Jollibee bullish, launches new stores in Boston and New York

Jollibee Foods Corp. said Friday it continues to expand its store network in the United State with the reopening of The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf brand in New York through franchisee Hudson River Coffee and Tea.

Jollibee said in a statement its Smashburger brand also launched its newest store concept Boston.
“We are thrilled to bring back The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf to New York and debut our latest store design for Smashburger in Boston. We are happy to see that these two openings were met with very strong reception from local patrons despite the pandemic. This is a good indication that consumers will continue supporting brands that serve quality, great-tasting food and beverages,” said Jollibee chief executive Ernesto Tanmantiong.

Jollibee Group president for North America Rowel Vijandre said the company had been outperforming the US quick service restaurant industry.

“Smashburger has been double-digit positive for the past three months across company owned stores with its online sales growing by 390 percent, while The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf brand has steadily grown since April despite the impact of the pandemic. The Philippine brands—Jollibee, Chowking and Red Ribbon—have also performed well with Jollibee even seeing long queues with its recent openings. We thank our customers for patronizing our brands and we hope they’ll continue to support our future openings,” Vijandre said.

The reopening of The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf at 5 Green Avenue in Brooklyn on August 28 is the first of many planned openings through its New York-based franchisee.

“New York City is a competitive and highly desirable market for any coffee retailer and our opening in New York underscores our commitment to bringing our beloved beverages to more guests, and demonstrates our strength as a leading roaster and retailer of coffee and tea,” said The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf director of franchise operations Peter Vavra.

Jollibee earlier reported plans to open 338 stores worldwide on a very selective basis and in strategic locations across its brands to strengthen the business for the long-term.

The company expects The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf brand’s performance to improve by the 4th quarter of 2020 and become profitable by 2021.

It said that as of end June, the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf brand has 1,106 stores, while Smashburger has 293 stores.  by Jenniffer B. Austria

Source: Peso Economics