Marketwise

The Roladin pastry chain hopes to have 35 branches around the country by next year.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
bread 1 88 224 (photo credit: Courtesy)
bread 1 88 224
(photo credit: Courtesy)
NUMEROUS ENTERPRISES in Israel that used to quote prices in dollars or Euros have suddenly become patriotic and are quoting prices and even the level of investments in shekels. That's what happens when foreign currency becomes weaker than local currency. Among the exceptions are the stores at Ben Gurion Airport. James Richardson Duty Free stores are quoting both prices and prizes in dollars. In order to boost sales, James Richardson is taking advantage of the fact that more people will be prompted to travel abroad this summer because of the weakness of the dollar, which will make travel cheaper in shekels, even though the shekel prices will also be affected by the upsurge in the price of oil. James Richardson has installed a win-win money machine that will issue vouchers valued at $10, $20 and $30 towards the next purchase for all purchases in excess of $199 in its perfumery and cosmetics departments. Every spin on the money machine is a winner, but not every win is worth $30. McDONALD'S IS also planning to upgrade its sales with the tempting prizes of 25 package deals for two to the Beijing Olympics plus 50 package deals for two to Beijing after the Olympic Games. The Beijing Lottery will be conducted throughout the 150 outlets in the McDonald's chain till August 31. TEES FACTORY is expanding in more ways than one. It all started three years ago when fashion designer Illa Amit teamed up with Tel Aviv night owl Elad Sango to take on the project of designing a unique line of his and her tee shirts that would appeal to Tel Aviv's "underground" community. The project was so successful that Amit decided to open a studio-cum-store in Montefiore Street, but because the premises are so small, she had to sacrifice the studio area to accommodate her customers. The tee-shirts continued to be popular, which prompted Amit to open a second and larger store at 1 Avoda Street, where she has also introduced basic dresses made of easy care pure cotton and a new line of Tees Factory Organics featuring 100 percent cotton blouses made from organically grown cotton. EASY SPIRIT, the chain of fashionable yet comfortable footwear, is opening its third store in Israel at an investment of $150,000. Easy Spirit is part of the Super Brands company which belongs to the Sakal Group. The third store will be in the new Givat Shmuel shopping mall. The other two stores are in the Orna Mall, Herzliya and the Zahav Mall in Rishon Lezion. Easy Spirit is headquartered in the United States with outlets world-wide. It offers a wide range of shoes to suit different tastes and needs. ROLADIN, THE well-known Tel Aviv pastry store, which began an expansion process a couple of years back, and now has additional branches within and outside of Tel Aviv, has opened yet another Tel Aviv branch - this time with a new concept - in Ramat Hehayal. The new store according to the chain's general manager Kobi Hakak, will specialize in light, nutritious meals and fast food service, to fit in with the constantly on-the-move urban life style. The store will also provide catering services for conferences, which should prove useful to the many business firms in the area. In the course of its expansion, Roladin is also marketing its own brand of pastries, cakes and cookies - Bakery Café. The company plans to open at least four more branches before the end of 2008 at a total investment of NIS 4.4 million. The four new branches will open in Givat Shmuel, Modi'in, Ashdod and Rishon Lezion. By the end of 2009, said Hakak, Roladin will have 35 branches all over the country. SHE GETS herself into a lot of trouble, and she's independently wealthy, so she doesn't really need to work, but Paris Hilton likes the limelight - which would explain why she went to the trouble of landing a three year contract with Darniani, the famed Italian designer of the Bliss collection of jewelry. The Bliss campaign featuring Hilton will run overseas, including Israel, for a year before it hits the United States. The Bliss collection will be marketed in Israel by Miller, the prestige jewelry company, and will appear in Miller stores this month.