Island Grill to add seven more stores
Published:Sunday | September 7, 2025 | 12:10 AMNeville Graham - Business Reporter
Island Grill now has 18 stores in its portfolio, but plans to ramp up those numbers to at least 25 within four years, a project in which it will invest about US$10 million to US$14 million.
The company has a solid footing in the fast-food chicken market, having distinguished itself as a purveyor of grilled chicken amid heavy-hitting fried chicken rivals KFC and Popeyes, and a host of other fast-food chains.
“At the end of the day, chicken is Jamaican food, but you have to distinguish yourself because everybody is after the fried-chicken market,” said Island Grill’s deputy chairman and company founder, Thalia Lyn, explaining the historic reasons behind the path taken by Island Grill, formerly known as Chicken Supreme before its transition.
Island Grill’s newest store recently opened at White River, near the parish border of St Mary and St Ann.
The company picked that slot over more congested space in the fast-growing Drax Hall business and recreation district in St Ann, said Island Grill CEO Tania Waldron-Gooden.
“We want to get out of the congestion,” said Waldron-Gooden.
“We got some offers for a location,” she added, but Island Grill concluded that a drive-through “wouldn’t be that easy to manoeuvre” in the space and nixed them.
“We don’t want to be pigeon-holed, basically,” Waldron-Gooden, said, adding that the two locations looked at were not feasible given the space required for the company to operate.
“We have wide hips; our equipment package is quite different from a regular fast-food enterprise because we’re really fast-casual, in the global sense. So, we couldn’t fit in that space,” Waldron-Gooden said.
The fast-food chain is now taking a more forward-leaning approach to scouting locations.
“We’re at the stage where landowners and developers are approaching us and being more pointed in getting us what we need, rather than trying to fit us into a particular mould that they’ve already created. So, we are now in the beginning stage of any development, rather than after,” Waldron-Gooden explained.
The 18th store cost Island Grill about US$1.6 million to establish, and it plans to spend between US$1.5 million and US$2 million on each of the other seven, depending on store size and location, Waldron-Gooden said.
The company has turned to NCB Capital Markets for financing, and also intends to utilise bank loans from National Commercial Bank and Scotiabank for its expansion.
The White River store cost Island Grill about US$1.6 million to establish, and it plans to spend between US$1.5 million and US$2 million on each of the other seven, depending on store size and location, Waldron-Gooden said.
White River “is the 18th (store) and we’re pushing to get to at least 25 in the next three to four years,” she said.
“We have our funding partners, and they are keen on helping us to fund all those activities to both diversify as well as increase the number of locations, which would add to the bottom line.”
Jamaica has a robust and highly competitive fast-food sector, populated mostly by eateries serving patties, chicken and pizza, with local and foreign brands competing for market share.
Island Grill specialises in grilled jerk and barbecue chicken.
“We’re truly Jamaican and we’re a healthier option,” said Lyn. “That has always been our stance.”