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Friday, January 29th, 2016  |  USD: Buy 531.29 / Sell 543.92
20 years

Burger King closes all 29 of its Costa Rica locations, leaving hundreds unemployed

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(BK Costa Rica / Facebook)

(BK Costa Rica / Facebook)

ICR NEWS BRIEF

October 5th, 2015 (ICR News) BK Centroamérica, the company that operated the Burger King franchise in Costa Rica, announced on Monday the total closure of its operations in Costa Rica and the closing of all 29 of its restaurants in the country.

 

A total of 434 workers will be left without a job, according to the company, which says that all of the now former employees have been paid all severance and other employment obligations due to them.

 

The company said it would issue a formal press release shortly.

 

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  • Ben

    I said that this was going to happen. Who is going to be next. I bet HP is gone in two weeks.

  • Fernando Gerdano

    Too expensive, difficult and crazy to do business here in CR.

    Everyone was getting too fat anyhow so maybe better.

    • wsurfs .

      I agree with the first part of your post. But really….too fat? Are you just trying to be funny? How can losing your job be “better”? Now, how will these out of work, unemployed desperate people provide for their families? Will the CR government that just borrowed a billion dollars from the IMF provide for these people now? Governments don’t borrow money when they are solvent..!!

      • Diego Villalobos Ulate

        Hopefully all those people can find real jobs! or better, get an education so they don’t have to be slaves in a corporate world.

        • wsurfs .

          That’s right…! BUT something next to nothing looks good and now they don’t even have the BK job..!! That’s not exactly having it “your way” , is it? Unemployment is a horrible, scary thing…..Jobs are scarce and taking care of your family is SO important..! We do have we have to do to survive, don’t we? And working is better than not working..!!

        • wsurfs .

          Aren’t you the one making ALL those electric cars for everyone to drive? Is that not CORPORATE..!!!??

  • prdatki

    THe food at Burger King use to be good, then it went down size , quality etc. I quit going there. It got so bad I thought old Lady Clinton was managing the place!

    • Diego Villalobos Ulate

      What we need is Sanders to close them all down and put the corrupt C.E.O’s in jail! ;)

      • Diego Villalobos Ulate

        …And is not the colonel Im talking about lol!

        • wsurfs .

          Tell the truth..!!! ;D

      • wsurfs .

        Don’t lie…You’ve had the colonel’s chicken….haven’t you? Probably on more than one occasion…..lunch, dinner or late night snack, right?

  • dr meno

    Lets hope it is McDonalds, for all of the fast foods are here to poison Ticos with bad chemicals in their foods.

    • wsurfs .

      So, who do you want to lose their jobs next? GAS station attendants….! I can guarantee driving a car is more toxic than McDonalds..!!

      • Diego Villalobos Ulate

        That is why we work hard to make electric cars available to all!!!

        • wsurfs .

          Then maybe you could find work for all those unemployed BK workers and gas station attendants…!! Start a business and employe them….!!

  • wsurfs .

    The labor laws are running off businesses….!! It’s way too expensive to have and keep employees…!! This is the beginning of the FALL of the financial dominoes and Costa Rica is going to have to reinvent itself because it hasn’t treated the people who were willing to come here, starts businesses, build up the country and employe people very well….!! The government needs to make it easier for the people who are willing to take the financial risks, start businesses and create jobs for people much more balanced…!

    • lou winegrad

      The fast food industry is based on “penny profit,” or high volume/small transactional profit. Therefore success is predicated on having a large customer base with the means and propensity to visit the restaurant frequently. Operating a franchised restaurant is particularly challenging in that the franchisor receives, on average, 10% of gross revenue for franchise fees and marketing. This is in addition to the initial licensing fee and expensive restaurant buildout. These are costs independent restaurants don’t have, thus enabling them to offer comparable menus at lower prices. Franchised chains can do well in CR however there are a limited number of locations that have sufficient purchasing power and traffic to support them. All other sites will struggle to make a profit after capital expense of building/buildout, franchise and marketing fees, and product compliance costs.

      Hope this sheds some light (and adds some sanity) to this conversation.

      • wsurfs .

        Excellent post…You are absolutely correct..!

