Not Business as Usual: McDonald's gets aggressive

Golden Arches Development Corp., the Philippine master franchise holder for McDonald’s, is putting up 50 outlets this year, double its usual target in previous years. About 30 of the new outlets will be company-owned. Then again, GADC has finally hit its stride after buying out the equity of McDonald’s USA in the Philippine operation in late 2004. As everybody knows, GADC is 51 percent owned by George Yang and 49 percent by real estate magnate Andrew Tan. In turn, GADC’s mother company (and for that matter, Megaworld’s) is Alliance Global.   Did you know 1: Malaysia pays the Sultanate of Jolo some 5,000 ringgits annually  (read: that’s not even enough to pay for a small apartment in  Makati for the same period of time ) to lease Northern Borneo. The lease amount has remained unchanged  (except the original currency was Mexican pesos) since the late 1880s when Malaysia was still a British colony. As everybody knows, natural resources-rich Borneo accounts for 40 percent of Malaysia’s total revenues.  Did you know 2: Provincial bus operators make 10 percent more money than Metro Manila-based operators despite having to pay toll. Half of gross receipts goes to operating expenses such as gas and personnel.   Based on a PUB’s daily gross receipts, the driver gets 8 percent and the conductor gets 6 percent; based on net profit, the driver gets 11 percent and the conductor gets 8 percent. Oh yes, there’s now  talk that a fixed income may soon be an option.  Did you know 3: There’s talk the University of Sto. Tomas is putting up a paid parking building once it can get funding for it. Only three floors of the multistorey building will be set aside for parking. The rest of the floors will be dormitory space for some of  its students.  Did you know 4: The Association of Filipino Franchisors Inc., led by Ricardo Cuna, is putting out a book on practical entrepreneurship, which will be used in entrepreneurship classes, a three-unit requirement for all commerce courses this coming school year. The book features the stories and lessons learned of 15 AFFI members, including Cuna’s Milkin Co. (Fiorgelato ice cream brand)  and Chit Juan’s Figaro  Coffee Co. (Figaro coffee shop brand). Oh yes, the book will be launched during AFFI’s annual trade show in July.

 

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