Ajeng's
| File:Ajeng's.png Logo since 1996 | |
Formerly |
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|---|---|
| Public company | |
| Industry | Fast food restaurants |
| Founded | 1919 in Bronstad, Imagua |
| Founder |
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| Headquarters | , |
Number of locations | 1,673 (2022) |
Area served | Worldwide (18 countries) |
Key people |
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| Products | |
| Revenue | TBD |
| Website | ajengs.co.ia |
Ajeng's is an Imaguan-based fast food chain. Originating from a ganome in Bronstad that opened in 1919 by Bagas Majoni, it would become a fast food chain in 1964 when Bagas' grandson, Robert Majoni opened a second location in Bronstad, and followed it up with opening a location in Cuanstad in 1966. Under Robert Majoni's leadership, Ajeng's would grow into a multinational fast food chain, opening its first location in 1979 in Port de la Sainte, Sainte-Chloé.
As of 2023, Ajeng's has around 1,700 locations in eighteen countries, primarily in the Arucian region and in eastern Euclea.
History
Origins
In 1919, Bagas Majoni, a son of a gowsa labourer who moved to Bronstad, opened a ganome known as the Majoni Ganome. Due to the ganome's position near the railway station, and its location on the main road linking Nua Taois and Cuanstad, the ganome became successful as it catered to both local Coian-Imaguans and to travellers. After Bagas Majoni died of tuberculosis in 1925, as Bagas' sons were uninterested in taking over the ganome, his daughter, Ajeng Majoni, took over the ganome, who would add more "local food" to help increase customer traffic.
In the aftermath of the Great War, Ajeng would remodel the ganome, and in 1938 renamed the Majoni Ganome to Aunt Ajeng's Ganome to reflect both the more popular name, and to make the ganome feel "more inviting" to potential customers. Ajeng Majoni would continue operating the ganome until her death in 1960, with her nephew, Robert Majoni taking over as owner of Aunt Ajeng's Ganome.
Robert Majoni, hearing of Munchies' "assembly-line process," began to experiment with creating a similar process to assemble the food he served at the ganome. While initially continuing to serve the same food that Ajeng had served, Robert would reduce the number of items served at Aunt Ajeng's Ganome, until by 1961 the only food items still being served at Aunt Ajeng's Ganome were congee, cou-cou, fish tea, Imaguan patties, pandan, spiced fruit salad, sweetbread, and wada.
By 1962, Robert Majoni began plans to build a location closer to the Imaguan Motorway in order to "continue serving travellers in the new style." After securing a loan in 1963, he was able to begin construction on a "modern ganome" with architecture reflecting a Rizean diner. In late 1963, Aunt Ajeng's Ganome was formally incorporated under Imaguan law.
Early years and growth
On 6 January, 1964, Aunt Ajeng's Ganome opened its new store in Bronstad. Unlike the original location, the second location "was more of a Rizean diner than a traditional ganome," with the location being "clean, modern, and welcoming," while ample parking allowed "more consumers to stop by, eat, and leave" than the original location. From the start, the location became very successful.
The success of the new location led to Robert Majoni beginning to eye a location in Cuanstad, seeing it as "the next logical step." Thus, from mid-1964 onward, Majoni scouted in search of a location that was "close to a motorway" yet close enough to Cuanstad to guarantee "reliable customer traffic." However, in early 1965, during a business trip to Cuanstad, he dined at Irwin Nagabagi's ganome "just off the Altaithe-Cuanstad motorway." When Nagabagi disclosed he was struggling to keep his ganome afloat, Majoni offered to buy the location as he was looking to set up another location for his "new style of ganome." After the deal was signed, Majoni purchased the adjacent building so he could demolish both buildings and create a "facsimile of the Bronstad location," which opened in 1966, bringing the number of Aunt Ajeng's Ganomes to three.
The following year, Majoni opened two more locations: one in Nua Taois, and one in Hochester. In 1968, the original Aunt Ajeng's Ganome was closed, with the building being converted into the company headquarters. By 1970, Aunt Ajeng's Ganome had reached ten locations: two in Cuanstad, and one each in Altaithe, Bronstad, Bridgetown, Colton, Evertsgard, Hedmenstad, Knowleston, and San Pietro.
