BY CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
McDonald’s Forbes Hill, which part the 53-hectare Northill Gateway township along the Bacolod-Silay Airport Access Road (BSAAR) in Brgy. Estefania, Bacolod City, will be opening its doors on December 16.
The first-ever, full scale McDonald’s NXTGEN store in Negros Island is located in front of Megaworld’s exclusive Forbes Hill residential village and just beside the iconic Bacolod Welcome Marker.
MacDonald’s Forbes Hill is the 860th McDonald’s store in the Philippines and the 17th Megaworld-owned McDonald’s outlet in the country.
Harold Brian Geronimo, Megaworld Senior Assistant Vice President and head for Public Relations and Media Affairs, yesterday said Megaworld built the McDonald store with so many firsts in Negros and some of the first in Western Visayas, and another first in the Philippines.
This is the first full scale McCafè in the entire Negros which serves coffee, frappes, pastries and fresh juices (in addition to the classic McDonald’s burgers and fries), he said.
McDonald’s Forbes Hill also boasts of the largest Bike and Dine facility, along with bicycle racks and a DIY bike repair station, making it bike-friendliest McDonlad’s store in Western Visayas, Geronimo said.
The interiors and exteriors of MacDonald’s Forbes Hill are designed following the Ray Palette, the fast-food giant’s latest, global standard design scheme that puts emphasis on space and lighting.
Only select new stores adopt this new design scheme in the country. One of them is another Megaworld-owned McDonald’s store in Capital Town Pampanga, which holds the record of being the largest McDonald’s store in the country today in terms of floor area.
Geronimo said there is natural sunlight entering the store and one can see the mountains of Negros and the sugarcane field because it is surrounded by glass. It also has an alfresco dining area and modern drive-thru facility, while their parking area can accommodate about 30 vehicles.
McDonald’s Forbes Hill features self-ordering kiosks, where customers can order and pay for their food through cashless modes of payments, modernized menu boards, dual-point counter system, and a USB charging system. It also has Handheld Order-Taking (HHOT) device used by crew members to take orders from customers right from their vehicles.
Judy Gabriel, Choice Gourmet Banquet, Inc. (CGBI) executive director, said all their employees are 100 percent vaccinated. They have hired a total of 70 personnel from Bacolod and Negros Occidental.
Gabriel said the store will soon operate 24 hours.
Eugene Reducindo, CGBI managing director, said McDonald’s Forbes Hill opens at 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Meanwhile, Geronimo said they plan to open another McDonald’s outlet at the Upper East next year.*
