I was on my way back to Kuala Lumpur and decided to stop by the Tapah R&R for a break. Lo and behold – an A&W stood in front of me. It had been months since I’ve had my coney dog and root beer float. I found out that the coney dogs were named The Chicken Coney and The Beef Coney now which are self-explanatory. The revamped Beef Coney was really good and they ran out of ice cream so I settle for a regular root beer.
A&W Malaysia
Having my meal there brought back memories of my frequent visits to the A&W drive in at Petaling Jaya (opposite Amcorp mall). Back in 2014, news of the outlet’s impending closure surfaced with its owners KUB Malaysia Bhd stating that demolition will start early 2015 with the outlet opening with a new look in 2018.
Photo source: The Star
Well, it is now Feb 2016 and that particular drive in is still around. So, what is going on? Despite earlier announcements, we can continue to enjoy their root beer floats and Coney dogs for now as no date has been set for the closure of the outlet. Two new outlets have since opened up in PJ. More of the story can be found HERE in the article by The Malaysian Insider.
KUB Malaysia Berhad
I believe that A&W Malaysia offers tremendous opportunity and is loved by Malaysians. Even being able to compete on the same level as brands such as McDonalds and KFC in Malaysia. However, KUB just hasn’t been able to tap into that potential. Take a look at their website for example. A few paragraphs on the history and some lousy description of the fast food chain doesn’t do A&W justice.
A quick look at the facebook page of A&W Petaling Jaya Drive-In will show many 1-star reviews of the outlet reflecting the services rendered. I admit I’ve been hoping for years now that KUB is able to turn things around with this awesome fast food chain and I might’ve even gladly picked up a few shares myself.
I sincerely hope that the A&W franchise is able to return to its former glory and if not, KUB, please sell it off and leave it in the hands of better F&B managers.
As always, thanks for reading.