In a bid to take its Fun Republic brand of family entertainment centres to more cities, E-City Entertainment has launched a Rs 250 crore (Rs 2.50 billion) expansion drive.
After the Ahmedabad Fun Republic which opened in July 2001, the next centre is ready to open at Andheri (East) in Mumbai. The property has been developed over 130,000 sq ft of space. Also, in the pipeline is the Chandigarh Fun Republic.
"In all, we are looking at 12 FECs by next year," says E-City CEO, Atul Goel. He is, perhaps, confident of meeting the target as his two entertainment centres in Delhi -- one in Motinagar and the other at Rohini -- are already under development. Work is also in progress in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Indore.
In its second year, E-City's first Fun Republic generates about Rs 12 crore (Rs 120 million) per annum, just enough to meet the operating costs of the centre.
"The recovery of the Rs 48 crore (Rs 480 million) investment in the centre is way off," Goel admits. For quicker recovery, however, he says that the Ahmedabad business model will not be replicated in other cities.
At Ahmedabad, E-City runs the food court as well as the retail store.
"We are planning to get out of the retailing business in the city as it is a completely different ball game. For Ahmedabad as well as for the other cities, we are talking to established retails chain owners," says Goel.
Goel believes that entertainment complexes is a growing market and there is enough room for competition.
