Wendy’s to open 11 restaurants in T&T

Wendy’s Restaurant is on an expansion drive and plans to open 11 restaurants in T&T over the next five years, Dane Darbasie, managing director of Desk Restaurants Ltd, local franchise holder for the restaurant chain, said yesterday. “We will also have 25 restaurants across the Caribbean and will establish Wendy’s as the preferred and most recognised brand among Caribbean people,” he said at the official opening of a new Wendy’s Restaurant in Montrose, Chaguanas.

Three other Wendy’s restaurants are already operating on Ariapita Avenue, Woodbrook, Tacarigua and Gulf View in south Trinidad. Darbasie said there was support from Wendy’s headquarters for the local franchise even when there was a “difference of opinion.” Carlos Rivas, vice president, Wendy’s Latin America and the Caribbean, said the opening of the new restaurant was an opportunity for the region.

“We now have 17 countries in this region where we operate. Trinidad was a market we came into in 2010. Desk Restaurants signed a long-term agreement with us for 25 restaurants,” he said. “We have a very strong track record, very strong experience in the restaurant industry, a great knowledge of the market here in Trinidad and the surrounding islands. We have considerable resources, not just to build the brand, but to build a great company with a great community spirit.”

Chaguanas Mayor Orlando Nagessar said the borough is a growing hub for businesses and he encouraged Wendy’s to open a restaurant in a new mall to be built in Chaguanas. “Very soon, next to the Unipet gas station in Edinburgh 500, one of the largest malls in Trinidad will be constructed by Krishna Bahadoorsingh. “I am suggesting that will be a great area to have another Wendy’s in Chaguanas. I have seen the plan and it will be much larger than Price Plaza,” Nagessar said.