Strauss Group Ltd. (TASE:STRS) chocolate subsidiary Max Brenner will open three branches in the US, the first in Philadelphia this summer at a cost of $1.5 million. The company will have five branches in the US when the move is completed.
Max Brenner currently has 25 stores and chocolate bars worldwide, of which 18 are operated by franchisees, with the rest wholly owned by Strauss. The company has six branches in Israel, fourteen in Australia, two each in the US and the Philippines, and one in Singapore.
In a recent interview with "Globes", Strauss Group CEO Erez Vigodman said, "There is no doubt that the need to create a high operational level in this sector, especially in the US, is taking longer than we anticipated. The pace is slower than we planned several years ago, but we believe that this concept has great potential, and even if development takes years longer than we planned, it still has the potential of creating value."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 5, 2009
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