Taco Bell opens third restaurant in Bucharest, seaside city next

Fast-food chain Taco Bell opens a new restaurant in Bucharest this week, in the ParkLake shopping center. This is the third Taco Bell unit in the Romanian capital, and the opening is scheduled for July 12. The investment in the new restaurant amounts to EUR 400,000. The Taco Bell restaurant in ParkLake covers 225 sqm and created 30 jobs, according to a press release. Mark Hilton, the CEO of Sphera Franchise Group, which runs the Taco Bell franchise in Romania, said the company plans to open Taco Bell restaurants outside Bucharest as well, with the first one being planned for the seaside city of Constanta. The Mexican fast-food restaurant franchise opened its first restaurant in Baneasa Shopping City in October 2017, and the second one in Mega Mall in November. They recorded RON 3 million (EUR 650,000) in sales in less than three months. Currently there are more than 360 Taco Bell restaurants in 27 countries outside of the United States, and the international expansion target of the brand covers 1,000 locations by 2022. The company and its franchises operate over 7,000 restaurants that generate sales of over USD 9 billion. The brand's goal is to become a company with global sales of USD 15 billion and 9,000 global restaurants by 2022. Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com