The first fast-food restaurants were too expensive for ordinary people and mostly catered to the very limited. Gradually, salaries rose in dollar terms, making imports more affordable, and fast-food restaurants began to serve a wider clientele, which brought about a decline in the quality of services. Insiders say that the quality of service is a common problem for the entire sector and while some firms have made better progress, there is still a long way to go before Russian fast-food restaurants can offer customers proper levels of service. A more significant presence of international food franchising giants in the market could improve the industry's overall quality standards.
With salaries on the rise and more discretionary spending, fast food chains are prospering in Moscow. The market is divided between international fast-food giants and their domestic competitors, and both are looking at expansion. The market is far from saturated however, with unsatisfied demand for high quality fast-food chains.
The Russian automotive sector has been growing rapidly since the beginning of the 1990s and during the last ten years the average growth rate is approximately 7-10% per year. Import of foreign automotive industry products is also growing. Analysts predict that this growth will continue in the near future. According to various industry sources, the annual per car maintenance expenditure in Russia exceeds $ 1,000. In Moscow alone, there are over 2 million private cars, thus the Moscow market exceeds $ 2 billion. In Moscow there is only one network of independent car service outlets – Bosh Service. It has approximately 54 car service shops in Russia (including 11 in Moscow). A Pennsylvania based ChipsAway Inc. is successfully using franchising to increase its presence on the Russian market of car paint restoration services and has already opened six car body maintenance centers in Moscow and one in Vologda.
Literature
1. Oganes Sarkisov, U.S. Commercial Service Moscow, Russia. Franchising in Russia. 09/30/2002
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franchising
3. http://www.offshore-services.biz/article-what-is-franchising