Nani’s Gelato, an ice cream shop based in Toronto, is opening five new locations this year, has plans to open around 50 locations within the next three years, and will be expanding into the United States market.
Currently, the brand has one corporate and four franchised locations in the Greater Toronto Area open offering a variety of gelato, sorbet, pints, and soft-serve options. Consumers can expect new flavours every other week as the brand rotates through its 150 flavours and all are made on-site to provide fresh products daily. The last location opened a few weeks ago in Milton.
“Our gelato is unique, made with Italian recipes and ingredients, and all of our equipment is imported from Italy. We focus on authentic, on-site, freshly made gelato and make it denser, creamier, and richer. It is a high-quality, flavour-intense product that stands out in the market. We have five operating locations and we are in the process of starting construction on five additional units right now,” says Parry Sohi, the owner of Nani’s Gelato.
The five additional units under construction are all in Ontario and include: Burlington, Kitchener, Stoney Creek in Hamiliton, Whitby, and another location in downtown Toronto.
The locations in Burlington, Kitchener, and Stoney Creek will be opening for May or June, Whitby will be open by the end of the year, and Sohi says the brand is finalizing the deal for the location in Toronto and it’s unknown when it will be opening as of yet.
Sohi says the brand will also be expanding for the first time outside of Ontario this summer and has recently finalized a deal in Calgary: “There are a lot of young families, a lot of young couples, so it fits really well in the type of demographic that we tend to target.”
Kelly Farraj of The Behar Group Realty Inc. is representing the brand for its expansion.
50 locations within three years
To make this goal happen, Sohi says the plan is to open around 12 locations a year without saturating the market.
“If we hit 40 to 50 units, we see the additional units actually being opened by our existing franchises as opposed to going out and finding new franchisees. So we think that will give us a really good footprint with all of the Canadian real estate landlords and in turn, when we are looking to expand internally using our existing franchisees, we feel like the financial strength of that would really leverage well in the retail sector.”
To get started with the expansion in the United States, Sohi says he will be attending a trade show in the next couple of months and is hopeful the brand will be able to expand there by the end of next year.
Inside of Canada, Sohi says the brand is looking to expand further in Ontario including North York, Richmond Hill, Scarborough, Pickering, Ajax, Oshawa as “there is a lot of potential in those markets.” As for outside of Ontario, Sohi says the brand will be targeting Winnipeg and Vancouver as those are its primary locations and will be expanding there for next year. Sohi says he is also interested in expanding into Saskatchewan.
“We have shifted our model”
Sohi says the brand is shifting its model to becoming more of a dessert cafe where consumers can come in and be able to sit inside.
“We are expanding some new products in our menu and guests will be able to sit. It will be a great meeting place for friends and family within the community. We are working really hard on some of our retail locations to also secure outdoor space right in front, which will really help when people come out to enjoy the nice weather in the summer. We are looking at our stores becoming more of a community hub for desserts and relaxation for friends and family.”
Now when looking for locations, Sohi says the ideal spot would be between 900 to 1,200 square feet, has an outdoor space for a patio that is designated for the space, and the brand is focusing on getting more seating inside.
A fun feature inside is the kitchen, as consumers are able to see into the kitchen at every location where “they make fresh gelato on-site every morning.”
All locations will be created with comfort in mind and will be an open concept.
“We are trying our best to keep all locations very similar as we roll out. Landlords are becoming more comfortable with that and once they have seen our design, they really like it. It is very fresh, it is pretty modern, so they are excited to put that concept and use it into a lot of the new retail spaces we are looking at.”
As for its product expansion, Sohi says the brand will be adding beverages.
“We only offer bottled water to customers coming in where a lot of our competitors, who run gelato cafes, are offering coffee, espresso, and cold beverages. So we are looking at something as simple as offering carbonated drinks to hot and cold drinks we are going to be making in-house, and seasonal drinks.”
Sohi says the menu will also evolve as the brand is working on new and unique gelato products: “We are keeping it a secret right now, but a big chunk of what we are doing is beverage.”
