By Alexis Monteith

The BirdShack Fried Chicken franchise in Jamaica is set to enter the lucrative Corporate Area market, launching a new restaurant on Red Hills Road this August. 

The latest addition will raise the number of BirdShack stores on the island to five, including three in Montego Bay and one in Ocho Rios.

Wayne Cummings, CEO of franchise operator Arya QSR Limited, noted that the contractor requirement of nine stores by 2026 is well on its way to being achieved.

“Remember the nine were supposed to happen no later than 2026,” he emphasised. “This will be our third store this year and there is still potential for another one or two. So our pacing has certainly picked up as promised, which means that we may well outstrip our contractor requirements and achieve our ambitious number of 15 stores employing over 500 workers by the end of 2026.”

“The budgets are being met,” Cummings continued. “I’m getting more and more excited about our hiring and training capacity. With all the challenges that are out there with labour, I think having strengthened our own corporate office in terms of HR and recruitment and so on, we’ve kind of caught our rhythm.”

The Red Hills Road store will employ 35 workers.

Cummings explained that recruitment has not yet begun as the organisation is focusing solely on construction at the moment. They plan to initiate the recruitment process by the end of May, providing a two-month window for hiring and training before the anticipated opening in August.

Cummings is enthusiastic about the site of the new BirdShack which was previously occupied by Sugar and Spice Bakery.

“I kept saying that it would be magic if we were able to secure this location seeing that it was empty for quite some time,” he said. “We are a couple of doors from our main competitors, which makes the abundance of choice attractive for our customers. And it’s just a good mix of residential and commercial traffic that works well.”

As the franchise continues to expand, Arya is eyeing other Kingston locations.

“We have already looked at Half-Way Tree through downtown Kingston, Constant Spring, and the calls keep coming from what are very good landlords and plazas and so on,” Cummings disclosed. “So opportunities abound.” 

He also revealed that these opportunities are being explored in various towns across the island.

“I am very excited about the possibilities of going into Lucea because in this small, tight, well-trafficked town the need is great,” said the CEO. “There are very few QSR (quick service restaurant) options. I believe only Burger King of the established brands is there.”

“We are also going to go and look at a couple of sites in Morant Bay in Saint Thomas,” he added. “We have two very interesting possibilities in May Pen. So we like the idea of these main rural towns. They are busy. They are very active. And I think by continuing what we have been doing they would fit BirdShack very well.”

Apart from territorial expansion, the BirdShack franchise is experiencing financial growth through its current Montego Bay and Ocho Rios locations. The Whitter Village store on the eastern side of Montego Bay has exceeded expectations in terms of foot traffic and sales, while the Tech Park location on the west side of the city is meeting sales targets with marketing strategies that maximise capacity on peak days.

The new Barnett Street restaurant in Ocho Rios, St Ann, is fed by 100 per cent pedestrian traffic and is in close proximity to the bus park, ensuring that it meets and exceeds sales expectations on a daily basis, while the Ocho Rios location at the Ocho Rios Bypass Plaza is just three minutes drive from the town centre and provides access to motorised traffic and people entering and leaving the town.

“When we measure BirdShack’s expansion we don’t just do so in terms of stores added but also in terms of the economic impact on the communities surrounding our stores,” Cummings underscored. “With each new store we employ an additional 35 workers and at the pace we are multiplying, we will be impacting, at a granular level, the lives of over 500 employees”