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🍗 Chicken is big business these days, and brands are thinking about how to adapt to shifting customer habits as digital becomes the dominant way to order Take Buffalo Wild Wings. Their spinoff, BWW Go, now has 100 locations… - Increased demand since launch, with plans for 150 locations by year-end - 65% of BWW Go's orders are online, reflecting a shift towards off-premise - With strong franchise interest, 600 more units are set to open, highlighting the success of smaller digital-first restaurants 🤔 Between BWW, Chick-fil-A, and others leaning into smaller digital-first locations, how is their success shaping your strategy for 2024? Check out the full story in Restaurant Business https://bit.ly/3xx3nbl

Bojangles' Restaurants, Inc. , with 800+ restaurants nationwide, isn't just a franchise; it's a culinary journey tailored to delight consumers. Brooks Speirs, VP of Franchise Sales, sheds light on what sets Bojangles apart and how it's captivating the taste buds of diverse consumers. The menu evolution goes beyond trends, with a keen understanding of consumer preferences. They are curating an experience that resonates with a wide audience, especially the younger demographic. Beyond the menu, Bojangles is transforming the physical experience. The Genesis Prototype, featuring a streamlined kitchen and a visible biscuit station, isn't just about efficiency; it's about transparency. https://zurl.co/Ofr9

Janet Forgrieve tells us about SoundHound AI Presto ConverseNow.AI and restaurant ordering. "Pick up a phone to order a Domino's’s pizza or pull up to the White Castle drive-thru these days and the voice taking your order is increasingly likely to be the product of AI. Voice AI at the drive-thru and on phone orders is so new and evolving that industry players like ConverseNow, Presto Automation and SoundHound have either expanded on their original missions or shifted gears completely since their startup days. ConverseNow, which was founded in 2018 and counted Domino’s among its first restaurant partners, today announced a new partnership with Michigan-based franchisor Jet’s Pizza which will make the technology available to Jet’s individual operators. “Voice AI is a game-changer for Jet’s Pizza as it allows us to address a big concern of ours: making sure our franchisees are making good use of their human capital,” Jets Pizza Chief Information Officer Aaron Nilsson said in a news release. “We aim to make technology as good as our pizza.” #entrepreneur #entrepreneurship #Restaurants #Franchise #Franchising #FranchiseChat Chainformation Franchise Pipeline Franchise Development Outsource Michael (Mike) Webster PhD Ned Lyerly Joe Caruso https://lnkd.in/eai559dx

Austin Turner KTLA reports on franchise business in California. "A popular fast-casual pizza chain founded in Southern California will soon be taking its headquarters to the South, according to reports. First reported by Restaurant Business Online, Blaze Pizza, LLC, which first opened its first store in Irvine before expanding throughout the U.S. and internationally, will be moving its HQ from Pasadena to Atlanta. NBA legend LeBron James joined on as a part-owner in 2012. In a statement to Restaurant Business, Blaze’s CEO cited opportunities for growth as reasoning for the transition. California is where this brand was born more than a decade ago, and we have a tremendous heart for communities across the state where so many of our restaurants are,” CEO Beto Guajardo said in a statement. “Moving our corporate headquarters to Atlanta will help us drive our next wave of growth.” The move to the South aligns with population trends in the nation, as more and more people are moving to that part of the country. Blaze was founded in 2011. The chain serves pizza in a manner similar to a sandwich shop, where customers select ingredients for their pies as the workers create them. s of the end of 2023 the chain operated 295 units in the U.S., including 93 in California, according to Restaurant Business. It currently operates just five locations in Georgia. Though Blaze didn’t specifically state that the departure was due to any concerns with the cost of business in California, studies in recent years have shown that companies are fleeing to cheaper states. A 2022 Kosmont-Rose Institute Cost of Doing Business Survey showed that Los Angeles County was the most expensive in Southern California for running a business." https://lnkd.in/eKZ3_SYS #QSR #Entrepreneur #Restaurants #Franchise #Franchising #FranchiseChat Chainformation Altir Industries, Inc. Selling Franchises Boot Camp Titus Center for Franchising at Palm Beach Atlantic University Franchise Pipeline Franchise Development Outsource Ned Lyerly Joe Caruso Michael (Mike) Webster PhD Anders Hall Jonathan Martin Michael Scherr Delaney Hetzer Dr. John P. Hayes, CFE

