Golden Arches Development Corp., the local franchise holder of fast-food chain McDonalds, said over the weekend it expects the number of stores in the Philippines to reach 500 this year and 900 outlets over the next few years.
Golden Arches vice president for marketing Margot Torres said in an interview the company’s expansion was focused on Metro Manila and provincial areas.
“We are going to hit the 500 stores before the end of the year because we had 494 as of June,” Torres said. Arches opens 40 stores annually.
Torres said sales had remained strong for McDonalds stores since the second half of 2015 after the restaurant chain tapped celebrities Maine Mendoza and Alden Richard as endorsers and sold ‘Minions’ toys with meals.
Torres said expansion plans would depend on the availability of good locations and completion of new shopping malls.
“There is still room for growth in Metro Manila but [there] is also huge potential for expansion outside Metro Manila, particularly in the Visayas and Mindanao,” Torres said.
Torres said while the aggressive expansion of convenience stores posed a threat to the fast-food industry by offering affordable meals within the stores, Golden Arches was also making it convenient for customers to buy food at McDonalds through online delivery.
Most stores operate 24-hours a day and are located in key areas in Metro Manila.
Sixty percent of McDonalds outlets are company-owned while the remaining 40 percent are franchise stores.
The 500 store count target was originally set in 2015 but was moved toward the middle of 2016 due to construction delays.
Golden Arches reported a 9.7-percent growth in revenues in the first quarter to P5.24 billion from P4.78 billion a year ago while net income surged 18.6 percent to P191 million.
This followed the opening of 29 new restaurants, re-imaging of 28 existing restaurants, business extensions and introduction of new products.
The new restaurants contributed 5 percent to total system sales while business extensions, such as the drive-thru service, accounted for 23 percent of the total.