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Guzman y Gomez
Australian dining and fast-food chain From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Guzman y Gomez (GYG; /ɡʊz.ˈmɑːn.iː.ɡoʊ.ˈmɛz/)[1] is a Mexican-themed casual fast food restaurant chain based in Australia. The restaurant serve coffee through the “Cafe Hola” brand which operates 24/7.
Guzman y Gomez was established in Sydney in 2006 by Steven Marks and Robert Hazan. It operates over 200 restaurants in Australia, Japan, Singapore and the United States.
As of 2021, Guzman y Gomez is the ninth-most popular fast food restaurant in Australia.[2]
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Restaurants
In Australia, Guzman y Gomez had 185 restaurants in operation as of May 2024.[3] The business operates internationally with 25 locations in Singapore, Japan, and the United States.[3]
History
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Guzman y Gomez was established by Steven Marks, a New Yorker who previously worked as a hedge fund manager. After relocating to Australia, he found the quality of Mexican food to be poor and decided to start a restaurant.[4] He has stated that "real Mexican is really urban, street and hot [...] Latin people are so full of energy and full of life, we wanted to bring that to Australia".[5] He took on his friend Robert Hazan, another New Yorker, as a partner. They named the business after two of Marks' childhood friends.[6]
The first store was opened in King Street, Newtown, Sydney, in 2006.[7][4] Store openings in Bondi Junction and Kings Cross, followed within a year.[8] By April 2012, there were 12 stores.[5] The first Guzman y Gomez in the Melbourne central business district opened in November 2012.[9] Within 12 years, they opened 100 stores in Australia.[10]
The first international Guzman y Gomez restaurant opened at the end of 2013 in Singapore,[11] followed thereafter by the opening of a restaurant in Tokyo, Japan in April 2015.[12] In January 2020, Guzman y Gomez's international expansion continued with the opening of their first restaurant in the United States in the Chicago suburb of Naperville.[13][14]
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Ownership and finance
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Marks and Hazan initially supported GYG with their own money. In 2009, they sold a minority stake to Peter Ritchie, Guy Russo and Steve Jermyn, who had previously been involved with McDonald's Australia.[4] Russo was subsequently appointed chairman of the board.[6] The board also includes co-founder Robert Hazan, 3 former McDonalds executives, Tom Cowan of TDM Growth Partners,[15] and Rokt CEO Bruce Buchanan.[16]
Investment firm TDM Growth Partners bought a stake in the company for $44 million in August 2018.[4] In December 2020, the publicly listed Magellan Financial Group bought 10% of the company for $86.8 million.[17] In May 2022, Magellan sold its 11.6% stake in the company to an entity owned by investment bank Barrenjoey Capital Partners for $140 million.[18]
Marks stated in 2019 that his goal was to list GYG on the Australian Securities Exchange.[4] In 2020, he stated that he was also ambitious to expand the company's presence in the United States, citing Australia's "antiquated" labour laws, high rents, and expensive fresh produce.[6]
In May 2023, Marks resigned as CEO due to a health scare.[19] However, he changed his mind and remained as CEO.[20] Hilton Brett was appointed co-CEO in October 2023.[21] GYG was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange on 20 June 2024.[22][23]
See also
References
External links
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