Useful articles about franchising in Bulgaria
Despite information about franchises in Bulgaria is scarce and difficult to find (at least, it was before our arrival) we can find several articles and webs which could be useful for those of you interested in having more information about this topic.
Information is power, so let’s go:
History
Bulgaria Country Commercial Guide FY2001: Franchising Market
In this article dated on 2001 we can find a good briefing about the situation of franchising in those years. It is a good option if you want to know more about the development of the sector. However, the most interesting part in the history of franchises in Bulgaria starts in 2006, with the opening of the two first shopping centers in the country (Mall of Sofia and City Center, both in Sofia).
BULFA (Old website)
There are several good articles in the old website of the Bulgarian Franchise Association, concerning the first franchises which entered into the bulgarian market and general information about the country. The page was last updated in 2002.
Nowadays
Bulgaria–bullish on franchising: Bulgaria’s franchise market is still mostly unexplored and untapped
By Miroslava Marinova, research analyst at FRANdata.
A very good article, containing some of the most interesting topics about franchising in Bulgaria.
Bulgaria – Franchising
Please, note this link goes to a .doc file (Doc type of Microsoft Word)
In this short but good article we can find the most well-known brands and the best developing sectors concerning franchises.
BULFA - Current site
And last, but not least, the current website of Bulfa. Last year they organized a seminar (”Franchising days in Bulgaria”) and they are preparing an event for the next september. Currently, the website needs a lot of work in order to improve the information availability, but it is an interesting site. We hope they start updating more frequently.
So, that’s all by the moment. We hope to be able to find more information for you in the future, and if someone of you is interested in sending us more data we would share with the rest of the people.
Our business consists in reaching the most of people with the biggest amount of relevant information, we are not interested in hiding nothing!
Image: Gordasm
Burger King is coming
July 31, 2008 by admin
Filed under Franchises, News
There are several news about the arrival of Burger King to Bulgaria. According to them, the opening of the first Burger King is about to open in the country, and all points it will be in Varna. In fact, the restaurant opening was planned for June, as we could read in Sofia Echo and in Dnevnik.
As you can read in our report about franchising in Bulgaria, AmRest holds the rights to operate in Bulgaria. This company, also holds the rights of KFC and Pizza Hut, so they will be one of the key companies in the development of the franchises in Bulgaria in the next years.
Here are the complete articles and their respective links:
First local Burger King restaurants to open in Sofia, Varna
http://news.dnevnik.bg/?y=2008&m=5&d=20
The first local Burger King outlets will open in two locations over the next month.
The news was confirmed by Amrest Bulgaria, the local unit of Poland’s Amrest, which has the franchise for the Bulgarian market.
The first two locations will be at the City Center Sofia shopping mall and at Mall Varna. The official opening for the Varna restaurant is set for June 12. AmRest Bulgaria said it is targeting roughly the same launch for the Sofia outlet.
AmRest already operates for Burger King outlets in Poland.
The Wroclaw, southern Poland- based company has non-exclusive rights to develop restaurant chains under Yum! Brands Pizza Hut and KFC in Bulgaria.
In 2007, it opened it first KFC franchise in Bulgaria, at Mall of Sofia.
Local company Samex is the second local KFC franchisee. It operates KFC restaurants here since 1994.
A franchise for Pizza Hut restaurants in Bulgaria is also held by Excel Associates.
(Dnevnik)
The restaurant in Mall Varna will open on June 12, by which time the first restaurant in Sofia, in City Center Sofia mall, should already be operational, according to Amrest Bulgaria, a subsidiary of Polish company Amrest.
AmRest currently manages 252 restaurants under the KFC, Pizza Hut, Burger King, freshpoint, and Rodeo Drive brands in Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria, Serbia and Russia. It also holds the rights to the Starbucks franchise in Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary.
Last year, it bought the rights to open restaurants under the KFC and Pizza Hut brands in Bulgaria, opening its first KFC outlet in November 2007. Both chains are already present in the country through other franchisees.
Burger King thus becomes the fourth fast-food chain to enter Bulgaria, following in the footsteps of McDonald’s, its biggest competitor on global scale, KFC and Subway.
Image: stevegarfield
Thumbnail: desdelossatelites
Curves: soon in Bulgaria
July 31, 2008 by admin
Filed under Franchises, News
Curves is other of the big chains which is planning to enter in the Bulgarian market. In fact, they already started the recruitment procedure.
Here is the complete article:
Fitness franchise Curves to enter Bulgarian market
13:10 Fri 25 Jul 2008 - dnevnik.bg
Curves, one of the world’s biggest fitness franchise networks, said it is looking for partners in Bulgaria. The move continues the expansion of the company throughout Central and Eastern Europe after successful launches in the Ukraine, Hungary and Slovakia.
