M.H. Alshaya Co. has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with US restaurant brand, The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ: CAKE), to build and operate The Cheesecake Factory restaurants in the Middle East.
The first two restaurants are scheduled to open in Dubai and Kuwait in 2012.
Alshaya expects to develop a portfolio of restaurants over the next five years also in Bahrain, Qatar and the Saudi Arabia.
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The franchise agreement also gives Alshaya the opportunity to expand into other markets, including the rest of the Middle East, North Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, Russia and Turkey.
M.H. Alshaya Co. executive chairman Mohammed Alshaya said: “We are delighted to be the company’s initial licensee to develop and operate this outstanding restaurant concept internationally. The quality and popularity of The Cheesecake Factory brand, coupled with our local market expertise, as well as our track record of launching and operating high-profile American brands in the Middle East, produces a winning combination. We continuously ask consumers in the Middle East to tell us which US-based casual dining restaurants they want most in their local markets. The Cheesecake Factory is always at the top of the list.”
The Cheesecake Factory chairman and CEO David Overton added: ““With our menu featuring over 200 items that are prepared fresh daily in our restaurants and our focus on quality and hospitality, our restaurants are extremely complex to operate, and we set the bar very high in terms of our standards. We found the premier partner in Alshaya to operate and execute The Cheesecake Factory restaurants in a manner that is consistent with our existing domestic operations”.
Alshaya already partners with a number of leading food service brands including Starbucks, Dean & Deluca, PF Chang’s, Pinkberry, Le Pain Quotidien, Asha’s and Pizza Express.
In 2010 it signed agreements with three further US-based food concepts: Shake Shack, Potbelly and Texas Roadhouse, all of which are due to open their first outlets in 2011.
As planned, Potbelly Sandwich Shop is holding its official opening at The Dubai Mall on February 23.
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