The retailer plans 20–24 outlets over the next 12–24 months, beginning with Delhi-NCR, as it scales the classroom-themed café through a franchise-led FOCO model
BuyBuyCart Select is targeting 80–100 outlets of its classroom-themed The Attendance Sheet Café over the next three to five years, as the retailer looks to scale the experiential format beyond its existing footprint through a franchise-led expansion strategy.
The company plans to open 20–24 cafés over the next 12–24 months, beginning with Delhi-NCR, before expanding into other markets across India. The expansion will be driven through a Franchise Owned, Company Operated (FOCO) model, with franchise partners funding the outlets while BuyBuyCart Select retains operational control.
Under the model, the company will manage location selection, store setup, training, marketing, chef deployment and day-to-day operations. The structure is intended to allow the café format to expand through franchise capital while maintaining consistency in its customer experience and operations.
The planned outlets will typically span 2,000–3,000 sq ft, with indicative investment of around Rs 3,000 per sq ft, depending on the location and format. BuyBuyCart Select expects franchise partners to achieve a 12–24-month payback period, subject to outlet-level performance and market conditions.
“The Attendance Sheet Café is not just a café; it is an emotion that we have connected with BuyBuyCart Select’s experience-led retail vision. Where shopping ends, nostalgia begins. That is the core idea behind our franchise expansion,” said Ashish Pandey, Co-founder, BuyBuyCart Select.
Pandey said the company’s long-term vision is to develop The Attendance Sheet Café as an independent café chain and take the nostalgia-driven concept from Delhi-NCR to markets across India.
The café’s proposition is built around a classroom-inspired environment, incorporating elements such as report-card-style menus, diary-inspired branding and school-themed design features. The format is aimed at creating an experience-led proposition for customers across age groups while retaining affordable pricing.
As the network expands, BuyBuyCart Select is also moving towards a simplified menu to enable greater consistency across outlets and support a more standardised operating model.
The café will also be integrated with BuyBuyCart Select’s existing retail ecosystem, creating opportunities for cross-footfall between the two formats. Existing retail customers can access the café, while café visitors can engage with the wider retail environment.
BuyBuyCart Select currently operates more than 300 stores and is expanding its presence through differentiated, experience-led retail formats. The Attendance Sheet Café represents an extension of this strategy into food and beverage, with the company seeking to build the concept into a standalone café chain over the next three to five years.
