Jollibee Foods Corp. said over the weekend US-based hamburger chain Smashburger plans to open 20 stores this year as part of an aggressive expansion in North America.
Jollibee said Smashburger recently launched two new stores in Chicago and New York.
The newly-opened store in Chicago, the third Smashburger outlet in the area, is located at Edens Collection Shopping Center within Albany Park, while the Jackson Heights restaurant in Queens, New York is found between Ithaca St. and 82nd Street.
“We are hoping to make Smashburger a part of the Chicago North Mayfair and New York Queens communities and be able to serve not only mouthwatering burgers, but also delicious breakfast for families of all ages,” said Carl Bachmann, president of Smashburger.
The fast-food chain said Chicago’s North Side is a quintessential neighborhood complete with beautiful parks and residential areas booming with history, while the Jackson Heights neighborhood in Queens, New York is a melting pot of culture offering some of the most diverse cuisines from Asia, South America among others.
“Residents should not have to leave their neighborhood for a quality burger which is why we are so thrilled to be bringing our Smashburger menu variety to North Mayfair and Queens,” Bachmann said.
Jollibee Group is one of the fastest-growing restaurant companies in the world. It operates in 34 countries, with over 5,800 stores globally with branches in the Philippines, United States, Canada, the People’s Republic of China, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Vietnam, Brunei, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Indonesia, Costa Rica, Egypt, Panama, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan and India.
The group also owns eight wholly-owned brands (Jollibee, Chowking, Greenwich, Red Ribbon, Mang Inasal, Yonghe King, Hong Zhuang Yuan, Smashburger) and five franchised brands (Burger King, Panda Express and PHO24 in the Philippines; Dunkin’ Donuts and Tim Ho Wan in certain territories in China).
Jollibee’s net income attributable to equity holders climbed 109.5 percent in the second quarter to P976 million from he P10.287-million loss in the same quarter last year at the height of the quarantine restrictions.
The company said same-store sales in the second quarter went up by 48 percent in the Philippines, 48 percent in China, 27.7 percent in North America and 21.2 percent in Europe, the Middle East and other parts of Asia.
Jollibee said the improved bottomline was led by the growing contribution of foreign business to total sales, the higher contribution of the coffee business to the business portfolio, the increasing contribution of franchise stores versus company stores and the cost improvement brought by the business transformation in 2020.
