Shakey’s targets six more franchise outlets this year

The Philippine master-franchisee of world-renowned pizza restaurant, Shakey’s, plans to open at least six more franchise branches nationwide within this year.

Shakey’s franchise operations manager Joe D. Baula, Jr. said the International Family Food Services Inc. eyes to capitalize on the untapped areas in other parts of the country, especially the tourism hotspots.

Despite the entry of other pizza brands in the market, Shakey’s is confident to achieve a positive growth in the Philippines with its re-branding strategy that has repackaged all outlets into a restaurant.

Currently, there is a total of 95 Shakey’s restaurants all over the country, 42 of which are managed by different franchisees. In Cebu for instance, the five outlets are managed by Future Foods Corporation, led by businessman Danny Tan.

Future Foods Corporation opened its fifth outlet in Cebu at the newly opened food and entertainment strip at the Cebu Asia Town IT Park, dubbed as “The Walk”.

According to Baula, Shakey’s will soon open in emerging tourism-driven provinces  such as Boracay, Bohol, Dumaguete in the Visayas, Zamboanga in Mindanao, and some parts in Luzon.

He said Shakey’s have already carved a strong brand name in the Philippine market, and the entry of other pizza-restaurant brands will not affect its marketability, however, for Shakey’s there are only two pizza brands in the market today that are really competing closely.

Baula mentioned that Cebu is one of the fastest growing Shakey’s operations nationwide, and there is also a good potential to open up more Shakey’s restaurants in Metro Cebu, and in other parts of the province.

The company’s turnkey franchise package is pegged at an average of P8M for a 150 square-meter restaurant size.

Shakey’s Pizza was founded in Sacramento, California in 1954, by Sherwood “Shakey” Johnson and Ed Plummer.

In the Philippines, the Pizza-restaurant Shakey’s is known for its flagship menu-products such as the thin-crust pizza, chicken mojos, and spaghetti.

The chain in the Philippines is leveraging on the Fun-Family concept to attract the entire family market. —Ehda M. Dagooc