T.G.I. Friday's looking for local suppliers for new restaurant
That could mean finding local suppliers for various products from fruits, vegetables and meat products to custom woodworking, said Stewart Haverlack, president of American Bistro Poland. Through the Cyprus-based holding, Bistro Concepts Ltd., American Bistro has the franchise to develop the restaurant brand T.G.I. Friday's in Poland.
The average start up cost for a T.G.I. Friday's here is $1.5 million, with about $200,000 earmarked for furniture and woodworking, including the hardwood bar, Haverlack said.
American Bistro has signed initial lease agreements with Holiday Inn and is expected to seal the deal this month, said Peter Gee, head of Global Hotel Development Group Poland, which is the preferred franchisee for Holiday Inn in Poland.
Once signed, Haverlack said he expects to begin the construction phase of the restaurant in July and open the doors this fall.
American Bistro, so far, is backed by $5 million in equity from two venture capital funds, Pioneer Poland Fund for $3.5 million (70% stake) and Copernicus Capital for $1.5 million (30% stake), to fuel initial development of three restaurant operations in Poland.
Pioneer, which initially invested in the project in February 1997, is looking to exit in four to five years either through a strategic sale or initial public offering, said David Grassetti, director of capital investments at Pioneer Investment Poland, adviser to the Pioneer fund.
"There's going to be follow on investing for this company," Grassetti said, adding that the initial package will exceed $12 million with probably a minority of debt financing.
The basic plan in Poland calls for building five restaurants and two American bars in the next five years. With American Bistros recently signing with the Atrium complex in Warsaw (see WBJ, June 8-14, 1998), the firm is scouting for investment sites in Krakow, Poznan and Szczecin in addition to a second Warsaw site, Haverlack said, adding that he's shooting for having all restaurant and bar sites nailed down by the end of next year.
T.G.I. Friday's (an acronym for "Thank God It's Friday") is a U.S.-based restaurant and bar chain whose brand implies hefty food portions, an American-style bar, all served in a turn-of-the-century motif.
Although much of the "memorabilia package" of Tiffany-style lamps, photographs, musical instruments, sleds and bicycles is proprietary and must be imported, Haverlack said, "my goal, as long as it's economically feasible, is to source locally."
For example, Haverlack currently imports french fries from the States for his T.G.I. Friday's restaurant in Wroclaw, but is actively looking for a local supplier.
Finding local suppliers may help keep costs down. Keeping costs down is important in a market where Haverlack says he's discovered "price resistance" and slower-than-expected revenue growth at the Wroclaw restaurant.
"We're getting the numbers of people, but they're not spending what we expected," he said. To build receipts, Haverlack said he's lowering the menu price tag by scaling back on portions and offering a lunch menu. A strategy he'll likely pursue in the Gdansk restaurant, he said.
The marketing budget will also likely be in step with Wroclaw, where American Bistro spent more than $20,000 in the push to open the restaurant last December. In Gdansk in the near future, he said, "We may spend the same but we'll get a lot more with Holiday Inn."
While Haverlack pursues a knock-on effect for marketing, he's not looking at the hotel operation to support the restaurant business.
"A good portion has to come from the local community," he said. T.G.I. Friday's is counting on an average turnover of 500 guests a day and with 140 rooms, "we certainly can't get that from the hotel, can we?" he said.
Haverlack said he is hoping to source management at the local level.
"My Warsaw people are running the Wroclaw operation," he said, and it took six months to hire half a dozen local managers. "What we've found is that Polish people don't like to move around."
Haverlack said he's currently looking to hire local managers, who will train in the States for five months. Beginning in September, Haverlack said he expects to audition 500-600 applicants for about 100 service personnel to work in the restaurant and hotel's lobby bar and room service divisions.
The average start up cost for a T.G.I. Friday's here is $1.5 million, with about $200,000 earmarked for furniture and woodworking, including the hardwood bar, Haverlack said.
American Bistro has signed initial lease agreements with Holiday Inn and is expected to seal the deal this month, said Peter Gee, head of Global Hotel Development Group Poland, which is the preferred franchisee for Holiday Inn in Poland.
Once signed, Haverlack said he expects to begin the construction phase of the restaurant in July and open the doors this fall.
American Bistro, so far, is backed by $5 million in equity from two venture capital funds, Pioneer Poland Fund for $3.5 million (70% stake) and Copernicus Capital for $1.5 million (30% stake), to fuel initial development of three restaurant operations in Poland.
Pioneer, which initially invested in the project in February 1997, is looking to exit in four to five years either through a strategic sale or initial public offering, said David Grassetti, director of capital investments at Pioneer Investment Poland, adviser to the Pioneer fund.
"There's going to be follow on investing for this company," Grassetti said, adding that the initial package will exceed $12 million with probably a minority of debt financing.
The basic plan in Poland calls for building five restaurants and two American bars in the next five years. With American Bistros recently signing with the Atrium complex in Warsaw (see WBJ, June 8-14, 1998), the firm is scouting for investment sites in Krakow, Poznan and Szczecin in addition to a second Warsaw site, Haverlack said, adding that he's shooting for having all restaurant and bar sites nailed down by the end of next year.
T.G.I. Friday's (an acronym for "Thank God It's Friday") is a U.S.-based restaurant and bar chain whose brand implies hefty food portions, an American-style bar, all served in a turn-of-the-century motif.
Although much of the "memorabilia package" of Tiffany-style lamps, photographs, musical instruments, sleds and bicycles is proprietary and must be imported, Haverlack said, "my goal, as long as it's economically feasible, is to source locally."
For example, Haverlack currently imports french fries from the States for his T.G.I. Friday's restaurant in Wroclaw, but is actively looking for a local supplier.
Finding local suppliers may help keep costs down. Keeping costs down is important in a market where Haverlack says he's discovered "price resistance" and slower-than-expected revenue growth at the Wroclaw restaurant.
"We're getting the numbers of people, but they're not spending what we expected," he said. To build receipts, Haverlack said he's lowering the menu price tag by scaling back on portions and offering a lunch menu. A strategy he'll likely pursue in the Gdansk restaurant, he said.
The marketing budget will also likely be in step with Wroclaw, where American Bistro spent more than $20,000 in the push to open the restaurant last December. In Gdansk in the near future, he said, "We may spend the same but we'll get a lot more with Holiday Inn."
While Haverlack pursues a knock-on effect for marketing, he's not looking at the hotel operation to support the restaurant business.
"A good portion has to come from the local community," he said. T.G.I. Friday's is counting on an average turnover of 500 guests a day and with 140 rooms, "we certainly can't get that from the hotel, can we?" he said.
Haverlack said he is hoping to source management at the local level.
"My Warsaw people are running the Wroclaw operation," he said, and it took six months to hire half a dozen local managers. "What we've found is that Polish people don't like to move around."
Haverlack said he's currently looking to hire local managers, who will train in the States for five months. Beginning in September, Haverlack said he expects to audition 500-600 applicants for about 100 service personnel to work in the restaurant and hotel's lobby bar and room service divisions.
