McDonald's Holdings Co. (Japan) Ltd. and Burger King of Restaurant Brands International Inc. are looking to open new locations in Japan, Retail News Asia reported March 14.
The Japanese branch of McDonald's Corp. plans to launch 150 to 200 new stores over the next three years in what the report called the first net store expansion in a decade. After adding store closures, the net increase in stores would be 100, the report added. McDonald's posted a group net profit of ¥24 billion for the fiscal year ended December 2017, the report said. The chain has 2,900 restaurants after a net decrease of about 1,000 restaurants.
Burger King will reportedly spend ¥5 billion to triple its Japanese branches to 300 locations, the report said. It will open most of the new Burger King locations in major cities including Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya.
Burger King Japan also plans to offer home delivery in the country to rival McDonald's partnership with Uber Eats of Uber Technologies Inc., according to the report.
Retail News reported that the hamburger business in Japan is rising compared to the "bleak restaurant industry" in the country, especially for international chains. The increasing number of tourists is also helping the international chains as visitors often search for familiar fast-food chains in foreign countries.
