Jollibee opened its first store in Winnipeg,
Canada, home to over 70,000 Filipinos last December 15. The inagural location was
chosen because Winnipeg is home away from home for a lot of our countrymen,
with Tagalog being the second-most common mother tongue language spoken.
In typical Jollibee fashion, the store was
welcomed by long cues with people lining up as early as 10:30 PM the night
before. The crowd braved the -25 celsius weather to get a chance to taste a bit
of home with Jollibee favorites Jolly Crispy Chicken, Peach Mango Pie, and
Jolly Spaghetti. The store is the beginning of Jollibee’s aggressive North
American expansion plans that is lined up until 2018. The store also created
over 100 jobs for the people of Manitoba.
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Throngs of fans braved the cold to camp out
before first Canadian store opening
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Jollibee executives and special guests gather
around a giant bucket of fried chicken for the Jolly Crispy Chicken toast.
Seen here are JFC Group President for North America and Foreign Franchise
Brands Jose Miñana, VP and General Manager of Jollibee North America Maribeth
dela Cruz, Honorary Consul Ronald Opina, Member of the Legislative Assembly for
St. Norbert Jon Reyes, President of Sysco Winnipeg Blair Schmidt, Trevor
Skinner, and other special guests.
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Braving the sub-zero weather, Jose Miñana
leads the ribbon cutting ceremony along with VP and General Manager of Jollibee
North America Maribeth dela Cruz and Operations Director Mackey Dimaculangan.
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Winnipeg City Mayor Brian Bowman (middle),
and City Councilor Scott Gillingham of St. James ward (right) share hearty
laughter with Jose Miñana (left) and the Jollibee mascot as they receive
exclusive Jollibee dolls to commemorate the occasion.
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“We are very encouraged by the turnout and
excitement at the grand opening of Canada’s first Jollibee,” said Jose Miñana, Jollibee
Foods Corporation’s Group President for North America and Foreign Franchise
Brands. “It brings us great joy that we are able to bring a taste of home to
Filipinos and a new culinary experience to Canadians.”
Social media exploded with posts describing
just how happy the Filipino community was over the arrival of a childhood icon.
An eight year old resident even said, “I’ve been in Canada for eight years and
it feels like a touch of home has arrived with Jollibee opening in our
neighborhood.”[1]
This marks the first Jollibee store opening
in Canada and the 35th in North America. In 2017, Jollibee plans to open three
more stores in Canada, including one in Winnipeg.
[1]
http://www.narcity.com/winnipeg/jollibee-filipino-fast-food-chain-officially-opened-winnipeg-people-freaking/
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