 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(January 2008) |
Millie's Cookies is a chain of retail bakeries based in the United Kingdom, [1] specializing in cookies, muffins, hot drinks and gifts. It was named after its founder Mario Budwig's grandmother Mildred. [2] The company has stores in the United Kingdom, India, France, Germany, Egypt, Malta, Hong Kong. [3] [4]
The first Millie's Cookie was baked by Stephen Singer after the company was founded by Mario Budwig in the end of 1985. [5] Later that year, the company launched its first store within Selfridges department store food hall on Oxford Street, London. [5] In 1987, Richard O'Sullivan joined the company as managing director [5] and began to expand it outside London for the first time, with openings in Sheffield, Manchester and Birmingham. During the following years, outlets were opened in most major railway stations and airports in the United Kingdom, as well as in many shopping centres.
Business grew steadily, and in June 1997, Millie's Cookies purchased Cookie Jar, a competitor with about thirty outlets. The newly bought stores were rebranded as Millie's Cookies. In June 2003 Millie's was purchased by Select Service Partner (SSP), a division of Compass Group. In April 2006, Compass sold SSP to EQT AB. By 2006, the chain grew to 121 outlets. [5] By 2022, Millie's Cookies' empire had shrunk considerably in size and now only had 45 outlets in the UK although its range was available for home delivery as far as mainland Europe. [6]
It also launched its stores in India with the first one in New Delhi followed by Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Surat.
Millie's currently operates most of its stores in England, mainly in shopping centres, and there are stores in Hong Kong International Airport, France Métro-station Opéra in Paris, Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport and Berlin Hauptbahnhof. In 2010, outlets opened in Cairo and Malta, the latter a few days after the launch of the Point shopping complex.
WH Smith PLC, trading as WHSmith, is a British retailer, with headquarters in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and motorway service station shops selling books, stationery, magazines, newspapers, entertainment products and confectionery.
Yaohan Co., Ltd. or Yaohan; Chinese: 八佰伴) was a Japanese retail group, founded in 1930 by Ryohei Wada and his wife Katsu Wada. Initially a single shop, it was expanded by their son Kazuo Wada into a major supermarket chain with most retail outlets located in Shizuoka prefecture, south of Tokyo. It was incorporated in 1948 and listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange. The store was far more established and notable outside Japan, due to restrictive laws in Japan that made it difficult to set up new businesses, such that by the time it opened its first store in the Tokyo metropolitan area, the company was already in a state of decline due to accumulated debts from over-expansion.
Harry Ramsden's is a fast food restaurant chain based in the United Kingdom which offers fish and chips and assorted themed dishes. Founded by restaurant entrepreneur Harry Ramsden in Guiseley, West Yorkshire in 1928, the business has 35 owned and franchised outlets throughout the UK and Ireland.
Virgin Megastores is an international entertainment retailing chain, founded in early 1976 by Richard Branson as a record shop on London's Oxford Street.
Hamleys of London Limited, trading as Hamleys, is a British multinational toy retailer, owned by Reliance Retail. Listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's oldest toy store, it was founded by William Hamley as "Noah's Ark" in High Holborn, London, in 1760. It moved to its current site on Regent Street in London's West End in 1881. This flagship store is set over seven floors, with more than 50,000 lines of toys on sale. It receives around five million visitors each year.
Cinnabon, Inc., is an American chain of baked goods stores and kiosks, normally found in areas with high pedestrian traffic such as malls, airports and rest stops. The company's signature item is the cinnamon roll. As of December 2017, there are more than 1,200 Cinnabon bakeries operating in 48 countries. Its headquarters are in Sandy Springs, Georgia, United States.
The Disney Store is a chain of specialty stores created on March 28, 1987 and sells only Disney related items, many of them exclusive, under its own name and Disney Outlet. It was a business unit of Disney Consumer Products with the Disney Experiences segment of The Walt Disney Company conglomerate.
HMV is a music and entertainment retailer, founded in the United Kingdom in 1921. In most of the world, the brand is owned by JD Sports and operated by Sunrise Records, except in Japan, where it is owned and operated by Lawson.
ParknShop is one of the two largest supermarket chains in Hong Kong, the other being Wellcome. ParknShop operates more than 200 outlets in Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China.
Caffè Ritazza is a chain of coffee shops owned by the British multinational company SSP Group. It provides a range of coffees, pastries, ciabattas, panini and alcoholic drinks at many sites internationally.
Mister Donut is an international chain of doughnut stores. It was founded in the United States in 1956 by Harry Winokur. Primary offerings include doughnuts, coffee, muffins and pastries. After being acquired by Allied Domecq in 1990, most of the North American stores became Dunkin' Donuts. Outside of the United States, Mister Donut maintains a presence in Japan, El Salvador, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Singapore.
Boost Juice Bars is an Australian multinational retail outlet owned by parent company Retail Zoo that specialise in fruit juice and smoothies. Boost Juice Bars was formed in 2000 with the first store located in Adelaide, South Australia The company has expanded internationally with stores in Asia, Europe, South America, and the United Kingdom through franchising.
Dymocks Booksellers is an Australian-founded privately owned bookstore chain, that also specialise in CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray discs, e-books and related merchandising. As of June 2022, the chain has about 50 stores in Australia.
Manchu Wok Inc. is a Canadian fast food restaurant chain that specializes in Chinese fusion cuisine. The brand operates 57 locations across eight Canadian provinces and 13 in the US. The chain operates in shopping malls, airports and some US military installations. It is owned by Canada-based MTY Food Group.
Ajisen Ramen is a Japan-based chain of fast food restaurants selling Japanese ramen noodle soup dishes. The company's logo, featuring artwork of a little girl named Chii-chan, can be found on their stores and products. Outside of Japan, Ajisen Ramen has outlets in Australia, Cambodia, Canada, China, Egypt, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Marianas, Mongolia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the United States, Vietnam, Morocco and Panama. There are over 700 Ajisen Ramen restaurants.
Watsons is a Hong Kong health care and beauty care chain store in Asia and Europe. It is the flagship health and beauty brand of the A.S. Watson Group, which is majority owned by CK Hutchison Holdings.
AS Watson Group is the world's largest international health and beauty retailer by number of stores, with over 16,500 stores in 28 markets, primarily in Asia and Europe.
SSP is an operator of food and beverage outlets in travel locations. The company, headquartered in London, England, is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
Bargain Booze is a chain of off licence shops, that operates in the United Kingdom. Established in 1981 in Sandbach, it grew to 836 shops and established the Bargain Booze Select Convenience shop franchise.
The Cocoa Trees is a retail chain store of chocolate and confectionery brands based in Asia. It is a brand of Focus Network Agencies (FNA) Singapore, a former subsidiary of ABR Holdings. The company is the largest distributor and retailer of chocolate and confectionery products in Asia, with more than 70 stores in the Asia-Pacific region. It also operates 12 chocolate and confectionery shops at Singapore Changi Airport. In 2014, FNA secured tenders to operate the departure lounges of Terminal 1 and 3. FNA also supplies and distributes chocolates to supermarkets in Singapore and overseas.