Giraffas () is a Brazilian fast-food chain founded in April 1981 by two friends, Mauro Lacerda and Muniz Neto. Its first store is located in

Lago Sul Lago Sul (; lit. South Lake) is an administrative region in the Federal District in Brazil. It is located on the south side of the eastern shore of Lake Paranoá, opposite of Brasília and Lago Norte. The Presidente Juscelino Kubitschek Internati ...

, in the

Federal District A federal district is a specific administrative division in one of various federations. These districts may be under the direct jurisdiction of a federation's national government, as in the case of federal territory (e.g., India, Malaysia), or the ...

. In 1991, the chain began franchising, and it has since expanded across Brazil. It has also opened in

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

and in Miami in the United States.

History

The company experienced difficulties after the implementation of the Real Plan. With the fall in inflation, earnings decreased and the model used by the partners proved to be unviable soon, as the company went into

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver – a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights" – especia ...

. In 1996, due to financial crisis, the chain was sold to three friends of the owners: Felipe Barreto, Luciana Morais e Luciana Vasconcelos. The trio, completely inexperienced in the business, invested in the franchise system to grow and in 1998 undid the ten unique shops in possession of the company inherited from the former administration. In 2002, the chain had the highest growth proportional in the national segment, and in 2003 the chain achieved 21% growth, opening the first stores in the states of

Espírito Santo Espírito Santo (; ) is a state in southeastern Brazil. Its capital is Vitória, and its largest city is Serra. With an extensive coastline, the state hosts some of the country's main ports, and its beaches are significant tourist attracti ...

and

Paraná Paraná, Paranã or Parana may refer to: Geology * Paraná Basin, a sedimentary basin in South America Places In Argentina *Paraná, Entre Ríos, a city * Paraná Department, a part of Entre Ríos Province In Brazil *Paraná (state), a state ...

. In 2004 and 2005, the company's main focus was the diversification of products, including a Giraffas ice cream kiosk. In 2005 was opened the first store in the town of

Barreiras Barreiras is a city located in the west of the state of Bahia, Brazil. It is the most important urban, political, technological and economic center of the western region of the state. Its economy is based on livestock raising and agriculture. In ...

, in

Bahia Bahia () is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Mina ...

. In 2006, the chain celebrated 25 years with a festival of local rock bands in

Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...

, called Giraffestival. At the same time the company reached the milestone of 200 stores throughout Brazil and inaugurated the first stores in

Pará Pará () is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian st ...

and

Mato Grosso Mato Grosso ( – ) is one of the states of Brazil, the List of Brazilian states by area, third largest by area, located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. The state has 1.66% of the Brazilian population and is responsible ...

. In 2006 was also launched the Trio RBD, a special offer with gifts from the Mexican band

RBD RBD was a Mexican Latin pop group that gained popularity from Televisa's telenovela ''Rebelde'' (2004–2006). It was composed of Anahí, Dulce María, Maite Perroni, Alfonso Herrera, Christopher von Uckermann and Christian Chávez. The group ac ...

. In 2007, is opened the first store in the state of

Tocantins Tocantins () is one of the 26 states of Brazil. It is the newest state, formed in 1988 and encompassing what had formerly been the northern two-fifths of the state of Goiás. Tocantins covers and had an estimated population of 1,496,880 in 2014 ...

. Giraffas opened its first international store in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Giraffas plans to open five stores in the country by 2011 and fifty stores in ten years. In addition to this store in the United States that premiered in 2010, Giraffas invested in a new international store in

Ciudad del Este Ciudad del Este (, Spanish for Eastern City; often shortened as CDE) is the second-largest city in Paraguay and capital of the Alto Paraná Department, situated on the Paraná River. It is located 327 km east of Asunción, the capital, and i ...

, Paraguay, which debuted in 2011. In Brazil the chain is now compared with other major fast-food chains like

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

and

Burger King Burger King Corporation (BK, stylized in all caps) is an American multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacks ...

References

External links

Giraffas website

Giraffas USA website
{{Food chains in Brazil Fast-food chains of Brazil Companies based in the Federal District (Brazil) Multinational_companies_headquartered_in_Brazil Regional restaurant chains in the United States Restaurants established in 1981 Brazilian brands 1981 establishments in Brazil

History

See also

References

External links