Jollibee opens 101st store in Seattle, Washington

FILE PHOTO: Jollibee and friends joined in the welcoming festivities during the opening of Jollibee Laoag Bacarra in June 2023

Homegrown fast-food giant Jollibee Foods Corp. of tycoon Tony Tan Caktiong has brought its beloved Chickenjoy meals in another Washington State city as the company accelerates its expansion in the world’s largest quick service restaurant (QSR) market.

Jollibee on Friday said it had opened its 101st North America branch in Seattle, drawing hundreds of customers in the early hours of the day.

The Rainier Valley Square branch, which is also Jollibee’s third store in Washington, comes just eight months after the Tacoma branch was opened. The first Washington branch in Tukwila opened its doors in 2010.

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“We are glad to become part now of such a diverse yet close-knit community that has also become a culinary destination in its own right,” Maribeth dela Cruz, Jollibee North America president, said in a statement.

Apart from the crowd favorite Chickenjoy meals, the Rainier Valley branch will also serve chicken sandwiches and peach mango pie, according to Jollibee.

Jollibee’s 100th store in North America was opened in Surrey, British Columbia in January this year. To date, the company has more than 1,600 stores across the globe.

The Chickenjoy maker currently has 18 brands in its portfolio, including global brands such as Colorado-based Smashburger, and Beijing-based Hong Zhuang Yuan and Yonghe King.

Jollibee plans to open up to 750 new stores within the year, both locally and in other countries, with a P20-billion capital spending budget.

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Of the 750 stores, 80 percent would be located in other countries to catch up on its international expansion plans and compete with rivals, according to Jollibee chief financial officer Richard Shin.

Shin previously said they planned to tap franchisees to help penetrate cities where Jollibee had yet to open stores, mostly in the United States.

Jollibee president and CEO Ernesto Tanmantiong said they wanted to be “a franchiser of choice in the QSR industry.”

“We aim to achieve this by partnering with financially strong, capable and culture-fit master franchisees that bring significant scale, access to capital and deep local market expertise,” Tanmantiong said during the company’s annual stockholders meeting.

READ: The Jollibee story: Lessons on leadership

He added that they would also continue expanding their network in countries where they already have strong presence, such as the United States, through both company-owned stores and franchises.

Stronger sales from local and international branches buoyed Jollibee’s earnings in the first quarter by 27 percent to P2.62 billion.

Revenues likewise jumped by 11.3 percent to P61.3 billion as systemwide sales climbed by a tenth to P86.8 billion.