BuirSkraan's
 | |
| Private Company | |
| Industry | Fast food restaurants Real estate |
| Founded | June 23, 2006 |
| Founder | Anthony Tolmie |
Area served |  Makko Oko |
Key people | Wioletta Jaworska CEO |
| Parent | Johnson Investments Group |
| Website | buirskraans.com.mk |
BuirSkraan's Corporation is a Makkonian privately-owned multinational fast food chain founded in Ckouhills, Livonia, Makko Oko on June 23rd, 2006. BuirSkraan's was founded by father Anthony Tolmie about a year after the end of the economic boom in the nation after his wife, Maria Tolmie, passed away to an undiagnosed health problem because she, as a working parent, saved to put food on the table. BuirSkraan's concept was created from the original recipes of Maria and later of their two children, and always had a motivation of "cheap Makkonian food for a great price". In early 2008, BuirSkraan's opted to expand into franchising to be in more than one city and to be able to generate more profits. By mid-2009, they had to sell the company due to their lack of experience and inability to manage ever-scaling operations. Anthony would stay on as CEO and Chairman until 2014 when he would retire due to disagreements.
Etymology
The name "BuirSkraan's" is Makuri for "ParentFood's", which is a reference to the father directly providing their family recipes cooked for you.
History
2000-2005: The Economic Boom
The economic boom was a time of massive growth in the nation and saw the rise of major subsidization by the Republican Government. The boom was what kicked off the early 2000's however it started in late 1999 after the government's first subsidy program was introduced. By 2005, the subsidies were repealed and the economy started reeling from the effects of that, with approximately 40% of the businesses formed from the programs going out of business due to the lack of them. This saw the nation enter the next era of independence of businesses from the government with rarely any interference except for required regulation.
2006-2007: The Start of BuirSkraan's
A year after the economic boom came to a halt, Maria Tolmie unexpectedly passed away at their home in Ckouhills at the age of 38. An autopsy revealed that she had cancer in the thigh and that "walking would have been unbearable" according to the ME's redacted report released after a RGRA request. Maria had been a jack of all trades in cooking and it was her passion. So, her husband, Anthony, took it upon himself to start a restaurant sharing out these recipes and he quit his full-time job to do it, investing all their life savings into it. BuirSkraan's was chosen as the name because they served food and the food was served from a family to you.
Anthony bought out an abandoned building and revamped it into a tiny restaurant. This restaurant, referred to as "Maria's Home" later on, had a collage of photos of Maria and Anthony's family and Maria herself. Originally, BuirSkraan's was a restaurant, and not fast food, however Anthony noticed later on that many of the foods that took longer to cook, even if they were delicious, were not being bought and instead the quicker-cooked food such as the later-called BuirNugget, which were pieces of fried boneless chicken that were shaped like minerals you might find in a cave, were served. With none of the other fast food chains yet expanding to Ckouhills, Anthony decided to turn BuirSkraan's into a fast food establishment in 2007 and greatly limited the menu, while changing up recipes for other foods to bring the cooking and prep time down.
2008-2009: Expansion & Sale
Business had been doing rather well, with a single month generating upwards of IDH$550K, however, the onslaught of competing establishments brought forth lowering revenues, even though the menu was relatively cheaper overall than other fast food chains. The most expensive item on the menu around 2007-2008 was the special nugget and potato soup that cost IDH$5.50 and only came in one size. Anthony decided to expand operations by opening a franchise program, as it was seen as most cost-effective at the time.
By the end of 2008, five locations had opened up, with three of them opening up in areas with already existing competition. By March 2009, two more had opened, with a planned corporate flagship location in Joria. By July 2009, Anthony explored a potential sale of the business to help "further my wife's dream" and due to the lack of experience and knowledge in managing an ever-expanding franchise operation. Anthony had determined that the cost to onboard experts full-time to manage the franchising program would cost much more than they would get selling it off, to where they would become unprofitable for years potentially.
A sale of BuirSkraan's to Johnson Investments Group for IDH$720.4M was completed in September 2009, with JIG appointing Anthony as CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors as a part of the deal.
