Plan for more franchised Yoshinoya outlets
CENTRAL RESTAURANTS GROUP (CRG) will focus on expanding its franchised casual dining Japanese rice bowl restaurant Yoshinoya in Thailand over the next three years, before exploring opportunities in other Asean markets, particularly Laos.
The company expects to increase significantly the number of Yoshinoya restaurants in the Kingdom from 18 currently to 30 within the next three years. Three new Yoshinoya restaurants will be opened in Bangkok and neighbouring cities this year.
Pol Sridaeng, general manager for Yoshinoya restaurants, CRG, said that its franchisor in Japan, Yoshinoya, has already opened 22 franchises in Indonesia, as well as 20 in Singapore, where they entered the market 10 years ago. They have also opened three franchises in Cambodia, and are exploring the possibility of a franchise to Vietnam.
Operating Japanese rice bowl restaurants in Japan for 116 years, Yoshinoya currently operates more than 1,300 restaurants in Japan alone.
The company has set up a regional headquarters in Malaysia to be responsible for expanding its franchises in Asean.
CRG currently has 12 franchised restaurant brands in its portfolio, including Yoshinoya. The company has operated Yoshinoya restaurants in Thailand for more than three years. Thailand now has 18 Yoshinoya restaurants, 14 of which are in Bangkok, and the remainder in Chiang Mai, Chon Buri and Sriracha.
“We plan to open three Yoshinoya restaurants in the second half of this year, at Central Westgate in Bangyai, CentralFestival East Ville on Praditmanutham Road and Ayutthaya Park.
Each Yoshinoya restaurant will occupy 100 square metres of space with 40 seats on average. They will require about Bt6 million in investment capital each.
“By the end of this year, we will have opened 20 Yoshinoya restaurants in Thailand. We also plan to reach the milestone of 30 Yoshinoya restaurants in the Kingdom within the next three years,” said Pol.
He said that the company plans to open between three to five Yoshinoya restaurants every year to achieve average sales growth at about 15 per cent per annum in the next three years.
“We achieved about Bt200 million in sales last year, and we are expected to earn Bt250 million in sales this
year. We target to reach sales of between Bt350 million and Bt400 million in the next three years,” said Pol.
He added that last year’s sales were flat compared to the previous year due to economic and political difficulties, caused by a reduction in regular customers by 20 per cent.
The company has seen a good rebound in the first quarter of this year, which showed year-on-year growth of between 7 and 8 per cent. The growth for its restaurants in Bangkok was between 15 and 20 per cent in the first quarter, and was still minus by 10 per cent in upcountry stores due to lower spending power of consumers in the provinces.
He said Chiang Mai, for instance, had suffered a significant decline in the number of in-bound tourists. Meanwhile, in Chon Buri, many factories had reduced the number of workers to cope with the economic slowdown and lower exports.
Pol said that Yoshinoya has a 30 per cent and 35 per cent share in the Bt800-million Japanese beef bowl restaurant market.
Its key competitors are Sukiya, Chounan and Kakachi. Pol said the average spending of consumers who enter Yoshinoya restaurants is about Bt150 per head.
