Guzman y Gomez Mexican Kitchen
Company typePublic unlisted company
Industry
Founded2006; 18 years ago (2006) in King Street, Newtown, New South Wales, Australia
HeadquartersSurry Hills, New South Wales, Australia
Number of locations
179+ (2023)
Area served
Key people
  • Steven Marks (Founder)
  • Robert Hazan (Co-Founder, NED)
  • Guy Russo (Chairman)
ProductsMexican food
Number of employees
3000+
Websitewww.guzmanygomez.com.au

Guzman y Gomez (Holdings) Limited (GYG; /ɡʊz.ˈmɑːn.iː.ɡoʊ.ˈmɛz/)[1] is an Australian multinational casual-dining and fast food restaurant chain. It specialises in Mexican cuisine with burritos, nachos, tacos, quesadillas and other Mexican-inspired items available. Many restaurants also serve coffee through the “Cafe Hola” brand which operates during the morning.

Guzman y Gomez was established in Sydney in 2006 by New York City duo Steven Marks and Robert Hazan and operates over 200 restaurants in Australia, Japan, Singapore and the United States.[2]

Restaurants

In Australia, Guzman y Gomez had 171 restaurants in operation as of September 2023.[3] The business operates internationally with 23 locations in Singapore, Japan, and the United States.[4]

History

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.[5] 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".[6] He took on his friend Robert Hazan, another New Yorker, as a partner. They named the business after two of Marks' childhood friends.[7]

The first store was opened in King Street, Newtown, Sydney in 2006.[8][5] Store openings in Bondi Junction and Kings Cross followed within a year.[9] By April 2012, there were 12 stores.[6] The first Guzman y Gomez in the Melbourne central business district opened in November 2012.[10] Within 12 years, they opened 100 stores in Australia.[11]

The first international Guzman y Gomez restaurant opened at the end of 2013 in Singapore,[12] followed thereafter by the opening of a restaurant in Tokyo, Japan in April 2015.[13] 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.[14][15]

Ownership and finance

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.[5] Russo was subsequently appointed chairman of the board.[7] The board also includes co-founder Robert Hazan, 3 former McDonalds executives, Tom Cowan of TDM Growth Partners,[16] and Rokt CEO Bruce Buchanan.[17]

Investment firm TDM Growth Partners bought a stake in the company for $44 million in August 2018.[5] In December 2020, the publicly listed Magellan Financial Group bought 10% of the company for $86.8 million.[18] 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.[19]

Marks stated in 2019 that his goal was to list GYG on the Australian Securities Exchange.[5] 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.[7]

In May 2023, Marks resigned as CEO due to a health scare.[20] However, he changed his mind and remained as CEO.[2] Hilton Brett was appointed co-CEO in October 2023.[21]

See also

References

  1. ^ About Us: The Fun Stuff. Guzman y Gomez. 22 November 2011. Retrieved 12 October 2019 – via YouTube.
  2. ^ a b Riordan, Primrose (8 December 2023). "Guzman y Gomez appoints Kmart and Target executive as new CFO". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  3. ^ LaFrenz, Carrie (11 September 2023). "Guzman y Gomez founder: 'I'm not going anywhere'". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  4. ^ Yun, Jessica (11 September 2023). "Burritos on the bourse: Guzman y Gomez boss preparing to say hola to ASX". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e Gillezeau, Natasha (15 October 2019). "From Wall St finance bro to burrito king". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  6. ^ a b Mason, Max (9 April 2012). "From Wall Street, he rode in on a Mexican wave". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 24 July 2014.
  7. ^ a b c Waters, Cara (22 February 2020). "'Build the next McDonald's': Guzman y Gomez heads to the US on way to IPO". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  8. ^ Chung, Frank (8 April 2016). "McDonald's, Guzman y Gomez and Domino's smash fast-food rankings, Pizza Hut in crisis". News.com.au. Archived from the original on 8 April 2016.
  9. ^ Butterworth, Monique (13 November 2007). "Mexican wave". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 23 November 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  10. ^ Vedelago, Chris (21 November 2012). "Mexican chain finds city home". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 22 November 2012.
  11. ^ Bennett, Lindsay (6 April 2018). "How Guzman Y Gomez took on McDonald's without marketing". AdNews. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  12. ^ Kitney, Damon (11 August 2014). "McDonald's old boys beef up the burritoa". The Australian.
  13. ^ St. Michel, Patrick (24 April 2015). "The Taco Bell is ringing, but will Tokyo come to the party?". The Japan Times.
  14. ^ "Guzman Y Gomez is coming to Naperville". Guzman y Gomez. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  15. ^ Wilson, Marie (14 January 2020). "Naperville is getting the nation's first Australian Mexican restaurant". Arlington Heights Daily Herald.
  16. ^ "The rise of Guzman y Gomez: the making of a global brand". Business News. 1 April 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
  17. ^ "Why Rokt and its biggest investor are pushing ahead with a 2023 IPO". Australian Financial Review. 30 May 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
  18. ^ "Magellan pays up for Guzman y Gomez". Australian Financial Review. 22 December 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  19. ^ "Magellan sells Guzman y Gomez stake to Barrenjoey unit for $140m". Australian Financial Review. 9 May 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  20. ^ Thompson, Sarah; Sood, Kanika; Rapaport, Emma (7 May 2023). "On ya Marks! Guzman y Gomez boss resigns". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  21. ^ Ignacio, Celene (8 October 2023). "Guzman Y Gomez appoints Hilton Brett as co-CEO". Inside Retail Australia. Retrieved 19 December 2023.

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