      • costarick

        I agree with your post. It is clear that franchise restaurant operators, and those operators of many other businesses in Costa Rica, don’t do a proper demographics study before choosing a business location. Costa Rica is a very small Country, with a small population. In many respects, Costa Rica is not a suitable Country for any franchise operator, as the purchasing power just does not exist.

        • wsurfs .

          Agree..!

        • Diego Villalobos Ulate

          Disagree! You think fast food companies will open their shit and loose money? The masses fall for salmonella prone patties and sugary drinks, the Mc’s have done pretty well in our soil to the point of almost turning Costa Rica into a grassland that not even expats would like to live in….So…

    • duke ster

      It’s impossible to do business legally in CR. The vacations these people take –every week it’s another paid vacation. It’s the Latin way to take it easy but to make your hard working boss pay you for it is too much. Time to face the music.
      I was fined several thousand dollars for accidentally nicking a few trees while building a property. I had to hire a lawyer, go to court and was not only fined but put on probation for years. I felt really bad that I was spending my life’s savings improving this country and to have them watch me and just wait for me to mess up was too much. They deserve every thing that is coming to them. I recommend staying away from CR altogether.

      • wsurfs .

        WOW…!!

        • duke ster

          By the way, God Bless you too wsurfs. Keep the faith.

          • wsurfs .

            THANK YOU..!!! Blessings are always welcomed…!! ;D

  • richard schlinder

    Except for the loss of jobs,I am not worried about B.K.
    Pres.Solis needs to do three things to help Costa rica and it wouldn’t cost much.1.Fix immigration.Expats come here to retire. they have Social Security and retirement plans,in other words,money. Once here they spend it here.Sounds like a good deal for C.R.
    2.Pay down the debt. Instead,C.R. is going to borrow another billion dollars.Solis says it will help the economy.Boy is he wrong.
    3.Costa Rica is a garden. It has everything it needs to increase food and flower exports tremendously. The world is going into a economic funk but they will still buy our coffee,pineapples,bananas and palm oil.
    Did you know we ship out hundreds of tons of tilapia to the Miami market every year? C.R. can easily increase sugarcane for numerous markets and Stevia for other markets. Because of what C.R. is,it does not need H.P.,B.K.Intel.P.& G. If I were Solis,I would be contacting every foreign food purveyor I could talk to and start writing contracts.Help the Campesinos start producing what they know best,agraculture.

    • wsurfs .

      I agree with most everything you say, except as you are probably aware it is SO expensive to live in CR….Recent statistics have placed Costa Rica as the most expensive Central American country to live in…!! For example, buying groceries….many people are looking for other places to retire. So, Solis will have to not only fix immigration, but also find a way to lower prices on essential things like FOOD not just for the expats but especially for the Ticos, too, as more and more of them are losing their jobs…!!

      I have one suggestion for immigration…there are many expats who are not yet residents and must “go out” of the country every three months for 72 hours….some just cross the border and go to Nicaragua, but for three days, those expats are spending money in hotels, restaurants, etc in Nicaragua and not spending money in Costa Rica for those three days….!!

      Why not just let these people who are working on their immigration status just stay in Costa Rica and spend their money here? Most of these people are property owners and some even have businesses.. It is expensive for anybody to “take a vacation” every three months for three days…! The government needs to make it the easiest for those people who are already established in Costa Rica and are not just your perpetual tourists.

      “Going out” of Costa Rica for 72 hours every three months is crazy…! These people are spending money in another country and not in Costa Rica and THAT just does not make any sense. I do agree with you that making it easier for people to retire in CR is an excellent suggestion BUT some REAL financial incentives need to be in place to entice retirees…! This can do nothing but help little Costa Rica.

      • SDPUS

        I am currently visiting New York. Yesterday I went to a grocery store and purchased a 12 pack of Imperial. I was astonished to see that it only cost me $12.37, plus I get a nickel back for recycling each can. I am pretty sure this is cheaper than it cost in Costa Rica. How can that be? Monopolies screwing their own people. It is happening all over the world. And governments are totally complicit. We see it with all these international trade deals being formed.

        When a so-called “free trade” agreement is negotiated – such as the Trans Pacific Partnership — what’s really negotiated are ways to accommodate different nation’s economic systems, and make it more profitable for American-based global corporations to invest abroad.

