- 30 August, 2004 -

Manchu WOK, the 209-unit chain of quick-service mostly mall-based Chinese food restaurants based in Canada, is perusing a strategy of building streetside stores through a new program of area development agreements in the United States. The first area development deal is with CG Management LLC of Irving, Texas, and its owner, Guillermo Perales, who already operates Burger King, Golden Corral and Popeye's franchises in the Dallas area. Manchu WOK has currently 82 Canadian and 127 U.S locations, and the company is banking on expansions with the area development strategy. Manchu WOK's menus feature a variety of Cantonese, Szechwan, Hunan and Mandarin cuisines. Mike Craig, president and chief executive of Manchu WOK, said: "We're now trying to develop strip center-type stores, mostly in-line or end cap. Guillermo is a real-estate developer as well, so he builds the buildings as well as the restaurants. We're really looking for operators who have other concepts, say pizza or chicken, and have maxed out a geographical area and, with the infrastructure in place, want and need to grow." In 2002, Manchu WOK launched its first street store units to complement its food court locations, opening two pad site locations with drive-thrus in Ontario. The stand-alone restaurants- one 2,400 square feet and the other 3,200 square feet- have provided a testing ground for strip center development in the United States. "Ideally, the new-store growth will be end cap or in-line stores", Craig said. "The first two stand-alone stores with drive-thrus are doing OK. In Canada it's an awareness issue. We've committed a lot of dollars for this fiscal year coming, which starts Sept.1, to promote that awareness". About 160 of Manchu WOK's 209 units are franchised, Craig said. Most of the food court units are 500 square feet. Craig said Manchu WOK units at U.S military bases, the most recent of which opened in Japan, can be as small as 300 square feet. Manchu WOK's per person check average is about $7.50, Craig said. The new strip center locations, such as those Perales is developing in Texas, are between the stand-alone and food court sized. "Our new store design is scalable for in-line and end cap from the low end from 1,200 to 2,000 square feet", Craig said. Perales plans to open his first strip center store in September and a second in October. "Having a flexible-sized store that fits into a strip center and offers Chinese food is important to my developments," Perales said. Craig said another part of Manchu WOK's strategic plan is to offer special items on a regular basis, as many as nine a year. Some recent offerings were mango shrimp and kung pao chicken as well as traditional items, such as orange chicken. "If it sells, it becomes part of the rotation," Craig said. The next introduction is a lettuce wrap item, he said. Manchu WOK was founded in 1980 in Peterborough, Ontario. In 2000, Ken Fowler Enterprises, Cafe de Coral of Hong Kong and the senior management team purchased Manchu WOK.

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