MANILA, Philippines — Shakey’s Pizza Asia Ventures Inc. (SPAVI), the listed operator of the Philippines’ single largest brand of chained full-service restaurants, has expanded in the Middle East.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), the company said it opened its first store in Dubai, further expanding its footprint in the region to capitalize on the still growing large population of Filipinos there.
“Dubai, UAE, and the rest of the Middle East are great markets for us. Aside from the strong and welcoming Filipino communities which really love the Shakey’s brand and are excited about experiencing it away from home, PIZZA is also a Western concept with Western menu – thus giving us tremendous growth opportunities within the mainstream markets there,” said Vic Gregorio, president and CEO of SPAVI.
SPAVI partnered with Aljeel Capital, a Dubai-based group as its first franchisee.
The group has committed to open nine more in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over a span of five years.
“We are excited to have more stores in the UAE, with our flagship Dubai restaurant finally open and with the overwhelming turnout we had during opening night,” said Aljeel CEO Firas Hurieh.
He said their store broke several Shakey’s records on that day – the highest total net sales during opening day and the largest number of pre-sold loyalty program ‘Supercards.’”
The Philippines’ number one full-service brand drew a huge number of patrons in Dubai, with long lines and guests patiently waiting close to an hour to enter.
Located opposite Burjuman Mall and just a few steps from EXIT 4 of Burjuman Metro Station, one of the busiest stations in Dubai, the new store is strategically located and very accessible, thus attracting good traffic and high brand visibility.
The restaurant features the familiar store environment of a Shakey’s pizza parlor in the Philippines and offers the many iconic products which many Filipinos have grown to love.
Furthermore, everything on the menu is halal-certified, in line with Dubai’s Islamic culture.
Shakey’s first opened in the Philippines in 1975 where it currently maintains market leadership in both the full service and pizza chain categories.
As of the end of March 2018, Shakey’s had a total of 212 stores locally.
The Dubai branch is the second international store for PIZZA which owns the perpetual rights to the Shakey’s brand for the Middle East, Asia but excluding Japan and Malaysia, China, Australia, and Oceania.
With two area development agreements already signed up, its total international pipeline is currently at around 20 outlets over the next few years, Gregorio said.