Quick-service franchise BirdShack Fried Chicken Jamaica will expand its footprint with the opening of a second store in Montego Bay, St James, next month.

The new outlet, which is larger than the current one located at Whitter Village in Ironshore, St James, will be situated at the Barnett Tech Park on Fairfield Road, occupying 2,200 square feet of space. The store will offer both in-restaurant dining and a drive-through, unlike the first store, which only has a grab-and-go option.

“There are a couple of great things about why we’re at the tech park because there are currently about 8,000 business process outsourcing staff in the tech park,” explained Wayne Cummings, CEO of Arya QSR Limited, which is the franchise holder ofBirdShack.

“We are also on the Fairfield main road that connects communities like Granville, Tucker, West Village. We are right beside Barnett Street in MoBay, so it is a fantastic location,” he continued.

Though the new location will be leased, Arya QSR Limited has invested approximately $80 million into the design of the outlet. The CEO disclosed that the new store’s design and operation will serve as the template for future expansions across the country, and that the company’s franchise agreement requires them to grow to at least nine stores within five years.

“So, you know, we actually have an obligation to do so, but it certainly fits right into where we want to go with the chain,” he said.

The outlet at Whitter Village has been a proving ground for the franchise’s operation, exceeding budget expectations in both volume and revenue.

“The proof of concept has really been very good,” Cummings emphasised. “So we feel very confident now about the expansion plans.”

Committed to fulfilling a promise to customers to expand this year, BirdShack plans to open at least two more stores before the end of the current calendar year to achieve a total of at least three new stores opened in 2023.

“But interestingly, each time we start looking at new locations, a couple of other fantastic opportunities pop up in Montego Bay,” Cummings said. “So there may well be a third store in Montego Bay being developed side by side with a Kingston location,” Cummings added.

The CEO also shed light on the employment opportunities that will stem from the new store at the Barnett Tech Park.

“We employ a total of 17 people in the current store,” he stated. “We operate from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm and it is a very labour-intensive shift system. That number goes to 30 [workers] at a minimum at the other store.”

Nevertheless, there may be some challenges associated with hiring new staff.

“Everything you have heard about how difficult it is to find workers is true, it is real,” Cummings said. “It is not that we aren’t getting applicants. The challenge is the seriousness and the quality of the applicants, and that is something that we are going to have to work on in terms of tightening our own training because we find that the applicants are not as deep as we would like them to be in terms of their experience and more importantly their seriousness.”

Despite this hurdle the company is encouraged by the advantages offered at the new site.

“What’s nice is that we received a call from the landlords looking for an anchor property,” Cummings revealed. “This is the only food service operation that would be on that site, literally built for a quick-service restaurant. And we’re pleased because it means that we are doing our job well where people are actually reaching out to us, and that includes the Kingston location. We were invited to have a look at it.”

The CEO attributes BirdShack’s success to a unique and effective approach to marketing. Rather than relying on traditional media-heavy strategies, the company has focused on a dynamic social media presence. By consistently exploiting platforms, it has successfully built a dedicated following via a mix of engaging content and sponsored ads attracting the ideal audience.

“You have persons who are coming in specifically for us at Whitter Village,” Cummings confirmed.

It is expected that these marketing strategies will yield similar results for the new and upcoming locations.