A network of Italian restaurants Vapiano comes into Ukraine
The first restaurant of the German chain Vapiano will appear in Kiev in the first half of 2014 in the Arena City shopping center. “There will be a pilot project in Kiev, under the terms of the contract, we have to open seven restaurants within five years,” explains Andrei Zdesenko, co-owner of the Biosphere Corporation, who acquired the Vapiano brand promotion franchise.
At the opening of one institution you need 1 million euros of investment. “We will attract financing for development, especially since the opening does not require such a large amount. Banks are ready to give funds, ”Zdesenko notes.
According to Deutsche Welle, the cost of the franchise is quite large. For the right to use the brand, you must pay 30,000 euros and give 7% of the proceeds. Zdesenko franchise value is not disclosed, citing the confidentiality of the contract.
Together with his business partner Vladislav Guristrimboy, he looks after two more rooms in Kiev. The plans – the opening of restaurants in Dnepropetrovsk, Lviv, Kharkov and Odessa. On average – one or two institutions per year.
Dnepropetrovsk businessmen started negotiations on Vapiano’s entry into Ukraine several years ago. “Future investors should work in person at several restaurants in all positions,” Zdesenko stresses. “We worked with a partner for three days in seven positions, after we were given marks, and only then began negotiations to sell the franchise.”
According to the terms of the franchise, Vapiano restaurants should be located in the central part of the city, in the place where office complexes and shopping centers congregate. The average floor space is 500-1000 square meters. m
The first Vapiano area of more than 550 square meters. m will be located on the first two floors of the shopping center Arena City, said UTG project manager Elena Verba, who represented the shopping center in the lease negotiations.
According to Olga Nasonova, General Director of Restaurant Consulting, Italian cuisine is now at the peak of popularity in Kiev: “For the first restaurant, a good location was chosen – there are many offices, shopping malls and visitors who walk along Khreshchatyk.”
The concept of “homemade Italian food” was invented in the early 2000s by former owners of franchised McDonald’s in Germany Klaus Rader and Kent Hane. When two more partners, Gregor Gerlach and Friedemann Findijs, joined them, they opened the first Vapiano restaurant in Hamburg in the fall of 2002 (from the Italian “va piano” – “slowly it is going”). Now there are more than 130 restaurants in 26 countries in Europe, the USA, Mexico, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. In Russia, two Vapiano places are located in Moscow.
