An L&L Hawaiian Barbecue franchise will open this spring in Humen, China, in Guangzhou province, and chain co-founder Eddie Flores is just back from a trip to China and Japan to meet with franchisees.
"We are very excited with the international expansion," he said.
Chaminade graduate Chuck Mori is the L&L franchisee in Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa prefecture, Japan, which is between Tokyo and Yokohama. The weather — "cold and snowing" — in Tokyo made Flores wish he were at home, despite scouting for a possible third L&L location in Japan, he said.
The master franchisee for South Korea who was recently signed, Yong Jin Chung, is a graduate of Mid-Pacific Institute. Chung plans to open an L&L in Seoul in late summer, said Flores.
The company also has signed Ken Lu and Grace Xu as master franchisees for New Zealand, with opening dates pending.
Flores visited the new Humen L&L with his uncle Tim Lum, and the two posed with franchisee Zhiyong Chen in front of banners bearing the L&L nomenclature, along with imagery reflecting Hawaii and the United States.
"It was not my idea to have President Obama’s picture eating shave ice on the front of the store," Flores said, adding that he has no idea where the franchisee obtained the images, though Chen did live in Hawaii for five years before returning to China.
The Humen L&L is across from a "Walmart-type store" and a McDonald’s, and will open in late April or early May.
"We decided not to start construction until after Chinese New Year" because it is a lengthy holiday for many people.
Humen is a center for clothing manufacturing with a population of "700,000 to 800,000 people," Flores said. A great number of the city’s workers are from other towns, and the primary language is Mandarin, not Cantonese, he said.
"The food has to be a bit spicy."
Obviously a huge key to L&L’s success will be whether people accept the food. "We adjusted our menu to be similar to fast-food restaurants in China," and it will be different from what L&L serves in Hawaii.
"For example, for about 20 to 35 RMB ($3 to $4), you will get rice, one piece of barbecue chicken, vegetable and soup," he said. "The prices are similar to other restaurants in the shopping centers."
Chen hopes to make his L&L store a "model store, to showcase to other prospective franchisees," said Flores.
While excited about being in "the newest and largest shopping center with the best location," Flores is aware of the difficulties.
"China could be a boom or a bust. It is fraught with many challenges," and many have failed. However, "it is a chance to break into a major market with only sweat equity."
No, it’s pizza ‘heart’
Wednesday is the absolute last day to call 979-PAPA or go online to pre-order a heart-shaped pie and a posy from Papa John’s Hawaii.
The Papa John’s Valentine’s Day promotion offering heart-shaped pizzas was introduced in Hawaii in 2006, and the deal has been subsequently sweetened.
First, the pizza could be delivered with a single rose from Watanabe Floral. Then the stakes were raised as customers could request a single rose or a dozen roses, and the deal now includes a Cinnapie dessert.
The basic one-topping pizza, Cinnapie, single rose delivery offer is $20.99 (plus tax), which reflects only a $1 price increase since 2008, when dessert was not included.
Those going for the dinner, dessert and dozen roses delivery deal will pay $75 plus tax.
Note that the price-plus-tax does not include driver tip, but please do plan for that. After all, the drivers are bringing you cardioid comestibles and aromatic comeliness and helping to keep you in the good graces of someone important.
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On the Net:
» papajohnshawaii.com
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Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com or on Twitter as @erikaengle.
