Mrs. Fields close outlets

Mrs. Fields close outlets

JAKARTA (JP): Baked food franchise Mrs. Fields plans to close
its last two outlets in Indonesia in the next few weeks, as the
severe economic crisis has made doing business here financially
untenable.

An advisor to the local franchisee of the U.S.-based Mrs.
Fields, Patrick Holland, said on Wednesday the rupiah's 65
percent drop had boosted costs of imported materials while the
purchasing power of its customers had diminished sharply.

"Prices have skyrocketed in rupiah terms, even of local costs
for things like distribution," Holland said.

"Mrs. Fields is a premium product. We couldn't duplicate the
product with local ingredients... We could make a cheaper cookie,
but we would lose our loyal customers, he said.

Holland said one of the two outlets, both of which are located
in Jakarta malls, would be closed this week, while the shutters
would come down on the final one in mid November.

By September, the 11 outlets in several major cities in the
country had shrunk to two. Local company, PT Intria Schakti is
Mrs. Fields' sole franchisee in Indonesia. (das)