hat�s common to Mario Puzo and Pizza Corner India (PCI)? It�s the Sicilian connection, silly! The eight-year-old pizza chain has launched India�s first ever �Sicilian Pizza�, a unique thick and square pizza with a creamy cheese base, unlike the usual tomato base. The company, which has 28 outlets across the country has also entered the expansion phase. It plans to set up 10 outlets every year for the next couple of years with a major thrust on franchising.

Promoted by entrepreneur Fred Mouawad, Pizza Corner, in which ICICI Venture has a 33 per cent stake, had hoped to grow rapidly to about 100 outlets by the turn of the century. Things didn�t exactly go as intended. The company�s northern operations failed to meet its standards and business could not be sustained because of the high real estate costs. The pizza chain began a consolidation exercise shifting its corporate office from Chennai to Delhi. To increase sales and profitability it restructured its operations, shut down some outlets and relocated a few to high traffic areas in the form of Express units that offered low priced menus. ... more