The second Jollibee restaurant in Surrey opened Thursday (Jan. 25) with three days of giveaways including buckets of chicken for a year.
The chicken outlet’s new “store” is located in a new building at Strawberry Hill Shopping Centre, on 72 Avenue near 120 Street.
Some customers began lining up outside a day before the 9 a.m. grand-opening, including Cristina Aguire, first in line, and Carolyn Ho, second.
The first 100 people through the doors were given a free six-piece bucket of chicken every month for a year.
“I told myself I’d have to line up for this one,” Aguire said Wednesday afternoon (Jan. 24). “I live closeby, so there’s no excuse not to line up in this area. And of course, I want the free chicken for a year. It’s good, I’ve had it before.”
It’s the 100th Jollibee to open in North America, among more than 1,500 locations in 17 countries.
”This location was supposed to be the first in B.C., but then things happened with the COVID pandemic,” said Luis Velasco, senior vice-president of marketing with California-based Jollibee.
“Now it’s our fourth location in B.C. But more importantly, it’s our 100th store in North America.”
The Philippines-based chain serves chicken, spaghetti and pies with a dash of nostalgia for those with roots in the Southeast Asian country.
“We’re now in five provinces in Canada,” Velasco noted. “We are expecting to build another 200 stores and end up at around 300 in the next four or five years. It took us 25 years to get to store 100 in North America.”
The chain’s first Surrey restaurant opened nearly a year ago at King George Hub, drawing large crowds during the opening week.
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“The support we received when we opened our first Surrey location in (February) 2023 was incredible to witness,” said Maribeth Dela Cruz, president of Jollibee North America.
Surrey’s newest Jollibee is open seven days a week, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.
All North American stores in the chain are corporate-owned.
“Eventually we’ll get into franchising, that’s something we’re looking at,” Velasco said.
“We have very stringent standards when it comes to executing the food, our kitchen. Whether you’re at this store or another one, you get the same Jolly Crispy Chicken, the same peach mango pie, same chicken sandwich, wherever you order. It’s the same food around the world.”