VILNIUS - Cilija, operator of Lithuania's largest pizza-restaurant chain, reported sales of 65.9 million litas (19.1 million euros) for 2004, a surge of 53.6 percent year-on-year.
Company sales in Lithuania soared 50.1 percent to 55.7 million litas, while sales in Latvia skyrocketed 75.9 percent, officials said. "Our business is growing fast and showing no signs of slowdown," Greta Urmanaite, Cilija marketing director, said.
"Last November we set up a new coffee chain, Cili Kava and have already opened two cafes in Vilnius and Klaipeda. Moreover, we have concluded a franchise contract, our first in Lithuania," she said.
So far things look good for 2005, as Cilija is projecting a rise of nearly 40 percent in sales.
The chain, which currently employs 1,650 workers, links prospective expansion in Latvia and Lithuania with franchise arrangements, Urmanaite added.
Last year Cilija created 430 jobs and plans to hire 630 employees this year.
The average number of people visiting Cilija franchises rose by 20 percent last year to some 30,000 people per day.
In Lithuania the chain includes fourteen pizza parlors, Cili Pica, four nationally flavored restaurants, Cili Kaimas, two Chinese restaurants, Cili Kinija, two snackbars, Cili Express, three bistros, Cili Bistro, two coffee outlets, Cili Kava, and Plento Baras, a bar in the outskirts of Vilnius.
In Latvia, the company owns four pizza parlors in Riga and two franchised restaurants in Liepaja.