2010-2015: Era of JIG, BuirMobile & International Expansion
After JIG bought the company, Anthony got to work on setting up a dedicated franchising programs team, in the meantime conceiving new recipes and products for special occasions and as permanent items to keep people coming back. A year after the buyout, BuirSkraan's had 70 franchise locations in operation with another 50 planned within the next two years. The first corporate location other than the original one opened its doors in Joria in April 2011, which also became the flagship location for the business.
By this point in time, sales in a single month mainly came from the franchisees, with monthly fees paid to the company in excess of IDH$150K per store. By mid-2011, the economic downturn was starting to have a more noticeable effect on spending power, and JIG executives believed that with the outlook on forecasts it was only going to get worse, as JIG's investment power and client numbers went down significantly, so they wanted to make more people want to eat at BuirSkraan's, and cater to everybody, so JIG in an effort to try to increase revenues, put down IDH$27B to outfit all 70 franchises and the 2 corporate locations with drive-thrus. The implementation was 100% complete by the end of the year.
The introduction of drive-thrus helped profits, however IDH$27B was not going to be made back quickly with the current fee structure in place for franchises and so they followed along with other fast food chains and instituted a royalty for each sale made. Each sale at a franchise location was IDH$0.64/sale, which with transactional volumes for the fiscal year 2012 netted the company approximately IDH$8B. Most franchise owners at the time protested the "exorbitant cost of the price that we pay for every sale", and some even threatened to terminate their agreements altogether. In early 2013, 59 out of the 70 franchisees attempted to leave, however the company sued citing a breach of contract. The courts ruled in favor of BuirSkraan's in March 2013, with all franchisees being forced to pay legal costs and ride out the duration of the contract.
Near the end of 2013 in November, JIG paid back all of their debt and subsequently lowered their royalty of IDH$0.64/sale down to IDH$0.28/sale before 14 of them finished out their contracts and left. In 2014, JIG wanted to expand to delivery to be able to compete with the other chains, which had already offered delivery years prior, however Anthony denied this request. Infighting led to him retiring from the company, which he cited to the press at the time as "Lines that I never wanted us to be. A smaller operation, not so big." JIG appointed Freud Borkowska as Anthony's replacement.
Freud had ideas to corporatize the company which even after the buyout was still run like a family-owned operation. On July 14th, 2014, BuirSkraan's announced the launch of BuirMobile and mandated that all locations use it. At the same time, BuirSide and BuirHome were launched for pickup and delivery of orders, which could be done exclusively though the app. By the end of the year, there were already 371,000 registered users.
After the success of the BuirMobile app, profits were through the roof and higher than ever. Most stores were making more than square foot than any other in the industry. In October 2015, BuirSkraan's CEO Freud Borkowska announced that BuirSkraan's would be going international with the first destination being Aelandi with plans for the first store, a planned flagship location, due to be opened in the city of Zokretaz by the end of 2016.
2016-2018: Menu Expansions & Changes, New CEO
In January 2016, BuirSkraan's CPO Martin Sobczak announced the BuirRib which was the company's first BBQ product, would be hitting select test markets to potentially become a permanent menu item. A month later they launched a national pilot of all of the foods that were removed back in 2007, seeing which ones were most popular to keep around. In July 2016, the national pilot ended, with multiple products being brought back permanentely and greatly changed to reduce the cooking time. The products brought back include: The Chicken Meatball Sandwich, BuirChilli and the "Healthy Helping" Burger. The CMC had been removed due to ingredient costs and prep time, while the "Healthy Helping" Burger got removed due to expenses regarding adequate storage for vegetables. The BuirChilli was removed due to the costs being too expensive in regards to how many people bought it.
