NEW YORK — NexCen Brands Inc. has opened its first co-branded Marble Slab Creamery and Great American Cookies franchised store in Bahrain, the company has announced. The store opened in the City Centre Mall, a new large scale retail, leisure and entertainment complex located in the city of Manama, the capital of Bahrain. This is the first franchised store for Great American Cookies and the third for Marble Slab Creamery in Bahrain.
Chris Dull, president of NexCen Franchise Management Inc., the franchising subsidiary of NexCen Brands, Inc. said, "We continue to believe the Middle East represents a significant growth opportunity for each of our brands."
Company's turn around efforts
As NexCen, parent of franchisors Great American Cookies, MaggieMoo's, Marble Slab, Pretzelmaker, Shoebox New York and The Athlete's Foot, focuses on international growth, Blue MauMau reports that NexCen CEO Ken Hall has taken strong steps to help turn around the troubled firm.
Problems began with the acquisition of Great American Cookies, which came with an overlooked debt payment that the company could not meet. Hall's intitiatives included:
- Bringing in the needed capital by selling retailing brands Waverly and Bill Blass.
- Renegotiating credit and interest on debt to more manageable levels.
- Focusing on growing its core franchise business, including international agreements to enter Kuwait, Lebanon, Bahrain, Guam and Vietnam.
- Making efforts to increase brand recognition while also making efforts to keep down food and material costs at the franchise unit level.
Still, franchise expert Craig Slavin wonders if the company's aversion to company-owned stores is actually hurting the brand.