Curves Clubs can be found in 60 countries, including the United States, Canada, Europe, South America, The Caribbean, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Japan.
It recently opened 30 fitness clubs in neighboring Greece.
[/lang_es][lang_en]Curves is planning to enter in the Bulgarian market. In fact, they already started the recruitment procedure.
Here is the complete article:
Fitness franchise Curves to enter Bulgarian market
13:10 Fri 25 Jul 2008 - dnevnik.bg
Curves, one of the world’s biggest fitness franchise networks, said it is looking for partners in Bulgaria. The move continues the expansion of the company throughout Central and Eastern Europe after successful launches in the Ukraine, Hungary and Slovakia.
Curves Clubs can be found in 60 countries, including the United States, Canada, Europe, South America, The Caribbean, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Japan.
It recently opened 30 fitness clubs in neighboring Greece.
Foros starts its own franchise program
July 11, 2008 by admin
Filed under Franchises, News
Foros, a bulgarian real estate company, also started a franchise program. Founded in 1993, is one of the most important companies in its sector.
You can access to their franchise program following this link.
The complete article, by Sofia Echo:
Real estate company Foros said it has signed up two franchisees, in Plovdiv and in Stara Zagora. The company is also in talks to set up Foros franchises in another 25 local town, including Blagoevgrad, Silistra, Vidin, Gabrovo, Haskovo, Kavarna, Sandanski, Elena and Sliven. The first of the signed contracts are for a period of five years.
The Foros franchise project was officially announced in April this year, but has been in the works since December 2007, programme director Milena Mihailova said. The programme targets urban areas where Foros has a market presence.
Currently, Foros does business in Sofia, Varna, Rousse, Plovdiv, Veliko Turnovo, Bourgas, Dobrich, Balchik, and the resorts of Slunchev Bryag (Sunny Beach) and Bansko. If the franchise program does well, Foros intends to take it international, seizing opportunities in neighboring Macedonia, Romania and Serbia.
Foros is the fifth company with a franchise program in Bulgaria. Address is the other Bulgarian real estate company with a similar program while the others are foreign outfits - Re/Max, ERA Real Estate and Century 21.
Doverie Brico plans expansion of Mr. Bricolage
March 28, 2008 by admin
Filed under Franchises, News
Bulgarian company Doverie Brico, which holds the rights of the French Do It Yourself (DIY) retailer Mr. Bricolage for Bulgaria, Macedonia and Serbia, is in negotiations to expand its franchise across the region – to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Kosovo, Andrei Evtimov, Mr. Bricolage’s managing director for Bulgaria, said, quoted by Dnevnik daily. “We expect to wrap up the negotiations with the French company soon,” he added.
“In Bulgaria we invested in good locations at a time when the market was only starting to take shape and now these investments are paying off,” said Evtimov.
Established in 1999 expressly to introduce the French brand to Bulgaria, Doverie Brico currently operates 10 outlets in the country and is working on projects in Serbia and Macedonia. It would also like to promote the Mr. Bricolage products in other of the region’s markets. There is large potential in Albania, Kosovo and some of the ex-Yugoslav countries, since their market is still underdeveloped, Evtimov pointed out.
“In Bulgaria we invested in good locations at a time when the market was only starting to take shape and now these investments are paying off,” said Evtimov.
The company plans to open at least one, possibly two, stores in Serbia and at least one outlet in Macedonia by the end of 2009.
Mr.Bricolage’s main competition on the Bulgarian market is its German counterpart Praktiker.
The Austrian home improvement retailer BauMax is poised to join the DIY market this year.
Fashion chains enter in Bulgaria
January 23, 2008 by admin
Filed under Franchises, News
Marinopoulos Group will bring to Bulgaria Gap and Banana Republic. As usual, you can find more details in our report, in the commerce section.
Gap, Banana Republic Step on Bulgarian Market
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=89630
Gap Inc., leading international specialty retailer, announced a franchise agreement to bring the Gap and Banana Republic brands to customers in Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Cyprus and Croatia.
Gap Inc. has signed a franchise agreement with Greece’s Marinopoulos Group for exclusive rights to operate Gap and Banana Republic stores in this region.
Under the terms of the agreement, the Marinopoulos Group will purchase merchandise from Gap Inc. or suppliers designated by Gap Inc., and must adhere to Gap Inc.’s quality standards to preserve the reputation of the brands.
The Marinopoulos Group is a partner of other leading retailers including Marks & Spencer, Starbucks, Carrefour and LVMH through its subsidiary, Sephora.
The first Gap store is expected to open in Greece in fall 2008, with the first Banana Republic stores planned to open by spring 2009.
