Papa John's Opens 50th Restaurant in South Korea
Opened in Seoul this week by Papa John's franchisee PJI Korea, the landmark opening was the 10th Papa John's restaurant to open in South Korea in the past five months. PJI Korea opened its first Papa John's restaurant in July 2003 and plans to have 90 restaurants open by the end of 2007, including several in major cities south of Seoul.
"The success of the South Korean market starts at the top with an outstanding franchisee, PJI Korea, led by operating partner James Cho and chief executive officer Channgwoo Soh, who demonstrate outstanding leadership and vision," said David Flanery, Papa John's chief financial officer and acting managing director of the company's International division. "Equally important, PJI Korea and its 50 restaurants have made product quality a top priority and have delivered on Papa John's promise of better ingredients, better pizza."
Capitalizing on the enormous popularity of the World Cup, on June 1, PJI Korea launched an advertising campaign around the Australian national soccer team coach Guus Hiddink, who coached the South Korean national soccer team to the semifinals of the 2002 World Cup. Since the launch of the campaign and its first-ever use of television advertising, comp sales have increased significantly.
Additionally, to complement its recently launched call center and nationwide customer service number, beginning next month, PJI Korea will unveil an online ordering site from its homepage at www.papajohns.com.kr.
"We are very pleased with PJI Korea's restaurant-level performance to date, and their commitment to the Papa John's brand," said Myles Felt, Papa John's vice president of international operations. "Their innovative marketing and advertising strategies, and recently launched national call center and nationwide customer service number, are all key to PJI Korea's success."
Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, Papa John's is the world's third largest pizza company. For seven years running, consumers have rated Papa John's No. 1 in customer satisfaction among all national QSR chains in the highly regarded American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). For more information about the company or to order pizza online, visit Papa John's at www.papajohns.com.
CONTACT: Papa John's International, Inc., Louisville
Chris Sternberg,
502-261-4934
SOURCE: Papa John's International, Inc.