        Which is why the United States — propelled by the political power of large American-based global corporations — puts highest priority on getting other nations to better protect the patents, trademarks, and other assets of these corporations; and allow them to establish facilities in other nations and sell their goods and services there unimpeded by other nations’ regulations or taxes, or by subsidies awarded by other nations to their own national firms. Logically, the more successful U.S. trade negotiators are in achieving these aims, the more likely it is that American-based corporations will shift resources to these countries. That includes the outsourcing of jobs. The net result is more profits for American-based corporations but not more or better jobs for Americans – except for the top American executives of such firms, whose pay packages are tied to the size of their profits.

        Which is why a deal like the Trans Pacific Partnership isn’t really a trade deal at all but an investment deal to benefit American-based global corporations.

        Florida Ice and Farm owns the monopoly of beer in Costa Rica. As my experience buying Imperial in NY shows, they act no differently. That is the shame we must expose. These dirty relationships between multi-nationals and the governments they bribe for legislation like these bogus free trade deals.

        • SDPUS

          We need to quit empowering corporations with hopes of their future success actually trickling down. It simply has been proven not to work. We need to empower mom and pop type business and build from the middle out.

          • wsurfs .

            AMEN..!! Your preaching to the choir..!!

        • wsurfs .

          Agree… and when they use those countries up, they move on to the next “cheap” date…!! It’s SHAMEFUL..!!

        • wsurfs .

          Do you remember when all the bananas went for export and your couldn’t even get a decent banana in CR?

  • disqus_r8w0IwvvLw

    Richard Schlinder..wow you have a great vision for Costa Rica. What a
    wonderful thing it would be to see your plan put into action. Sad to hear Solis is buying into the IMF/World Monetary fund scheme to put countries into debt until there is no turning back by borrowing money they don’t really need at all.

    • costarick

      Yes, borrowing money that can’t be re-paid, just like Greece.

  • Ken Morris

    Well, I was wrong. I predicted that there would be five comments by my anecdote-driven countrymen to the effect that these closings signify an incompetent government unable to retain business, but instead there is only one such comment–with one or two more maybes. Even the asshole prdatki chose to blame Hillary instead of Solís. You’d have to get inside his head to to follow that logic (and believe me, you don’t want to go there), but amazingly, even he didn’t fault the government (or call for anyone to be executed). The level of the comments is improving!

    • mhogan

      And yours are deteriorating!

    • Karen Mata

      C’mon, Ken. You’re above that type of thing, or at least I had thought you were.
      You’re a brilliant guy, but the problem is your analysis always comes down on CR’s side, and the subtext is that the rest of us peons just don’t get it.

      My take is the local IRS people have reviewed the books at your bar…several times. Bingo, you got religion a la Marshall Petain.

      When they’ve got you by the cojones, your heart and mind will follow?

      • wsurfs .

        I like your style, Mata..!

    • http://insidecostarica.com/ Timothy Williams

      Prdatki must not be feeling well if there wasn’t a single call for hard labor and executions :)

  • disgusted

    Partial list in the past 30 months:
    David Cement Company
    Mabe Heredia Company
    Wendy’s Company
    Intel Computers Belen.. downsized
    HP computers .. Downsized
    Jack’s Factory.. downsized
    Capitol One Call center Global Park downsized
    Call centers San Pedro mall
    Europa Hotel and casino
    Radisson Hotel and Casino
    Burger King downsized then poof gone.
    Export of plant Cartago
    Jockey
    This is just the short list. Not counting the hundreds of small businesses restaurants, pulperias, bars, clothing /shoe stores.

    I can understand why 250,000 are out of work and or looking for work according to CR stats not mine. Every job loss effect 5 others both in home and in business. I feel for those who are now without means to put food on the table. I wonder how our President Solis and his diputados sleep at night?

    • wsurfs .

      Excellent post..!

