American fast food chain McDonald’s has reopened 13 restaurants in parts of Delhi and Gurugram, nearly ten days after it announced a change in ownership for its business in north and east India, that saw the burger chain temporarily shutter over 160 of its outlets.
In a statement released on Sunday, Connaught Plaza Restaurants Private Limited (CPRL), now wholly owned by McDonald’s, said that the reopened restaurants will have “see refreshed menu boards, merchandising and packaging…”
The restaurants opened at 11 am to the public on Sunday.
CPRL said that it will gradually begin opening other restaurants over the coming days and weeks after completion of work at these outlets. However, some of its key services such as birthday parties and Happy Meals will for now not be available at these restaurants; moreover, these restaurants will also not be running any delivery services. “We are also not able to offer delivery until we have more restaurants up and running to ensure we can service our usual delivery area,” the company added in the statement.
The newly opened restaurants were shuttered to focus on restaurant and equipment maintenance, technology audits, menu and marketing updates and employee training.
The reopening of stores comes after the chain ended a six-year-long legal dispute with its local partner for north and east India, Vikram Bakshi with whom the company jointly owned Connaught Plaza Restaurants Ltd that ran the McDonald’s business here.
On May 09, McDonald’s India Pvt. Ltd (MIPL), along with its affiliate McDonald’s Global Markets Llc bought out Bakshi’s 50% stake in their joint venture CPRL. Bakshi who was the burger chain’s local parter for north and east India starting the mid-90s was ousted as its managing director in 2013 that led to the start of a six-year-long legal dispute between the two. The two, however, agreed to resolve their differences after reaching a settlement earlier this month that saw the McDonald’s fully take control of operations at CPRL.
In its statement, CPRL also said that its search for a development license for its business in north and east India is still on.
“McDonald’s remains committed to the opportunities in North and East India and intends to facilitate future growth by continuing to actively progress finding the right Developmental Licensee (DL) for the region. As this process continues and until the company has secured the right DL partner for the business, CPRL will remain owned by MIPL and its affiliate,” it added.
The chain has opened restaurants in key locations such as Janpath, Gurugram’s Cyber Hub, CBD Cross River Mall, Delhi D Mall Rohini, Delhi’s T3 International Airport among other locations in malls and busy markets.