In 1971, Robert Majoni would shorten Aunt Ajeng's Ganome to Aunt Ajeng's, as "it was shorter to fit on signs" and to "stop people from accusing [him] of driving the local ganome out of business." In 1972, he signed his first franchising agreement, allowing Irwin Nagabagi to operate several Aunt Ajeng's in Cuanstad, including Nagabagi's old ganome. This was quickly followed by other agreements. This led to significant growth for Aunt Ajeng's, and in 1978, it opened its first foreign location, when it opened a store in Port de la Sainte, Sainte-Chloé. In 1982, Aunt Ajeng's opened its first location in Bonaventura, with a location in Sermoni. During the 1980s, Aunt Ajeng's would continue to expand throughout the region, with (TBD). By 1990, Aunt Ajeng's had a presence across the Arucian, with (TBD).
Contemporary era
In 1991, Robert Majoni died of a sudden heart attack, leading to his son, John Majoni, taking over the company. John Majoni would take the company public in April 1993 on the Cuanstad Stock Exchange, with Aunt Ajeng's opening its first ever Euclean location in Morwall in November 1993. Contrary to the expectations of Ajeng's management, it proved to be wildly successful, leading to Estmere quickly becoming one of Aunt Ajeng's largest markets, and the largest market outside of the Arucian region.
In 1996, John Majoni would rename Aunt Ajeng's to Ajeng's, as it sought to "rebrand its image" from being "merely a fast food restaurant" to being "a true ganome-like experience." As part of John Majoni's rebranding efforts, the dining areas of all Ajeng's restaurants were converted from the "Rizean-style diner" that had been implemented under Robert Majoni's tenure to a more "organic form" in the late 1990s. In 1998, Ajeng's moved its headquarters from Bronstad to Cuanstad, and the original ganome would be restored into a ganome owned by Ajeng's, named AuthentiCITY, with AuthentiCITY opening its first location in 2000 in Bronstad at the original ganome. While growth slowed in the 2000s, particularly in the aftermath of the Recession of 2005, Ajeng's continued to thrive during the 2000s.
During the 2010s, Ajeng's growth slowed, and in 2014, John Majoni was pushed out as chief executive officer in favour of Jacob Olsson, with Olsson becoming the first person not of the Majoni family to have a significant leadership position in the company. Under Olsson's tenure as managing director, Olsson has shifted control of Ajeng's away from the Majoni family, with John's brother, Dave Majoni, retiring from his position as chief financial officer in 2017, and being replaced with Dominic Barnwell as chief financial officer.
In 2021, following the 2020 eruption of Mount Micchiano, Ajeng's took the opportunity to permanently shutter the Bronstad AuthentiCITY location, citing "long-term unprofitability" and a desire to focus only on Ajeng's. The original building was subsequently sold to a developer, ending "over a century of ties" to the original ganome.
Organisation
Ajeng's was originally a family business among the Majoni family, with the head of the family often heading the company. However, since Ajeng's went public on the Cuanstad Stock Exchange in 1993, the Majoni family's influence has been waning in the company, with the Majoni family now only owning 48% of the company, with 31% of the company being owned by TBD, and the remaining 21% of the company being owned by various shareholders.
As of 2023, the four main people at Ajeng's board of directors are John Majoni, who served as chairman of the company board of directors since 1991, and who previously served as CEO from 1991 until 2014; Jacob Olsson, who has served as chief executive officer since 2014; Dominic Barnwell, who has served as chief financial officer since 2017, and Emmet Majoni, who has served as chief operating officer since 2011. In total, the board of directors comprises of nine people, with the five remaining members overseeing various aspects of Ajeng's operations.
Ajeng's headquarters was originally in Bronstad from its inception as a ganome in 1919 until 1996, when it moved to its current location in the Cuanstad borough of Hochester.
Most Ajeng's restaurants are operated by franchises, with Ajeng's itself only operating 41 stores.
