Julie’s Bakeshop to pursue expansion bid

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Date AddedAugust 25, 2009 09:59:17 PM

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DESPITE experiencing declining sales, Julie's Bakeshop will pursue its target to open up 50 new stores this year in various parts of the country.
Jose Enrico R. Gandionco, chief executive officer of Julie's Franchise Corp., said their goal is to put up 20 more outlets in the remainder of year and end 2009 with at least 620 outlets. A Julie's outlet entails P2 million to P2.5 million in investment.
Gandionco said the additional stores will help the company to at least achieve a flat growth for the year, with its sales already down 5 percent to 7 percent in the first semester.
Originally, Gandionco said Julie's set a 10-percent growth target for the year. "It's not as good as we expected. People want to save more and they are opting more for rice than bread," Gandionco told the BusinessMirror.
Still, Gandionco said they are "confident that we will not end the year in the negative."
From two company-owned outlets, the Julie's network has grown over the years as individual members of the Gandionco family opted to put up their own stores.
At present, Gandionco said 35 percent to 40 percent of Julie's outlets are owned by family members. The rest are franchised outlets.
Recently, Julie's signed an agreement with Lots'A Pizza for the expansion of the pizza chain in the Visayas-Mindanao area, with Julie's as the master franchisee.
Also, Gandionco said the company is now laying the foundation for the eventual franchising of the Julie's Fastfood, a mass-segment restaurant, which currently has five stores in Cebu.