Arizona, "It's Our Turn!": Jollibee, Home of the Famous Chickenjoy, to Open First Store in Arizona Before Year's End

Jollibee's Aggressive North American Expansion Continues with the Opening of its 40th Store in the U.S.

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Dec 20, 2019, 16:12 ET

CHANDLER, Ariz., Dec. 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Before the New Year, popular fast-food restaurant Jollibee will be expanding its presence across the southwestern United States with the opening of its first-ever location in the state of Arizona. The new store situated at 2800 E Germann Road in Chandler will officially open its doors to the public on Saturday, December 28, 2019 at 7:00 AM MST.

Jollibee Chandler store located at 2800 E Germann Road, Chandler, AZ, 85286 opens Saturday, December 28. (Photo credit: Jollibee)

Jollibee’s world-famous Chickenjoy awaits Chandler locals at the restaurant’s opening on Saturday, December 28. (Photo credit: Jollibee)

Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC), the parent company of Jollibee and one of the largest and fastest growing Asian restaurant companies in the world, has identified North America to be a key growth market for the Jollibee brand. The chain has previously announced that it intends to expand aggressively across the continent, growing to 150 stores in the U.S. and 100 stores in Canada by 2023. The Chandler location will mark Jollibee's 40^th store to open in the U.S. and the 49^th store in North America overall. Within the U.S., the chain currently has locations in California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Washington, and Virginia — making Arizona the 11^th state to become home to a Jollibee.

As one of the top 10 states with the highest concentrations of Filipinos, Arizona is a priority market for Jollibee as the brand looks to provide overseas Filipinos with a 'taste of home.' The city of Chandler is also regarded as a fast-growing business hub, boasting a mix of global companies and start-ups in addition to offering a diverse food scene that's a melting pot of Asian and southwest flavors. "We cannot wait to become a member of the Chandler business community and further expand the area's food offerings for locals," said Maribeth Dela Cruz, President of JFC North America, Philippine Brands Group. "Great taste knows no barriers so whether you're a devoted fan or an adventurous newcomer, we invite everyone to come to the store on opening day to see for themselves why our Chickenjoy is world-famous!"

Expect those in and around Chandler to exclaim, "It's Our Turn!" as they line up to get a taste of Jollibee's signature offerings during opening week. Jollibee is known as the 'Home of the Famous Chickenjoy' so a visit to the store would be incomplete without it. The restaurant's Chickenjoy is delicately hand-breaded and made with a secret marinade to make it crispylicious on the outside and juicylicious on the inside. Chandler customers will also have a chance to taste the popular Jolly Spaghetti with its signature sweet-style sauce loaded with chunky slices of savory ham and hotdog, as well as Peach Mango Pie, craved for its delicious filling made with real Philippine mangoes enclosed in a light, crispy crust.

To celebrate the brand's arrival in Arizona, Jollibee will offer an exclusive tasting for select fans at the Chandler store the day before the store opens to the public. On opening day, Jollibee will be giving away exclusive collectible items and fan-favorite products. Fans can head to Jollibee USA's Facebook and Instagram pages for more details.

Jollibee store openings in the U.S. and across the globe have been known to draw massive crowds as fans and curious newcomers alike queue up for hours and even days beforehand for a chance to be among the store's first customers. At the chain's Manhattan opening in late 2018, the first customer waited 20 hours in line. Recent openings in Las Vegas, Nevada and in Artesia and Hayward, California were also met with excitement and enthusiasm with lines of up to 100 people forming before the stores officially opened.

Jollibee is the flagship brand of Jollibee Foods Corporation's 15 brands. JFC is one of the world's largest and fastest growing Asian restaurant companies with more than 5,800 stores in 35 countries.

About Jollibee

Jollibee is the largest fast food chain brand in the Philippines, operating a Philippine network of more than 1,400 stores. A dominant market leader in the Philippines, Jollibee has embarked on an aggressive international expansion plan.

Jollibee has more than 230 international branches including in the United States, Canada, Hong Kong, Macau, Brunei, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Italy, and in the United Kingdom.

In North America, Jollibee opened its first store in 1998 in Daly City, California. It now operates 48 stores across the region, in the states of California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Washington, and Virginia of the United States, and in Manitoba, Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan in Canada.

Technomic has consistently cited Jollibee among its Top 500 ranking restaurants in the United States. It was also awarded as Multinational Corporation of the Year by the Asian Business League of Southern California in 2017.

About Jollibee Foods Corporation

Jollibee Foods Corporation is one of the largest and fastest growing Asian restaurant companies in the world.

It operates in 35 countries, with over 5,800 stores globally with branches in the Philippines, United States, Canada, People's Republic of China (including Hong Kong and Macau), United Kingdom, Italy, Vietnam, Brunei, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Indonesia, Costa Rica, Egypt, El Salvador, Panama, and Malaysia. It has 8 wholly-owned brands (Jollibee, Chowking, Greenwich, Red Ribbon, Mang Inasal, Yonghe King, Hong Zhuang Yuan and Smashburger), 2 franchised brands (Burger King in the Philippines and Dunkin' Donuts in certain territories in China), a 60% ownership in the SuperFoods Group that owns Highland Coffee and PHO24 brands.

JFC has investments in Titan Dining LP, the ultimate holding entity of Tim Ho Wan Pte. Ltd. (the Master Franchisee of Tim Ho Wan in the Asia Pacific region excluding Hong Kong); and a business venture with award-winning Chef Rick Bayless to build a Mexican fast-casual restaurant business in the United States. JFC has also recently entered into a joint venture agreement to open Panda Express in the Philippines.

Jollibee Foods Corporation has been named the Philippines' most admired company by the Asian Wall Street Journal for eight years in a row and was honored as one of 'Asia's Fab 50 Companies' by Forbes Asia Magazine.

Jollibee Foods Corporation has grown brands that bring delightful dining experiences to its customers worldwide, in line with its mission of serving great tasting food and spreading the joy of eating to everyone.

SOURCE Jollibee