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Magazines Archives - 2007 November
US restaurant chain makes China its base for Asian expansion
Story 13
US-BASED casual-dining restaurant chain Applebees International Inc has embarked on aggressive expansion into Asia. It set up its first Asian restaurant in Shanghai, China, last month, and is poised to open two more outlets in this city by end-2008. The group is currently in acquisition talks with pancake chain IHOP Corp, also based in the US.
The contemporary Applebees restaurant in Shanghai which serves up fast-food meals with an oriental twist is targeted at the younger audience.
Dishes at the outlet include mango shrimp salad and orange plum ish fillet topped with ingredients such as lotus root and wasabi cream.
Rohan St George, president of the groups international division, said: Shanghai is an ideal location [for] Applebees to expand into Asia and continue to strategically grow the brands internationally. The group plans to move into the rest of the region, including India, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines, he added.
Its the right time to come to China. In the past five years, we [have seen] a new consumer base coming about, especially in Shanghai [where consumers are] young, vibrant, trendy and looking forward to having a good time, he observed. On top of its design and menu, Applebees pays attention to fast and friendly service that is backed with a guarantee.
Currently, the group has nearly 2,000 outlets spanning across 18 countries.
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