Shakey’s to open 20 new PH stores this year

Shakey’s president Vicente Gregorio

The country’s leading pizza parlor chain Shakey’s Pizza Asia Ventures Inc. (SPAVI) will continue its expansion program after a “banner” year in 2017 with a goal to open 20 new local restaurants to reach a total of 228 stores at yearend, riding on increasing consumer affluence in the country.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday, the Po family-led SPAVI said it had opened 24 new stores last year, ahead of its earlier target of 20.

“It has been a banner year for Shakey’s – our maiden year as a publicly listed company – as this is the fastest we’ve grown in terms of store network. We have a strong belief in our brand and our strategy, and are keeping pace with the accelerating growth of our economy,” SPAVI president Vicente Gregorio said.

“We will continue to take advantage of the positive consumer sentiment in the Philippines and hope
to open even more stores, including those outside the typical first tier cities,” he added.

In 2017, SPAVI opened a number of stores in provincial locations, including: Iligan, Puerto Princesa, Antique, Gapan, and Palo, Leyte, tracking the urbanization trend in such areas.

The company has also started to roll out redesigned interiors for its newer branches.

“As the Filipino is now looking for more premium dining experiences, we are driven by our mission to consistently ‘wow’ them. This includes upgrading our look, launching innovative products, and
emphasizing a high quality of service,” said Gregorio.

SPAVI earlier stated that its plans would be to grow its footprint to reach a total network of 500 local and overseas restaurants in the next five years, to be funded by internally generated cash flow alongside proceeds from its public offering.

Each new store is estimated to cost around P15 million to P25 million to put up.

Established in California in 1954, Shakey’s operation in the Philippines is now bigger than in the US. The Philippine market is also Shakey’s biggest market in the world.

SPAVI – which trades on the local stock market under the ticker PIZZA – is now completely independent from its US “mother” entity after earlier acquiring the trademark and the intellectual property rights. It does not pay royalty or licensing fees to the US counterpart, resulting in better margins compared to other international food retailing brands operating in the country.

Apart from the Philippines where it set up its first shop in 1975, SPAVI owns perpetual rights to use the Shakey’s brand for the Middle East, Asia (excluding Japan and Malaysia), China, India, Australia and New Zealand.

SPAVI’s recurring net income for the first nine months of 2017 grew by 15 percent year-on-year to P519 million in the first nine months on higher sales unlocked from its expanding network of restaurants. System wide sales rose by 15 percent to P6 billion, driven by same-store sales growth of 6 percent and the increase in the number of stores.