McDonald’s held a grand re-opening of its Tafuna restaurant in a private blessing ceremony this morning.
Pastor Ata Tautolo of the God of Miracles Church conducted the blessing, which was attended by all 137 staff members of McDonald’s and its partners.
The Franchise Owner/Operator, Mr. Tautolo Agaoleatu Charlie Tautolo gave special remarks on the project spearheaded by CEO, Mrs. Dolores Tautolo – Galeai.
He gave thanks to God for His favor saying, without Him, the project could not have been successfully completed.
Tautolo extended a special Fa’afetai to the main contractor, Mr. Satele Iupeli Kava of PJ’s Construction, Project Manager Mr. Mataava Raymie Snow and his McDonald’s team.
CEO, Mrs. Dolores Tautolo – Galeai presented a brief history of the project stating that it is the beginning of great things to come. 
McDonald’s opened on September 29, 2000, and in 2008 the first re-image project took place with the launch of McCafe. “Now, 16 years later, we embarked on another project to upgrade the restaurant to the modern design and keeping some nostalgic elements to the building for our people,” she explained.
The $3+ million dollar investment consists of a new state of the art building that aligns with the modern McDonald’s designs. The project initially started as a facelift of the building, but turned into a much bigger reconstruction that took 6 months to complete as other areas of the restaurant needed to be upgraded to promote safety and security of employees and ensure customer comfort.
The new design offers 60 more seats in the dining area, a private conference room, digital menu boards, IT hardware upgrades for all Point of Sale stations, larger kitchen, new industrial kitchen equipment, central AC and added parking spaces.
Mrs. Tautolo-Galeai shared that it has been a blessing to see the hard work and plans come to life. She is extremely grateful for the support of everyone involved, but most especially McDonald’s valued customers in American Samoa.
The restaurant has more investment in the pipeline through digital upgrades for the Drive Thru and Mobile App development to launch Online Pick up, Delivery and Order Kiosks.
Mrs. Meleane Tautolo had the honor of cutting the ribbon to officially open the new McDonalds, and the celebration continued with a McDonald’s Fun Day for employees and their families at Lyon’s Park.
The restaurant, which has been closed for three weeks, is scheduled to open to the public on Wednesday, July 24th, starting from 5am breakfast service and it will be open 24 hours every day.
