Glasgow-based PGNJ Group is on the cusp of opening its 12th store on Clyde Street, having just launched its first Slamburger restaurant.
Director Jay Javid posted images of the £350,000 new store on LinkedIn last Friday, sharing that despite “unforeseen delays”, the group is “on the verge of an extraordinary launch this quarter”.
Meanwhile, the opening of its restaurant last month, which cost nearly half a million pounds, marked the first stage of the company’s plan to launch Slamburger Express – a fast food franchise for the convenience channel.
The firm owns the franchise for Slamburger in Scotland and Ireland and hopes to roll out a franchise model for c-stores and forecourt operators next year.
“The idea for getting into this brand is to merge the two businesses,” Jay told SLR.
“I know 30 retailers who have spent hundreds of thousands on food to go and it doesn’t work – people want brands and value. The Slamburger menu goes from AM to PM, it’s good food at cheap prices.”
By housing two businesses under one roof, he claimed he could pretty much half the rent. “The annual rent for the restaurant costs £30,000, while the rent for the new store is around £27,500, so if we put this [Slamburger] into the store, there’s no cost in the rent and that’s the biggest killer,” he says.
However, he explained that the group had opened a standalone restaurant to start with to test the concept and claimed the response had been “bonkers”.
What’s more, the family-run business has just achieved a huge milestone in its support for Glasgow charities, with total donations topping the £20,000 mark through Nisa’s Making A Difference Locally charity.
