Shakey’s on track to open 30 new stores despite weaker sales
The company is looking to open ghost or delivery-only kitchens.
Shakey’s Pizza Asia Ventures Inc. said it is on track to meet its 30 store target this year despite continued lockdowns dampening recovery.
These new branches will follow a smaller format and will be geared to service both in-store and out-of-store consumption “in response to guests’ emerging needs for fast, convenient, and safe dining experiences,” the company said in a disclosure to the local stock exchange.
Shakey’s posted a PHP 29 million (approx. US$605,000) net income during the first three months of the year, a 75% drop against the PHP 114 million posted a year earlier.
System-wide sales also decreased 28% to PHP1.67 billion compared to the PHP 2.3 billion during the comparative period, but said the figure represented a 500-basis point improvement from the last quarter of 2020.
“The ongoing COVID-19 crisis continues to weigh heavily on the restaurant industry, with many consumers challenged by the macroeconomic conditions and/or opting simply to stay home amidst the fear of contracting the virus. The latter part of this quarter also saw the re-imposition of stricter measures to curtail dine-in, disrupting the part of our business which was experiencing a relatively good trajectory before then,” Shakey’s president and chief executive officer Vicente Gregorio said in a statement.
Delivery and carryout sales, which now comprises majority of the business, carried the company through the first quarter, posting strong double-digit year-on-year growth.
This year, the company plans to fortify its delivery service by opening ghost kitchens and relaunching its delivery website and app. It is also looking to further shorten delivery time.