Great piece by Jonathan Maze over at Restaurant Business Online on the astounding performance of Chick-fil-A franchisees in 2023. With AUV's of $9.4 million, with the highest coming in at $19 million, Chick-fil-A is without a doubt, the most profitable franchised business in the US. Jonathan's analysis on Chick-fil-A's operations and financial outlook is spot-on in saying "the brand has also ensured that its growth doesn't get out of control. Too many brands, when they generate early success, push overly aggressive unit growth at the expense of unit economics, spreading demand too thin. The most successful brands over the long term work hard to ensure that each individual location can work well on its on. Chick-fil-A is the best example of this, given that it operates just 3,000 locations, far less than any other major U.S. restaurant chain". This is a crucial point for emerging brands as they work to become fully established in the franchise space. Only once your unit economics are in order, is longevity and grand expansion possible. In today's world, the data-driven franchisee is crucial for success in franchising. Tools like the solution offered by ProfitKeeper by PrimePay, work to increase visibility into P&L and KPI data for franchisees by providing an interactive, user-friendly platform that highlights areas for improvement that will produce growth at the unit-level. If you'd like to learn more, send me a message! #franchising #growth #chickfila

@WINGSTOPUK All about Wingstop🍗🔥 Wingstop Inc. is an American international chain of restaurants that primarily sells buffalo wings. Wingstop locations are decorated with a 1930s and 1940s pre-jet aviation theme. The restaurant chain was founded in 1994 in Garland, Texas, and began offering franchises in 1997. As of 2022, Wingstop had over 1,400 restaurants. The chain is headquartered in Addison, Texas. In 2003, the chain was acquired by Gemini Investors, which sold it to Roark Capital Group in 2010. Wingstop went public in 2015. The first franchised location opened in 1997, and by 2002, the brand claimed to have served two million wings.In 2005, Wingstop began serving lunch, and in 2009 it began selling a boneless product. Wingstop opened its first international restaurant in Mexico in 2010. Between 2014 and 2016, Wingstop was the third-fastest-growing restaurant chain in the US as measured by both system-wide sales and unit growth, according to Nation's Restaurant News.In 2015, Wingstop went public at an initial public offering price of $19 per share.That year, their profits more than doubled. In 2019, Wingstop began using the tagline Where Flavor Gets Its Wings.The next year, Wingstop became available for delivery in Dallas, Texas through DoorDash As of 2019, the Wingstop Team Member Foundation acted as an employee-funded nonprofit that gave money to other employees experiencing financial hardship due to an emergency. On June 21, 2021, WingStop announced a digital-only restaurant called ThighStop, which sells chicken thighs instead of wings. The company cited cost-saving measures as the reason for the change. Where can you find wingstop? Wing has done so well and now has more than 1,413 braches all over the world! You can find them in these countries; Canada-France-Indonesia-Philippines-Mexico-Saudi Arabia-Singapore-Spain-United Arab Emirates-United Kingdom-United States

