(Source: By Louella D. Desiderio (The Philippine Star) | June 6, 2015 )
Flavored french fries retailer Potato Corner is planning to expand its operations by opening 60 new stores in the country and setting up 10 new stores overseas this year.
Potato Corner chief executive officer Jose Magsaysay Jr. told reporters the brand is planning to expand its business by opening stores in the country and overseas.
Amid strong demand in the country, 60 new stores will be set up this year.
The 10 stores overseas, will all be located in Indonesia.
At present, there are over 550 Potato Corner stores worldwide.
Of this total, 90 are located in overseas markets such as Australia, Indonesia, Panama, United Arab Emirates, and the US.
Aside from opening new stores, the retailer also plans to enter new markets amid inquiries from individuals who have tried Potato Corner’s french fries during their stay in the country.
“Many of the inquiries we received from overseas are from young individuals who want to become entrepreneurs and were our customers before,” Magsaysay said.
He noted there are ongoing talks with potential partners for Potato Corner in China, Singapore, Thailand, Mexico and Spain.
As setting up new stores overseas could be costly for young entrepreneurs, Magsaysay said Potato Corner is open to using different models for forging partnerships such as giving franchises for setting up just one to two stores instead of granting a master franchise immediately.
This, as it has learned the master franchise model requiring the opening of a specific number of stores may not work in all markets.
In Malaysia for instance, Potato Corner terminated the franchise as the required number of stores to be set up was not achieved.
“If the first store becomes successful and we like each other, then we can talk about the master franchise later on,” Magsaysay said.
