By Dennise Williams, Staff reporterT.G.I FRIDAY'S, a casual family dining restaurant franchise, has signalled its intention to begin operations in Jamaica and challenge the fast food concept. Since the beginning of this month, the restaurant has placed several advertisements in the local media seeking managers for their Jamaican operations.
The restaurant chain is tight-lipped about what their operations will look like and when they open in Jamaica. Dominican Republic based Euclides Moncion, director of operations for the Caribbean region, said the granting of permits and licenses to operate in Jamaica was in the final stages and he did not want to say anything publicly that might cripple the project.
"Right now our project is in the approval process for construction," he said. "We are not allowed to speak on the matter. We only have permission to publish ads for staff, but nothing more."
As to where the restaurant would be located and if T.G.I Friday's would be building or buying an existing building, Mr. Moncion said, "I reserve the right not to answer the question."
HOPE ROAD LOCATION
However, Wednesday Bus-iness' investigations revealed that T.G.I Friday's would be located on Hope Road.
According to a leading commercial real estate broker, "if you ask me to guess where on Hope Road, I suspect that the franchise will be housed in the new post office building in Liguanea. It would suit them to be in that location because it is a high activity area. But it is just a guess."
But the developer of the new post office, Hugh Scott, states that he has no knowledge of this. "This is the first that I am hearing of the restaurant coming to Liguanea, so I cannot say. Perhaps the restaurant is renting from one of the shop owners, as we sold all the shop space to individuals." Now in terms of the capital investment to be made in Jamaica, Mr. Moncion would not divulge the dollar figure. However, investigations by WB reveal that in order to qualify as a T.G.I Friday's franchisee, an applicant would be required to have US$3 million in personal equity with US$1 million to be in the form of liquid cash.
Currently, the Caribbean arm of T.G.I Friday's has four locations in three countries. The restaurant has branches in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Carolina, Puerto Rico; and Port of Spain and Chaguanas, Trinidad and Tobago.
A very friendly staff member in Chaguanas, Trinidad and Tobago spoke to Wednesday Business about the operations of T.G.I Friday's in that country.
"Overall we have 165 employees with Port of Spain having the greater number with 90 staff members," a Wednesday Business contact at T.G.I Friday's in Trinidad said.
The chain employs four types of staff in the restaurant - hostesses, waitresses, bartenders and managers. Hostess earn approximately TT$15/ hour, waitress TT$ 9/hour and bartenders TT$11/hour. As at December 15th, the exchange rate to one Trinidad dollar was J$9.69.
The food served by T.G.I Friday's had been well received in the twin island republic, the informant said. "We sell the same American food and have not adapted it any at all. In fact, we give KFC a run for their money."
The corporate literature for the United States based T.G.I Friday's locations assert that their customer base " draws primarily from the 21-49 age bracket with a median income of US$45,000 - $50,000. Some college or a degree is the norm for most T.G.I. Friday's guests."
But the Trinidad source said the restaurants there catered to the "common man on the island." She outlined some of their prices.
| Burgers | TT$35.00 | | 42.00 |
| Pasta | TT$34.99 | | 72.00 |
| Steak | TT$138.00 | | 155.00 |
| Chicken & Seafood | TT$45.00 | | 65.00 |
| Appetizers | TT$15.00 | | 92.00 |
While not able to state the number of customers served by the twin island restaurants, our contact stated that, "Port of Spain is busy everyday while Chaguanas is mostly busy on the weekend.
According to T.G.I Friday's, website "T.G.I. Friday's, one of the first American casual dining chains, is a dining experience that has become the favourite pastime of millions since 1965.
The first T.G.I. Friday's was located at First Avenue and 63rd Street in New York City and featured red and white stripes, a blue exterior and its name -- T.G.I. Friday's.
Realising that an important part of a restaurant's appeal is its atmosphere, T.G.I. Friday's created a comfortable, relaxing environment in which their guests could truly enjoy quality food served by friendly waiters and waitresses, and beverages served by bottle-flipping, entertaining bartenders.
Decor, music, lights, air conditioning, and housekeeping are all carefully designed to please the guests." As at July 2003, the company reports that it has 200 hundred International locations.
Below is a sample of the food selection that T.G.I Fridays offers.
FRIDAY'S THREE-FOR-ALL
Potato Skins, Fried Mozzarella and Buffalo wings. Served with sour cream & chives, marinara sauce and bleu cheese dressing.
ITALIANO SANDWICH
Layers of salami, ham, pepperoni and melted, smoked provolone cheese, topped with lettuce, tomato and Parmesan mayonnaise on toasted ciabatta bread.
TUNA WASABI SALAD SANDWICH
White Albacore tuna with fresh pineapple, water chestnuts and wasabi on brioche bread with field greens and crispy Chinese noodles
MUSHROOM, ONION & SWISS BURGER
Melted Swiss cheese, sauteed mushrooms, caramelised onions and mayonnaise.
PEPPERCORN BURGER
Our pepper-crusted burger with melted Colby cheese, thin onion rings and mayonnaise.