On November 22nd, 2016, BuirSkraan's CEO Freud Borkowska, along with the CEO of BuirSkraan's Aelandi unveiled the first international store and cut the ribbon in Aelandi. The Aelandi menu had a majority of the products that BuirSkraan's provided, however products such as the Chicken Meatball Sandwich and the "Healthy Helping" Burger were excluded. In March 2017, a video was leaked of Freud drunk at a party trashing BuirSkraan's and made later disproven claims that they used expired meat when serving the BuirRib. JIG sacked Freud after the leak and stated to the press "We have the utmost standard of our employees to conduct themselves professionally when around partners or customers". Many went against JIG due to "virtually everybody being the customer". To replace Freud, JIG appointed Wioletta Jaworska as CEO.
In 2018, under new CEO Wioletta Jaworska, an entire healthy foods line was added to the menu, with the "Healthy Helping" Burger being changed in its formula from a beef patty to a soy patty. Foods that were added include the BuirSalwich, which was a salad in a sandwich and lacked any patties and a new bun type that could substitute any burger, which was the wheat bun. In August 2018, BuirSkraan's announced a one-month contest where the most popularly ordered food customizations would be added to the menu as a direct choice. That led to the BuirDouble and Triple burgers and the "Meat Duo" Burger being introduced in September the next month.
Effects of the war & wartime operations
BuirSkraan's offered a "wartime menu" starting around November 2018, two months after the start of the war, after factories were forced to convert to defense production facilities under a Presidential Order, greatly limiting the ingredients available. The wartime menu consisted of the "Healthy Helping" Burger, BuirSalad, BuirSalwich, BuirNuggets and the original Nuggets'n Soup. Special foods were created during this time, some of which would remain permanently after the end of the war. The first of these foods was BuirCoffee, which became so popular that after the war became a permanent menu item and would later be found at its international locations. Another was Chicken BuirBabies, which were BuirNuggets but crisper and in popcorn form. Chicken BuirBabies would later become a permanent item in Catam Pon as BuirPons, being discontinued as a national item in 2021 due to a lack of sales and due to the determined lack of potential.
Profits were greatly reduced in the fast food industry as a whole with the limited menu options not helping matters. From FY 2018-2019, BuirSkraan's made only IDH$135B when in 2017, they made approximately IDH$300B which is a loss of IDH$235B. For the first time in years they had reported a net loss equating IDH$15M.
2019-Present
In June 2019, children had begun to suffer from famine and so BuirSkraan's introduced an industry-first, the BuirKids Meal. It would become a permanent item from the wartime menu, and at the time offered a mini hamburger, a "Healthy Helping" slider, potato fries and 8 pc. Chicken BuirBabies, all for IDH$8.99. When the war concluded in late 2019, 12 out of the 100 total locations closed down permanently due to damage from the war, the owner dying or due to bankruptcy, bringing the total down to 88. One of the locations that shuttered was one of the two corporate stores in the nation, specifically the one in Joria, the nation's capital at the time. The CEO Wioletta Jaworska made a January 2020 announcement: "Given the difficult situation with the war, several locations have been permanently closed down. BuirSkraan's will be exploring avenues to maintain our great service and quality through these post-war times. A new flagship location will be built in the near future to replace the one destroyed in Joria." The menu was brought back to full service in February 2020, removing several wartime items.
For the fiscal year 2020, the company was back up to pre-war revenues and even exceeded it on account of the popularity of some of the new items made permanent from the war. In 2021, revenues were up 77% compared to 2020. In May 2021, the company announced that a new flagship location would open in downtown Opposh by mid-2022, and that there would be ten more corporate locations open around the city by 2024, in an attempt to expand corporate influence and stability. In August 2021, MyBuir's Perks program was announced for the BuirMobile app, which gives points for every order that you can use for discounts, free food, etc.
Organization
BuirMobile App
The BuirMobile app is a mobile app that launched nationally on all platforms on July 14th, 2014 and has features including pickup (BuirSide) and delivery (BuirHome) services and exclusive deals that cannot be found elsewhere. Later in August 2021, the app would become the home for the MyBuir's Perks program and see an explosion in usage. The app supports both English and Makuri.
