McDonald's to take its count to 250 stores by 2019

Master Franchisee for West and South India operations of McDonald’s - Hardcastle Restaurants Pvt. Ltd (HRPL) has plans to invest  Rs 500 crore to build up its footprint by adding more restaurants taking the number count from 175 to 250 restaurants over the next five years across West and South India. The burger chain is planning to open 250 restaurants and hire over 10,000 employees by 2019.

Their plan is to add over 35 stores every year across formats and brand extensions spanning standalone restaurants, drive-thru’s, 24/7, McDelivery, dessert kiosks and hire 10,000 people to staff these formats over the next five years. HRPL serves 165 million customers annually at its 189 McDonald’s restaurants in Telangana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and parts of Madhya Pradesh and provides direct employment to over 7,500 employees. In 1996, McDonald's launched its first restaurant and in 1997 it introduced Happy Meals. Introduction of Drive Thru was done in 2001 whereas the brand launched Delivery -Bandra restaurant in 2004.

Arvind Singhal, Director, South, McDonald’s India (West & South) says: “The South market is a key focus area for us. Currently, we have 74 restaurants in the South including Chennai, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Kochi and Mysore. We will open 60-70 per cent of the restaurants in existing cities and the balance 30-40 per cent will be in new markets to increase our reach. In the West, we are focusing primarily on Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.”