  • duke ster

    I used to listen to a pastor who told us way back in 1999 that there is coming a world wide depression which will make the ’29 depression look like a sunday school picnic. He told us to pay off all debts and if we move, we should move to a smaller town.
    The Bible teaches that this world is run by satan, here is how it is unfolding right before our eyes.
    Sweden has been taken over by Muslims ( see You Tube reports), they are raping the blonde women in the streets-
    All Europe is being taken over by Muslims who have been dislodged from their countries by USA and new world order coalition forces.
    This plan to kill Sadam Husein,Ghadafi, etc, has left barbarous Muslim radicals in charge who are killing the Christians and forcing all to accept Islam or die by beheading ( The Muslim way since Mohammad began working his way to the top with this formula ( study history)
    All Europe has been disarmed and only large groups are able to make their way heard. And as we all know the white man does not group together as does the “ethnics”, so Europe is facing death or Islam, which by the way, is coming to YOU very soon what with a Muslim not only head of the White House but in every cabinet position of power possible.
    With the DHS buying millions of rounds of hollow point bullets and being trained to kill with head shots, you KNOW what is coming. “They” will develop some huge emergency and then follow it up with martial law and massive roundups leading to death camps ( following the Nazi plan for you see the Nazi’s came here after ww11 and are now in power).
    Also with the pope working overtime to join Islam and Catholicism as one, YOU will be in the crosshairs soon to accept the coming one world religious leader ( pope) as god and accept the antichrist ( Islam) as god or find YOURSELF in line to be beheaded.
    Here is what Donald trump had to say in Costa Rica Star online publication( we don’t get this kind of honest news in USA)

    Washington, Oct 1 (EFE).– Real-estate magnate and Republican presidential contender Donald Trump said that if he won the 2016 election and became president, he would send Syrian refugees home.

    “If I lose, I guess they’re staying. But if I win, they’re going back,” Trump said Wednesday night in Keene, New Hampshire, adding that there could be terrorists among the refugees.

    “They could be ISIS,
    I don’t know. Did you ever see a migration like that? They’re all men,
    and they’re all strong-looking guys … There are so many men; there
    aren’t that many women. And I’m saying to myself: Why aren’t they
    fighting to save Syria? Why are they migrating all over Europe?” Trump
    said.
    Trump then referred to the possibility of the refugees actually being
    a terrorist army in disguise, entering Europe and other Western
    countries without identification and without any possibility of knowing
    where they come from.
    “Military tactics are very interesting. This could be one of the
    great tactical ploys of all time. A 200,000-man army, maybe. Or if they
    sent 50,000 or 80,000 or 100,000 … that could be possible. I don’t know
    what it is, but it could be possible,” Trump said.

    On Sept. 10, President Barack Obama ordered his administration to
    begin preparations to receive at least 10,000 Syrian refugees over the
    next fiscal year, which starts on Thursday.
    Accept Christ as your savior and escape what is to come as well as live with Him in Heaven for eternity

    • wsurfs .

      Excellent post…Agree with EVERYTHING you say..! These men who are INVADING these countries are NOT immigrating…they are INVADING..! Statistics show that ALL these men are between 18-45..!! They are an INVADING JIHADIST ARMY and we are just letting them come and go freely…no documenting….they are like salt sprinkled in soup….so diffused into the populations of the world you will never find or detect them until they have “flavored” the entire pot of soup with their evil taste…!!! As Christians, we must continue to have FAITH in our RISEN LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST who came to SAVE the world…!! God Bless YOU, duke ster….!!

      • Diego Villalobos Ulate

        This is sarcasm right? I find it difficult sometimes to understand gringo sarcasm!!!

        • wsurfs .

          Gringo? You’re on quite a little roll here, aren’t you?

      • duke ster

        . I see verses showing that Christ will come and get His church before the terrible tribulation . Then I also see verses speaking of how the antichrist will wear down the saints for 3 1/2 years. ( The Bible shows the terrible tribulation as the last 1/2 of the 7 year tribulation period). So The Holy Spirit is all which is holding back the antichrist and when He removes the church all hell breaks lose.
        “And now you know what is holding him back, so that he
        may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is
        already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till
        he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, (2
        Thessalonians 2:6-8)
        Then I see where antichrist beheads = Paul said what he saw was too many to count.
        Since I interpret antichrist as Islam who behead all who refuse to accept it, Saints are given over to antichrist for a “time and times and the dividing of times” or 3 1/2 years.
        …6And
        he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name
        and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7It
        was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them,
        and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was
        given to him. 8All
        who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not
        been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the
        Lamb who has been slain.

