Shakey’s Pizza Asia Ventures Inc., the owner of the American pizza brand in the Philippines and parts of Asia, said it is confident of hitting its target of putting up at least 20 new stores this year.
Vicente Gregorio, the company’s president and CEO, said its new stores may even reach 28 this year depending on the deals that they will close.
“Whether we do 25-28 is still up in the air. We are still negotiating with the leases,” Gregorio added.
The company opened its 200th store on Wednesday. The said store, located in Paseo de Magallanes in Makati, is the company’s 17th new store that opened this year.
The outlet has a new design that will be replicated in other new stores in the country, the company said.
Gregorio said the company’s operation is not yet affected by the bird-flu outbreak in Pampanga.
“So far, thank God, we haven’t seen negative impact on consumption of chicken. There have been questions from our customers, but very few, and our team was able to answer them that all our chicken stocks came from the big purveyors,” he said, adding that all of its suppliers certified that their chickens are safe from avian flu.
Shakey’s, owned by Century Pacific Group, earlier said it plans to spend up to P500 million to tap the international market and expand stores in the country. The company will have its first international franchises in Kuwait and Dubai.
Gregorio said a deal was signed in December 2016 and the company’s first international franchise is set to open in Kuwait in early September this year. He added Kuwait committed to open 10 stores in seven years.
In Dubai, the company said it has also committed to open 10 stores in the region in a span of 10 years.
“The Middle East is prime location because we firmly believe that the Shakey’s product and concept is relevant to the local population and not just to the Filipino OFWs [overseas Filipino workers],” Gregorio said. “The idea is to open stores not just in Manila but also in the secondary markets, which are virgin markets, to help increase our sales,” Gregorio added.