Wendy’s reopens in Christchurch: Restaurant creates 50 jobs

11 November 2013

Wendy’s Reopens in Christchurch
New Hornby restaurant creates 50 new jobs and costs Wendy’s $1.3 million

Wendy’s has reopened in Christchurch at long last, with the new Wendy’s Hornby opening its doors to the public today (Monday 11 November).

With the first Wendy’s restaurant in Hereford St lasting just over two months before the 2011 earthquake forced it to close, the company hopes the Hornby site will provide a more permanent home for Wendy’s in Christchurch.

The sole Wendy’s outlet in the South Island, the restaurant on Hornby’s Main Road South has cost the New Zealand-owned company more than $1.3 million to fit out with construction taking 17 weeks. A total of 50 new jobs for crew and managers have been created with the hiring and training process now almost complete.

The Hornby restaurant along with other new outlets scheduled to open within the next six months in Te Rapa in Hamilton, Whangarei and Albany will bring the total number of Wendy’s restaurants nationwide to 23.

Wendy’s CEO Danielle Lendich says the company has big expectations for Hornby with its Hereford St restaurant proving overwhelmingly successful over the 10 weeks it was open.

“This location has been on the cards since 2010, but uncertainty and delays as a result of the earthquake have meant it’s ended up a long time coming.

“We’ve had considerably more interest in when we’re coming back to Christchurch than from any other town in New Zealand and we want to reassure Cantabrians that we never abandoned them, it’s just taken this long to work through the process.

“We’re currently working on other sites to bring Wendy’s closer to the people of Christchurch including a re-entry into Hereford St.”

Lendich says the company is proud of the Hornby restaurant and the great team now in place. “We’ve created 50 new jobs, the majority of which have been filled locally. Construction also created jobs locally.”

With the roll-out of a fresh new look underway, the new Hornby restaurant boasts café style seating and group seating for larger dining parties and a new two-sided grill system that cooks the meat in a quarter of the time, reduces wastage and enhances food safety. The store also features a Drive Thru so customers can fuel up on the go.

Believing that real quality taste starts with real quality local ingredients, Lendich says 95 percent of Wendy’s food ingredients come from within New Zealand.

Much of the Hornby restaurant’s ingredients are being sourced locally including potatoes from Talley’s in Motueka, natural New Zealand Colby cheese from Dairyworks in Christchurch and free range eggs from two South Island farms. Lendich says the restaurant will also serve locally grown lettuce and tomatoes.

Lendich says that over the past year Wendy’s customers nationwide have chewed their way through more than 1,000 tonne of fries made from Canterbury potatoes through supplier Talley's, and 35 tonnes of Canterbury cheese from Dairyworks. Wendy’s is also the only chain to serve free range eggs nationwide and natural New Zealand cheese.

“We’re a family owned business with old fashioned values, many of our suppliers have been with us from the start. Such relationships are integral to the success of Wendy’s, these people are our family.”

Celebrating 25 years in New Zealand last month, Wendy’s NZ is owned and operated by West Auckland family the Lendichs with CEO Danielle taking the reigns 12 years ago.

Part of an ongoing brand transformation, a contemporary new logo - the first change in 30 years - is being rolled out across the company’s advertising, packaging and signage, and the Hornby restaurant is the first to feature the new signage.

ENDS

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