By Lee Hyo-sik
CJ Foodville’s Tous les Jours has opened two stores in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, stepping up efforts to become a global bakery brand.
The company said Tuesday that it is the first local bakery to establish a shop in the rapidly emerging Asian economy where K-pop groups and actors command a huge fan base.
The two stores were opened under a “master franchise” contract, in which Tous les Jours hands over control of the franchising activities in the country to a Mongolian business partner. In return, Tous les Jours receives a percentage of revenue from its partner.
Master franchising is a method used by many franchise systems because it is easier to export brands and increase the number of stores.
The bakery’s first Mongolian store was opened in downtown Ulan Bator on Oct. 31. Its opening day drew more than 2,000 customers, generating over 10 million won ($8,600) in sales, a CJ Foodville spokesman said. Tous les Jours set up its second shop at the Shangri-La Mall, Monday, attracting twice the number of customers it expected.
“Since 2004, when we opened our first bakery shop in the United States, we have been striving to find new business opportunities abroad,” the spokesman said. “Although we still have a long way to go to catch up with larger global rivals, we will take one step at a time to promote Korean-style breads among consumers around the world and emerge as an internationally recognized bakery brand.”
Besides Mongolia, CJ Foodville operates 270 Tous les Jours stores in seven countries. In the United States, it set up a Tous les Jours franchise, recruiting individuals or businesses seeking to operate bakery shops.
In China, the company directly manages stores in large cities while letting its Chinese partners open outlets in provincial areas under the master franchise contract. In Cambodia, the Philippines and Malaysia, Tous les Jours stores were also set up under master franchising, with those in Vietnam and Indonesia directly operated by CJ Foodville.