The FINANCIAL — When everyday people sort through all the “spin” there is one quick-service restaurant that is “A Cut Above” – that’s Wendy’s, the American restaurant chain that has been hosting Georgian customers for one year already. To mark its first anniversary in Georgia, Wendy’s offered a completely new product – four kinds of delicious wraps, which customers can now enjoy at the Rustaveli and Vake branches of the restaurant in Tbilisi. The next Wendy’s will be opened in November in the Saburtalo district of the capital which will be another of Wendy’s biggest restaurants worldwide, again located in Georgia.
Wendy’s in Georgia is the product of Wissol Group’s partnership with the U.S. Overseas Private Development Corporation (OPIC) who provided USD 18.9 million in start-up financing.
Wendy’s started its activities in Tbilisi, Georgia, a year ago by opening its first restaurant on Rustaveli Avenue, spread over more than 1,000 sq. metres making Tbilisi Wendy’s one of the largest Wendy’s restaurants worldwide. As a result of the successful operation of the Wendy’s restaurant, Wissol Group decided to open a second branch in Vake, on Chavchavadze Avenue, which is the second biggest restaurant of Wendy’s.
Nowadays, Wendy’s Georgia is proud of not only being the biggest Wendy’s restaurant in the world, but for creating and implementing innovative ideas, which are exported abroad. Georgia has become the prototype for new Wendy’s restaurants in those countries which are going to join the Wendy’s family for the first time.
“We have implemented new concept which is unique to Wendy’s restaurants. These are: a coffee corner, centre for children to celebrate their birthdays, and game zone,” said Soso Pkhakadze, President of Wissol Group. “All these new ideas have become very successful and Wendy’s has started to copy the idea in other branches worldwide as well. A total of 11 delegations from different countries have already visited Georgia to see how Wendy’s works here, experience the success story of our branches and bring the ideas back to their countries. Georgia’s experience is being exported abroad by the brand, which has been in operation since 1969. We are very proud of being the innovators and worthy successors of Wendy’s traditions, which is of such highly renowned quality first of all. Georgians are very talented people. And we have once again proved to the world that we can create unique products,” he added.
“Wendy’s is happy to be celebrating its first birthday with loyal customers and highly motivated professional staff. We have ambitious plans and new products to offer, which are four types of wraps. However, Wendy’s has already offered a unique product – the ‘Baconator’, which people love along with the Wendy’s Burger. We introduced the ‘Portabella Melt’ burger to Georgian customers and it quickly became very much in demand. Portabella is a high quality mushroom which is combined with the highest quality French brioche bread. I would like to thank our customers for their loyalty and friendly, warm attitude towards the Wendy’s brand. They always encourage us to expand the network faster and do much more for them,” Pkhakadze said.
Soso Pkhakadze presented certificates to the best of its employees at its birthday party. In addition, everyone who visited the Wendy’s restaurant on its birthday from 5pm to 8pm and purchased a combo menu received an additional burger for free. A band made up of Wendy’s employees provided musical accompaniment for the day.
Marketing Director at Wendy’s International, Albert Lim, positively assessed the company’s first-year achievements in Georgia noting that its Georgian colleagues are doing a great job of bringing the Wendy’s brand to the next level.
“This restaurant is really fantastic – it is large and has a distinguished design. It is exactly in Georgia that we found this wonderful design, and it is from here that we brought it to other Wendy’s restaurants worldwide,” Lim said. “We appreciate what Wissol Group is doing to develop the Wendy’s brand in Georgia. We wish them many years of success and continued growth. I am very happy to be here and to be sharing the joy of celebrating the first anniversary of Wendy’s Georgia. As marketing director I am surprised by the job that the local marketing managers are doing. Considering it is for only two restaurants, the great number of friends on our Facebook page is really amazing. The number of ‘likes’ on Facebook has exceeded over 150 thousand and this has happened in such a short period of time, in just one year. Our Georgian colleagues have brought the Wendy’s brand to the next level, which we appreciate. We have tremendous results here in Georgia and we are very happy about what we have achieved,” he added.
Customers who are in love with Wendy’s and are very loyal towards the restaurant are the key to Wendy’s success, believes Pkhakadze. On the other hand, customers are also grateful to Wendy’s as they are always warmly welcomed.
“Together with my son I attended the opening ceremony of Wendy’s a year ago. As we often visit Wendy’s and enjoy its meals as well as the game zone, at New Year we were given presents by Wendy’s for being such loyal customers,” said Aleksandra Paichadze, model and frequent customer of Wendy’s. “Most of all, I love the atmosphere, the environment which is characteristic of Wendy’s and which attracts me and my son and encourages us to visit Wendy’s at least once a week. The food is delicious. I trust the quality which Wendy’s provides. Its burgers are always fresh. In addition, I am constantly pleasantly surprised by the staff, who always recognize my son and are very welcoming to us,” she added.
Founded in 1969 by Dave Thomas, Wendy’s is considered to be one of the world’s leading American Restaurant chain, having more than 6,500 franchises and company restaurants in the U.S. and 28 other countries and U.S. territories worldwide.
“Wendy’s opened the door to a new gold standard in quality food. Wendy’s developed an innovative method to prepare fresh, made-to-order hamburgers. Every day, we honour the legacy of Wendy’s by using select, premium ingredients and serving food that’s made fresh with every order. It takes very little time to prepare fresh food for our dear customers,” said Pkhakadze.
The Wissol Group plans to open 25 restaurants in Georgia and Azerbaijan over the next 10 years. Several new Wendy’s restaurants are already being built in Georgia.
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