No comparison Wing Snob will win

Holly Petre Nation's Restaurant News tells us "How this emerging wing restaurant thinks it can be the one to rise in the segment" During the pandemic, there were two clear winners in the food space: pizza and wings. The largest wing brand, Wingstop, has managed to turn that success into even more in the years since lockdown. With the popularity of wings came the emergence of both growing and new wing-focused restaurant chains capitalizing on the momentum through growth. Wing Snob, based in Detroit, was founded in 2017 and began franchising in 2018, but didn’t see exponential growth until the past two years. It ended 2023 with 41 locations and began 2024 with over 100 units in the pipeline. Co-founders Jack Mashini and Brian S. saw an open restaurant space and instantly knew they wanted to cook wings. “I really believe there’s a need for more competition,” said Mashini. “When you talk specifically QSR chicken wings, the behemoth is Wingstop Restaurants Inc.… no one [else is] really doing what they’re doing on a big level.” Wingstop finished 2023 with 1,926 units — 11.9% growth year-over-year — and $3.2 billion in sales — a 27.0% increase year-over-year, according to Technomic Ignite data. Chicken chains with comparable numbers have a broader focus than just wings, proving that there is still a strong desire amongst consumers for wings, and only one restaurant in the mix. “When you look at the burger space or the sub sandwich space or any other space in general, there are 500 different players in the game, and quite a few of them are quite large,” Mashini said. “We don’t have that in the chicken-wing concept space on the QSR side of things.” While dozens of emerging chicken-wing brands have started to grow, it’s not nearly as competitive as other segments at the top level. Wing Snob is standing out from the pack and growing because of its franchising strategy. The chain is only partnering with multi-unit franchisees who are looking for a wing concept in their portfolio, and Mashini thinks the brand has seen such an increase in franchisees because the wing space is so small but pays off with large returns. Wing Snob’s proprietary training portal, Wing Snob University, helps new franchisees learn the ropes of operating the brand since wings may be a new product to them. “We give..Click-Thru to read more. https://lnkd.in/e3nMUYwt #QSR #Entrepreneur #Restaurants #Franchise #Franchising #FranchiseChat Chainformation Altir Industries, Inc. Franchise Pipeline Franchise Development Outsource Ned Lyerly Joe Caruso Michael (Mike) Webster PhD Anders Hall Jonathan Martin Michael Scherr

More and more Buffalo Wild Wings are flying out the door via delivery and takeout orders. That has the purveyor of chicken wings shifting its strategy towards quick service locations and away from the traditional sports bar. It's also sign of a bigger trend as casual dining continues to struggle, while takeout and delivery continue to be the breakfast of champions for customers. Chances are you've experienced or part of this trend. On most school nights, many restaurants are essentially empty, yet enjoy a decent if not vibrant takeout and delivery business. If anything, bustling dine-in restaurants can often feel like the exception than the norm these days. So the popularity of BWW on the go shouldn't come as a surprise, and no, it's not just a tech bro's dream. The chain just opened its 100th Go location, which unlike its multiplex sports bars are smaller and focus only on takeout and delivery orders. For context, a typical BWW sports bar is around 6,000 square feet on average, while a Go location is 1,500 square feet, meaning cheaper real estate that’s faster to build and easier to operate. What's interesting about chicken wings is they're kind of an offshoot of the chicken sandwich wars that swept the nation like K-pop and Taylor Swift. The past two years have seen some of the biggest chains flying the coop to come up with their own chicken sandwiches, leading to a poultry shortage. Chicken Wings are the next farmyard frontier with other chains now looking to launch their own versions to bolster their sales. In essence, there are two trends in flight. For one, the struggles of in-restaurant dining has restaurants flocking to delivery and takeout. Even if you don't completely agree, the reality is that people are dining out less. The other more tasty trend is chicken continues to be the "It" food. From sandwiches to wings, we can't seem to get enough...unless, that is, we're just really into ranch and blue cheese dressing https://cnb.cx/4arPp9h #restaurant #fastfood #chicken #buffalowildwings #poultry #delivery #takeout #culture #consumers

Discover the story behind Southern Classic Chicken's successful expansion and refreshed brand image. From its humble beginnings to a second-generation family-run franchise, learn how this iconic brand is shaping the future of fast-casual dining. Join the conversation on #SouthernClassicChicken #FamilyTradition #FranchiseExpansion #Innovation #FastCasual.