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Wendy's, the United States-headquartered fast-food chain, plans to more than double its presence in New Zealand and open 20 new outlets.
A sudden plentiful supply of labour combined with tougher times forcing more people to shun flash restaurants and cafes are two of the reasons being cited for the expansion plans in the midst of the global credit crunch.
Danielle Lendich, chief executive of the New Zealand family business which owns franchises for all 15 existing Wendy's, said the business was doing extremely well and had great growth prospects.
"The fast-food industry has not been as hard-hit as some other retail sectors," she said yesterday in announcing the expansion.
She cited a change in eating habits saying that instead of dining in high-class places, more people would be heading for fast food in future.
"There is anecdotal evidence that consumers swap from more expensive restaurants and cafes to quick service restaurants and cafes in tough times but they clearly don't want to compromise on quality," she said.
Lendich is chief executive of Wendco (NZ) which has operated all the Wendy's restaurants under franchise for the past 20 years.
Lendich said the labour market was changing fast and this was another advantage.
"Over the last few years, finding excellent staff and managers has been difficult in such a tight employment market. Now we are finding highly-skilled employees are becoming available to manage and work in our new restaurants," she said.
Wendy's could not expand when property prices were so high this decade and labour was in such short supply, she said.
The Lendich family has thrived in Auckland since immigrating from Croatia. They have extensive business interests with Lendich Construction in Massey and the master franchise office for Wendy's in Te Atatu.
Lendich said her family were once so poor that her father was forced to eat apples from the family's orchard for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He was teased for having to milk cows before school too.
Wendy's has 14 outlets in Auckland and one in Tauranga. Two Wendy's properties are owned by interests associated with Wendco (NZ) but the other 12 properties are owned by landlords and leased.
The 20 new Wendy's will open in the next five years and the chain is hunting for four sites in Wellington, two to three in Hamilton, one in Rotorua and one in Palmerston North. More stores in the South Island and Auckland are also on the cards.
Lendich said a Wendy's building was worth $800,000 to $1.2 million on average without land costs. The chain is hunting for sites of 2000sq m to 4000sq m on main arterial routes.
BURGER FACTS
* World's third-largest hamburger chain behind McDonald's and Burger King.
* Has 6300 outlets in 27 countries.
