O’BRIENS sandwich bars will open 15 new stores in Ireland this year, following its first step into the Canadian market.
The first O’Briens store in Canada opened this week and is based in Toronto.
It is operated by husband and wife team, Meryem and Manny Singh, who took out a master franchise on the business.
It is expected that turnover at the store will be as much as €340,000 this year.
The Singhs are also planning to expand into Ontario and British Columbia.
Mr Singh said: "We firmly believe that the O’Briens concept and product range will prove very attractive to Canadians.
"We are very excited about launching such a strong brand into Canada."
He added that products at the Toronto store have been sourced locally, including Guinness Mustard, which is being hand-made exclusively for them by a company in Ottawa.
The store initially opened with 12 people, including a store manager, with plans to add to this as the business expands, especially on the catering side.
Chief executive of O’Briens, Fiacra Nagle, said: "While we continually look at international growth based around countries where we already do business, it is exciting for us to be launching into Canada. We are also extremely excited about the launch of the largest O’Briens in the world in Belfast later this year."
O’Briens have yet to launch in the US despite successfully launching in Australia, China and South Africa.
This year it has plans for 15 new stores in Ireland, with the largest being the Belfast store.
The O’Briens franchise, which was established in 1995 in Dublin, has achieved global success, having grown to more than 300 stores in 13 countries. The franchising business generated a group turnover of more than €100 million in 2006.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Friday, January 18, 2008