        • wsurfs .

          We are in God’s hands and that’s good enough for me..! The ONLY comfort in all this CHAOS is our Risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…!! Praise HIS wonderful name..!

          • duke ster

            Amen! I wouldn’t know what to do if I weren’t 100% sure I was going to heaven because of Christ’s glorious free offer. To just think of these Muslim hoardes which have been secretly inserted in every nation and are at the ready to run amok cutting off heads. Just search You Tube and see the videos of these crazed Muslims tearing into people and cutting off heads. I hope ALL U.S. Citizens reading this will go to You Tube and search what the Muslims are doing to Christians in MICHIGAN for crying out loud. They are an inch away from running crazy in the streets and I fear that very soon they will spring up everywhere and goon a rampage. Especially when whatever plan the Elite have to run the Nation into caos starts to unfold. Right now America is the only large Nation which still allows it’s citizens to be armed and that is holding off the Muslims also. But they keep plotting these massacres like they just did in Oregon and they are pushingfor gun confiscation. The Oregon fiasco was being talked about on US news and they kept saying how this was exactly like the others that happened—well of course because the Elite are using the sme play from their playbook because it’s formula is working well. They use scopolamine ( the beautiful trumpet flower which almost every yard in Costa Rica has growing in the front yard) It is called Reina del noche ( Queen of the night) and it’s fragrance is incredible as evening comes on. I know because my yard was FULL of them. Maybe that’s why I am so crazy ha ha–I smelled them every night–you couldn’t get away from the fragrance because if you break off a branch and stick it in the ground it grows immediately. God Bless Costa Rica and it’s rich volcanic soil. I do miss alot of things about CR. Too bad my money didn’t hold out and I had to leave. If you are there and your money is safe you are fortunate–despite the bad press I give it constantly.
            I wonder about CR in all this Muslim mess. I read in this wonderful publication that there was going to be a Muslim street protest. How did it go? I tried to make the readers aware of Islam’s true meaning before the protest so that maybe people could thwart it. It is no small matter to stamp Islam out in CR if possible because search what the Muslims are doing to Sweden. They are raping the women in the streets and the citizens are powerless to stop them because they are forbidden to own guns.
            I was chatting with a citizen of Sweden and he said he couldn’t even own a flame thrower ( a very very good defense weapon by the way) you can hold off alot of attackers–even the bullet proof vests are no defense against a flame thrower. Google them you will find plans to build them easily–Check out good ‘ol You tube. God Bless!!!! And STOP ISLAM IN COSTA RICA NOW BEFORE IT TAKES A HOLD!!!

  • duke ster

    You might not want to read my lengthy post but at lease scroll down and read the part where Donald trump is quoted–God Bless

  • Karen Mata

    The beat goes on.

    Their parting shot was, “have it your way, Louie.”

  • Diego Villalobos Ulate

    Who wants fast food chains with terrible service policies and even worse employees work environment? Go away, we don’t need your disgusting burgers anyways.

    • wsurfs .

      I’ll just bet you would feel differently if YOU were the one who was UNEMPLOYED today..!! Something next to nothing looks good and having a job is better than not having a job..!!!

  • duke ster

    Yes it’s very scary to realize Obama /antichrist has millions of Muslim “troops” at the ready, even in USA there are so many “troops” he has brought in and is continuing to bring in. When the call is sounded-sharia law will instantly become the law of the land and all who refuse Islam will be rounded up and beheaded and or beheaded in the streets by roaming bands of Muslim warriors ( “immigrants”)
    I am so happy to know that I know Christ and will go to heaven and hopefully escape all this by being raptured.

  • duke ster

    You know, concerning this fast food thing, I always wondered why McDonalds for instance, and Taco Bell prices are so high in CR? Cr is way more expensive for the same food -than USA–why? And another thing, In Asia there are roasted chicken places on every corner and it’s CHEAP! What makes CR chickens so expensive? I almost fainted when I stopped at a roasted chicken place and found 1 chicken to cost $9 !!!! Nine Dollars for a roasted chicken in a cheap shop open to the road. Incredible!!!! Who can afford to live in Costa Rica? I couldn’t.

  • Chris Thomas

    CR government one of the most corrupt on planet earth top ten for sure

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