KUALA LUMPUR: American dining chain Johnny Rockets plans to open 20 outlets in Malaysia over the next 10 years, including seven this year.

“The outlets in Sunway Pyramid [Petaling Jaya] and klia2 [Sepang] are currently under construction and will be completed in the next few months. By the end of this year, we expect another four more outlets will be opened,” AUM Hospitality Sdn Bhd (AUMH)  director Tham Lih Chung told reporters after the launch of its second outlet at Avenue K yesterday. AUMH is Johnny Rockets’ local franchise partner.

Investment for each outlet is about RM2.5 million to RM3 million.

The restaurant chain made its foray into Malaysia with the launch of its first outlet at The Curve, Petaling Jaya in October last year.

“We want to capture different segments of the market (with our upcoming outlet in Sunway

Pyramid), from Shah Alam, Subang, Puchong to other Petaling Jaya areas,” he said.

“[At the same time], we chose klia2 as it is the ‘next generation aviation hub’, [enabling us] to capture a much bigger, global crowd,” Tham said, adding that the high traffic at the new low-cost carrier terminal would also help raise Johnny Rockets’ brand awareness.

Johnny Rockets chief executive officer John Fuller said the Malaysian market currently contributes less than 1% to the group’s revenue but this is expected to grow with the opening of more outlets.

Johnny Rockets has more than 300 restaurants worldwide.


This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on April 15, 2014.

 

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