Texas Roadhouse, a US-based steakhouse chain, is to begin trial operations at its first Asian outlet in Taipei today, before expanding further in the Greater China market in the future.
Texas Roadhouse, founded in 1993, currently has more than 430 restaurants in the US. It also has a presence in Dubai and Kuwait.
“Aiming to introduce Texas Roadhouse to the market of China, we hope to watch and learn from the experience in development in Taiwan as the first step to enter the Greater China region,” Merritt Croker, president and chief operating officer of Bayshore Pacific Hospitality Ltd (英屬維京群島商北軒餐飲管理), which introduced the brand to Taiwan, told a press conference yesterday.
The number of Texas Roadhouse outlets is expected to increase to between eight and 10 in Taiwan in five years, or one or two new outlets a year, prior to tapping the Chinese market, Croker said.
The first outlet in Taiwan is in the newly launched Breeze Song Gao (微風松高) department store in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義), and the company plans to open its second outlet in Taipei’s Minsheng Community (民生社區) by the end of the year, followed by the launch of the third outlet in the middle of next year, he added.
Croker did not specify a sales target for the first outlet, but said that annual sales for a single Texas Roadhouse restaurant in the US averages about US$4.1 million.
In addition to Texas Roadhouse, Bayshore Pacific also owns the management rights for the 14 outlets of the US casual dining chain TGI Friday’s in Taiwan.
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
‘SHORT TERM’: The local currency would likely remain strong in the near term, driven by anticipated US trade pressure, capital inflows and expectations of a US Fed rate cut The US dollar is expected to fall below NT$30 in the near term, as traders anticipate increased pressure from Washington for Taiwan to allow the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said. Following a sharp drop in the greenback against the NT dollar on Friday, Lin told the Central News Agency that the local currency is likely to remain strong in the short term, driven in part by market psychology surrounding anticipated US policy pressure. On Friday, the US dollar fell NT$0.953, or 3.07 percent, closing at NT$31.064 — its lowest level since Jan.
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
PRESSURE EXPECTED: The appreciation of the NT dollar reflected expectations that Washington would press Taiwan to boost its currency against the US dollar, dealers said Taiwan’s export-oriented semiconductor and auto part manufacturers are expecting their margins to be affected by large foreign exchange losses as the New Taiwan dollar continued to appreciate sharply against the US dollar yesterday. Among major semiconductor manufacturers, ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光), the world’s largest integrated circuit (IC) packaging and testing services provider, said that whenever the NT dollar rises NT$1 against the greenback, its gross margin is cut by about 1.5 percent. The NT dollar traded as strong as NT$29.59 per US dollar before trimming gains to close NT$0.919, or 2.96 percent, higher at NT$30.145 yesterday in Taipei trading
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