MCDONALD’S PHILIPPINES is allocating P3 billion to P5 billion in capital expenditure (capex) to open at least 65 new stores this year, its operator Golden Arches Development Corp. (GADC) said.
Kenneth S. Yang, president and chief executive officer of GADC, announced last week that the new McDonald’s stores will be strategically located across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
Last year, McDonald’s Philippines opened 65 stores, bringing its total store network to 792.
The company is poised to unveil its 800th store this year.
“For this year, most likely, we should grow about the same as what we did last year, which is 65 stores. Hopefully, we will surpass it,” Mr. Yang told reporters on the sidelines of a media event last week.
“We see our growth coming from areas outside of the National Capital Region that have rapidly been developing. We’re excited to open more stores and bring McDonald’s closer to more Filipinos,” he said.
Mr. Yang said GADC would likely maintain its current ratio of 55% company-owned stores and 45% franchise branches.
“We will continue to build new restaurants all over the Philippines. We grow through our company-owned stores as well as through our franchise restaurants,” he said.
“As the country is growing and progressing in these areas, we will go there,” he added.
The Yang-led GADC recently entered into a franchise agreement with US-based McDonald’s Corp. for a new 20-year franchise term in the Philippines, lasting until 2045. The agreement grants GADC the license to own, develop, and operate the McDonald’s brand in the Philippines.
GADC Chairman and Founder George T. Yang has held the master franchise since the opening of the first McDonald’s Philippines store in Manila in 1981.
In 2005, McDonald’s Philippines became a fully Filipino-owned company, with the Yang family as majority owners and tycoon Andrew L. Tan-led Alliance Global Group, Inc. as its investment partner. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