AuthentiCITY
The only subsidiary Ajeng's had was AuthentiCITY. Conceived in 1998, AuthentiCITY was designed to be a fast casual restaurant to provide consumers with a "ganome experience." Unlike Ajeng's, which has a limited menu, AuthentiCITY's menu is more expansive, partially as it wants to have "the breadth of food and drink available at a traditional ganome" and partially because it was designed to serve as a test kitchen for Ajeng's for future menu items.
In 2000, AuthentiCITY opened its first location at the original Bagas'/Aunt Ajeng's Ganome in Bronstad, with its interior being "an exact replica of how it would've looked like in 1955" during Ajeng Majoni's ownership. Moderately successful, it was followed with a location in Cuanstad in 2002, and San Pietro in 2004. However, AuthentiCITY was greatly affected by the Recession of 2005, and both the Cuanstad and San Pietro locations closed in 2006, leaving only the original Bronstad location in operation.
AuthentiCITY was seen as being unprofitable, with John Majoni admitting in 2013 that the only people who would go to AuthentiCITY in Bronstad were "tourists who wanted to learn more about the history of Ajeng's" and "schoolchildren on field trips," and after Jacob Olsson became CEO, speculation emerged as to its long term future. In 2021, the AuthentiCITY location in Bronstad was closed due to "long-term unprofitability," and a desire to only focus on Ajeng's. The test kitchen has since been moved to an unspecified Ajeng's location on Imagua.
Restaurants
Since Robert Majoni's decision to transform Aunt Ajeng's Ganome from a singular ganome into a fast food chain, the layout of all Ajeng's locations has generally been identical with one another. Until 1996, the interiors of all Ajeng's restaurants were all designed to be clean and modern, with the restaurants resembling a Rizean-style diner. However, in 1996, Ajeng's would renovate the dining areas of all its restaurants to be more organic and to be more like a ganome in style. The kitchens still resemble diner kitchens, with the food being cooked "in full view" of customers.
Older Ajeng's restaurants have an area of around 56 square metres (600 square feet), or a similar area to a diner. However, since the 1970s, the average area of an Ajeng's restaurants is around 418 square metres (4,500 square feet), with the surrounding parking lot present in most Ajeng's restaurants being around three to four times larger than the restaurant itself. However, some restaurants in dense urban areas lack parking spaces, particularly in areas without parking minimums. In addition, many Ajeng's restaurants, particularly those built since the early 1980s in suburban and rural areas have a drive-through, with the first opening in 1982 in Bloomburg near the Thorebourne Naval Base.
Ajeng's restaurants are closed on Sundays: this traces back to Imagua's long-standing ban on Sunday trading, but also to the religious views of the Majoni family, with John Majoni saying in 1994 that "the Lord's Day is meant to be a day of rest; a day for mental cultivation, and a day to spend with family," and said that "even if Sunday trading were legalised in Imagua, none of our stores will ever be open on Sundays, under any circumstance." In addition, all Ajeng's locations are closed on the Easter weekend (from Good Friday to Paschal Monday) and on Nativity. On all other days of the week, Ajeng's locations are generally open from 6 am until 10 pm, although some locations open earlier and close later, with a handful being open for 24 hours from 6 am on Monday or the day after Paschal Monday or Nativity until 10 pm on Saturday or on the day before Good Friday or Nativity.
Products
Ajeng's main specialty is Imaguan cuisine, with the primary foods being sold at Ajeng's including bake and shark, Imaguan patties, jerked or stewed chicken nuggets, pandan, spiced fruit salad, sweetbread, and wada, with potato wedges being a common side dish. Beverages sold at Ajeng's include coffee, hot chocolate, tea, water, lemonade, non-alcoholic rum, Frisk sodas, and orange juice. Other soft drinks used to be sold until 2015, when they were removed from the menu due to the "health risks posed by consumption of soft drinks."
Unlike many other fast food chains, Ajeng's does not offer regionalised food products in any of its markets, as it would "undermine the Arucian character of the restaurant," with John Majoni saying in 2003 that "if you ever ate Top Dog susi in Senria, then you will understand why Ajeng's will never make new products just to appeal to foreign tastes in foreign markets."
