,” Udit Bagga, one of the co-owners stated.
The restaurant chain is soon to announce its presence in Chandigarh and Dehradun. In Delhi/NCR, the focus will be on company-owned outlets and for Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities outside Delhi, the expansion will take place through franchise models which will have two variants. “It will be a company owned franchise where we will be managing all the affairs of the restaurant, but it will be owned by the franchise,” Bagga informed.
Bagga and the other founder Udit Bhasin are also looking to tie up with hotels and take care of the restaurants that they run. “Hotels and restaurants are different industries and hence hotel management cannot run the restaurants that well. We want to help them run the restaurants because that is where our expertise lies. The hoteliers are not well acquainted with the restaurant culture. They are similar but not the same. We know how to tap on the variables because the models work on a different platform that is specific to restaurants. We are also working on stepping into Joint Venture models,” the duo commented.
The duo also aims to take over restaurants that have the potential, turn them around, refurbish them, remarket them, change their menus, and put OTB’s brand name.
“As per our target markets are concerned, North India is our top priority. We have already made a good name in Delhi NCR and we wish to do the same in all the capital cities in the northern region. To name a few, Chandigarh is at the top of the list. Our outlet there is already done with just a few more things to fix. Next in the line are Dehradun, Lucknow, Agra, and Jaipur, where the projects are already in the pipeline and will soon have OTB’s flags swinging around. Apart from these cities, we are also considering Kanpur. The end goal is to go to Pan India and make OTB a bigger brand,” Bagga said.
“During the pandemic lot of cafes, bars and restaurants shut down entirely because they were not prepared for such a massive ground shake. Nobody could ever think of a pandemic taking down the entire world economy and hence most people were unprepared. With new brands coming in and old ones shutting down, it leaves a lot of opportunities for us to expand and grow. We are actively buying these small restaurants that were shut down and we are in the process of expanding our base,” he added.
News Courtesy: ET
