Two-year expansion plan includes restaurants, another Mactan hotel
A bakeshop and coffee house is the Abaca Group’s latest outlet at the Crossroads in Banilad, Cebu City. (CDN PHOTO/CHRISTIAN MANINGO)
Ten years after successfully setting up a solid brand, the Abaca Group is positioning itself for more expansions in the next two years.
It plans to add four more restaurants, two cafes, a bar and an upscale hotel in Mactan with a total investment of about P180 million.
Their decision to expand their footprint in Cebu is in line with their thrust to strengthen the brand and to reach different market segments in Cebu.
This includes the fast-expanding middle market, said Jason Hyatt, Abaca Group founder, in an interview last week.
He said growth in Cebu cuts across several key sectors like real estate and retail.
“We have been seeing positive growth in the market with our restaurants performing well,” he said.
The Abaca Group owns and operates restaurant brands Maya Mexican Restaurant, Beqaa Middle Eastern Restaurant, Tavolata Italian Restaurant, two Phat Pho Vietnamese Kitchen outlets, and the newly opened Abaca Baking Company Cafe & Coffee House in Crossroads in barangay Banilad, Cebu City which replaced the A Cafe.
Hyatt also has a partnership in Manila for a Phat Pho restaurant, but said his expansions will be focused in Cebu in the coming years.
He said they are set to open two restaurants and a cafe this year which includes the Abaca Baking Company Cafe.
The restaurants will be located at the Robinson’s Cybergate at Don Mariano Cui St., Cebu City, and at the Design Center along A.S. Fortuna St., Banilad, Mandaue City.
NEW HOTEL ROOMS
Hyatt’s success in his first nine-room Abaca boutique hotel in Mactan which he opened in 2006 prompted him to decide to open another hotel which will be located within a plush condominium community in Mactan.
“The property is called The Reef which will be developed by NextLand. This is a partnership with (design architects) Budji (Layug) and Royal (Pineda),” he said.
Two condominium towers will rise in the development. They will occupy the first two levels of the first tower.
“We will have 40 rooms in the first tower and 120 rooms in the second tower. We hope to open the new hotel by the third quarter of 2016,” said Hyatt.
Hyatt said two restaurants, a cafe and a rooftop bar will also be opened in the hotel — one Tavolata type of restaurant and an Asian restaurant.
It will be positioned as a five-star hotel offering the same kind of personalized service that Hyatt mastered in his first boutique hotel.
DOUBLE GROWTH
The planned expansion will double the Abaca group’s staff from about 190 to 400 when the projects are completed.
“We’ll have 13 restaurants by then and operating 169 hotel rooms from only nine,” he said.
He said he also expects to double the group’s revenues as he expects more customers from their average of 13,000 a month.
Hyatt 85 percent of his customers in the restaurant are local residents.
It’s the reverse in Abaca Boutique Hotel, where only 15 percent are local and majority of the guests are foreigners.
With his expansion, Hyatt said he wants to see more Filipino guests checking into his hotel.