All Ajeng's products are served on a plastic tray with metal cutlery if consumed inside the restaurant, or in cardboard containers with plastic cutlery if it is a take-out. Take-out orders are done either by ordering at a restaurant counter or via a drive-through in locations with drive-throughs, although in some countries, such as Estmere, Ajeng's orders can be delivered via an online meal delivery service to the customer's home.
Locations
As of 2023, Ajeng's has around 1,700 locations across eighteen countries. Most of Ajeng's locations are in and around the Arucian region, with around 900 locations in the member states of the Arucian Cooperation Organization, and a further 400 locations in the surrounding countries of the Arucian Sea. Of the remaining 400 locations, most of them are in eastern Euclea, primarily in areas with sizable Arucian communities.
| Country | Locations | Year entered |
|---|---|---|
 Asterian Federative Republic |
27 | 1996 |
 Bonaventura |
131 | 1982 |
 Borland |
2 | 2019 |
 Carucere |
31 | 1986 |
| File:Eldmark.png Eldmark | 38 | 1987 |
| Template:Country data Estmere | 209 | 1993 |
 Île d'Émeraude |
104 | 1984 |
| File:ImaguaFlag.png Imagua and the Assimas | 101 | 1919 |
 Sainte-Chloé |
231 | 1978 |
 Satavia |
16 | 1997 |
Marketing
After Ajeng's became a chain restaurant in 1964, it would begin to invest in marketing. Initially, it would promote itself through newspaper advertising, but in 1966, it would start airing radio ads, with radio jingles promoting Aunt Ajeng's Ganome as "a ganome away from home." In 1971, after it changed its name from Aunt Ajeng's Ganome to Aunt Ajeng's, it would introduce its first television ads, depicting an animated Aunt Ajeng, who was voiced in Estmerish by Emily Divakaruni, and in Vespasian by Ianira Misra, as a mother figure who would present the food "just like your grandmother would," before telling viewers to ask for Aunt Ajeng's.
These ads continued to be played until the Recession of 1980, when Aunt Ajeng's updated their ad campaign, with Aunt Ajeng being asked by a family how she was able to cook such good meals: Aunt Ajeng replied that she was able to get a good deal from the people she got her food from, and wanted everyone else to get a good deal on her food. While the slogan attached to the ad campaign would become the company's official slogan, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Aunt Ajeng's launched several more ad campaigns, with these campaigns generally targetted towards families trying to decide on what to eat.
In 1996, with the rebranding of Aunt Ajeng's to Ajeng's, the Aunt Ajeng character was permanently retired due to "changing tastes," and a new ad campaign was launched, depicting a truck driver on the road and yearning to go back home to Altaithe: he stops at an Ajeng's and it cures his homesickness before the cashier tells the truck driver that there's "always a taste of home no matter where you are." Since 1996, ad campaigns have generally been focused on the "weary and homesick traveller" wanting to eat something that reminded them of home, although the settings and themes of the campaign have changed since 1996.
Slogans
- 1971-1980: Don't ask for grandma: ask for Aunt Ajeng's
- 1980-1996: Always a good deal for a good meal
- 1996-present: Always a taste of Home no matter where you are
Controversies
Impact on ganomes
Ajeng's has garnered substantial controversy for its impact on ganomes in Imagua and in other countries: in 1969, Ajeng's was sued by Dale Raharjo, who alleged that what was then Aunt Ajeng's Ganome was engaging in unfair business practices by presenting itself as a ganome despite being "more of a fast food restaurant than a ganome." Although the lawsuit was dismissed as frivolous in 1970, constant criticism forced Aunt Ajeng's Ganome to rename itself to Aunt Ajeng's in 1971.
Despite no longer referring to itself as a ganome, Ajeng's has been accused of driving traditional ganomes out of business, with Mishti Pulugurtha observing that Ajeng's offers food and beverages at a "significantly lower price," which makes people more likely to dine at Ajeng's rather than at a local ganome, while Ajeng's ability to secure better deals from suppliers makes it "substantially harder for local ganomes to compete with chains like Ajeng's."
In addition, Ajeng's decision to establish AuthentiCITY in 2000 was criticised by the Association of Imaguan Ganomes as threatening the existence of the traditional ganomes, with the Association of Imaguan Ganomes comparing AuthentiCITY to "a wolf in sheep's clothing."