MyBuir's Perks
MyBuir's Perks is a rewards program exclusive to the BuirMobile app launched on August 30th, 2021 that is free to enroll and use. You earn points on the program that can be used to redeem discounts, free food, etc. and you earn those points by ordering through the app. Critics have argued that in-person orders should still earn you points however the complaints have been largely ignored. When the program first launched, the shop of rewards was greatly limited as the program was under a probationary period, and IDH$1 = 1 point. In 2023, the program would be greatly expanded and revamped to only grant 100 points for every IDH$5 spent. With that came new rewards to the shop.
Currently, points can be redeemed for the following:
- 200 pts (IDH$10) - Free medium fountain drink of your choice
- 500 pts (IDH$25) - IDH$5 off your entire order
- 600 pts (IDH$30) - Free BuirSalad OR BuirCoffee
- 700 pts (IDH$40) - Free dessert of your choice
- 900 pts (IDH$50) - 5% off your entire order
- 1000 pts (IDH$60) - Free 10 pc. BuirNuggets & medium fries OR free 20 pc. BuirNuggets without fries
- 1400 pts (IDH$100) - 10% off your entire order OR free happy meal
- 2400 pts (IDH$200) - 15% off your entire order OR free delivery
One can only have a maximum of 2400 points at any given time.
Marketing, advertising and branding
Double Arch
BuirSkraan's is most well-known for the signature Double Arch symbol used in their logo and on their buildings since early 2010. The Double Arch symbol was conceived by Phoe architect Leanne Karsa, a small-time architect at the time, who was hired to create an eye-popping building for the flagship location in Joria by JIG. The concept, later approved by Anthony, still CEO at the time, was to have people enter through the double arches, and it would blend into the restaurant. Meanwhile the inside of the building would have two circular seats in the shape of the arch together for booths, and a single arch for any separated seats. The building took on a look of high-end and futuristic and was highly successful. Anthony loved the logo in comparison to the one current at the time and so adopted it as the official company moniker.
Restaurants
There are over 6,000 restaurants globally with over a fifth of them being in Makko Oko (1,554 as of 2026).
Types
In Makko Oko, most standalone BuirSkraan's restaurants since 2011 have both counter service and drive-through service, with indoor and sometimes outdoor seating. Drive-Thru often has separate stations for placing, paying for, and picking up orders while the customer remains in their vehicle.
FunPlaces
BuirSkraan's introduced FunPlaces with a restaurant location opened in the city of Xihgan as a pilot in 2022. FunPlaces are kid-friendly establishments with a restaurant and then an adjoining room with a large playground and some more booth seating. After a year, in 2023, BuirSkraan's greenlit the concept for a national launch and expanded FunPlaces to mainly suburban and rural areas. Prior to its launch, the only kid-friendly aspect was the happy meal.
Smoking
Smoking was permitted at all BuirSkraan's locations until the enactment of the Life Security Act on July 5th, 2022 which officially prohibited the procurement of tobacco and alcohol.
Products
BuirSkraan's predominantly sells burgers, various types of chicken, chicken sandwiches, fries, soft drinks, shakes, breakfast items, and desserts. In most markets, BuirSkraan's offers salads and other healthy items, wraps and other localized fare. Every summer, BuirSkraan's offers the BuirBloodskit. The company often introduces items temporarily or brings them back after long absences.
Products are offered as either "dine-in" (where the customer opts to eat in the restaurant) or "take-out" (where the customer opts to take the food off the premises). "Dine-in" meals are provided on a plastic tray with a paper insert on the floor of the tray. "Take-out" meals are usually delivered with the contents enclosed in a distinctive BuirSkraan's-branded white paper bag. In both cases, the individual items are wrapped or boxed as appropriate.
In the empire, items being offered can differ if it isn't a national item, such as some locations not offering the BuirBloodskit due to the lack of equipment needed to shred the meat. Franchisees have great leeway in what they offer, and some have even offered products without the approval of company executives.
BuirSkraan's Menu is customized to reflect consumer tastes in their respective nations. This local deviation from the standard menu is a characteristic for which the chain is particularly known and one which is employed either to abide by regional food taboos or to make available foods with which the regional market is more familiar.
See Also
