Shakey’s Pizza coming to UAE

Shakey’s Pizza Parlor Restaurant along CM Recto at Limketkai Center, Cagayan de Oro City. (PHOTO CREDIT: https://www.cdodev.com/2013/07/04/new-shakeys-store-nears-completion/)

The country’s leading pizza parlor chain Shakey’s Pizza Asia Ventures Inc. (SPAVI) is set to debut in the United Arab Emirates next year after signing a deal with a Dubai-based group to develop restaurants in this new offshore market.

SPAVI signed through its subsidiary Shakey’s Pizza Regional Foods Ltd. an area development agreement with Aljeel Capital LLC, a Dubai-based group, to build at least 10 Shakey’s Pizza outlets in the UAE over a span of five years.

The first store, to be located in Dubai, is scheduled for opening in the first half of 2018.

This is the second international franchise for Po family-led SPAVI, which owns the perpetual rights to the Shakey’s brand for the Middle East and Asia (excluding Japan and Malaysia), China, Australia, and Oceania. This also translates to a total international pipeline of at least 20 outlets over the next few years.

Last yearend, SPAVI signed an agreement to open at least 10 Shakey’s stores in Kuwait.

“Dubai, UAE, and the rest of the Middle East are great markets for us. Not only are there strong and welcoming Filipino communities which love the Shakey’s brand and are excited about experiencing it away from home, but there are also tremendous growth opportunities within the mainstream markets there,” SPAVI president Vic Gregorio said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday.

Firas Hurieh, chief executive officer of Aljeel Capital said: “We are excited about this partnership and more thrilled to bring a solid brand such as Shakey’s to the UAE as there is a huge opportunity to target a wide customer base and grow the brand in the next few years.”

In 1975, Shakey’s first opened a restaurant in the Philippines where it currently maintains market leadership in both the full service and pizza chain categories.

As of end-March 2017, the group had a total of 189 stores locally.

The store in Kuwait will be SPAVI’s first outlet outside of the Philippines and is on track to open in the third quarter of 2017.

Gregorio added: “We are excited to bring Shakey’s and its ‘Fun, Family, Pizza’ positioning to other countries in our part of the globe. We are confident in the success of our new markets and look forward to more partnerships as we continue to build a bigger and better Shakey’s.”