4 new Arby’s restaurants to open by year’s end; 4 more in early ’23
The Arby’s restaurant chain is growing briskly in Puerto Rico, with the upcoming opening of four new locations by year’s end, and another four in the pipeline for early next year, Carlos Budet, president of FransGlobal Inc., which operates the franchise, confirmed.
Each restaurant entails an investment of between $1.6 million and $2 million, and generates between 50 and 75 jobs, he said.
The next location to open will be in Plaza Las Américas later this month, with another in the Escorial Shopping Center in Carolina slated to open in early October, another in Hatillo, and a fourth on Ave. Los Filtros (PR-177) in November, he said.
“The restaurant in Escorial is going through the training process that Arby’s requires, which lasts eight weeks. It should open in early October,” Budet said.
Four more restaurants are in the works to open in early 2023, which will be in Fajardo (former Santander bank building), Montehiedra (next to Walgreens), PR-167 in Bayamón (across from the Juvenile Court) and Hato Tejas (at the former Drive-In Plaza, also in Bayamón).
The goal is to have 25 Arby’s restaurants up and running by 2025, with future locations planned for Ponce and Salinas, he said.
FransGlobal — a local firm dedicated to promoting, managing, and representing franchises — introduced Arby’s to Puerto Rico last year, with a first restaurant in Cayey, as News is my Business reported.
While he said that FransGlobal has done very well with its first four Arby’s locations in Puerto Rico, Budet admitted that the company’s expansion plans were delayed by nearly two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic and what that represented to supply chain product availability, and equipment.
“Now we’re dealing with the war in Ukraine, the uncontrolled price increases in equipment and construction costs,” he said. “If before I aspired to build an Arby’s for $1.2 million, now it costs $2 million. That affects enormously how quickly we develop.”
FransGlobal is the local franchisee of Marco’s Pizza, which has nearly 60 locations islandwide and Taco Maker, which has 82 restaurants. In all, the company employs some 3,500 people in Puerto Rico.
While he could not disclose details, Budet said FransGlobal is looking at other franchises to bring to Puerto Rico in the future.
