sign in sign up
<<
Home , Burger King, Carrols Restaurant Group, IHOP, Jack in the Box, Panera Bread, Pizza Hut

Ranking the biggest franchise owners in the U.S. franchisees in 2020: Bump for most, disaster for some

As bad as 2020 was, the largest concept. In 2019, the company had an franchise operators didn’t see the implied average unit volume of $4.2 mil- The Top 2OO Operators apocalyptic scenario that seemed lion; last year, it sank to $2.3 million, a likely in March of last year. Large, sophis- 45.2 percent decline. Command ticated and diversified, the top franchise All the chaos didn’t upset the top com- • $41.8 billion in revenue operators mostly muscled through the panies that much. Flynn Restaurant year quite well. Group kept the No. 1 spot, even while • 30,222 Overall, the Restaurant 200 dipped taking a $356 million hit to revenue • Top 5 firms combine for $7.45 just 0.6 percent in revenue as the group’s and slipping below the $2 billion mark billion in sales total pot fell from $42.1 billion in 2019 the company reached last year. NPC to $41.8 billion in 2020. It’s the first International came in at No. 2 in 2020, time since the that the but that will change next year. The com- a reminder that savvy buyers are coming Restaurant 200 declined in revenue, and pany filed for bankruptcy in the summer into the space with big goals. The No. 38 back then it dipped by 0.9 percent. of 2020 and its restaurants were sold— group spiked revenue some 92 percent All the white-knuckle work paid off, mostly to Flynn. to $300 million. (Read more about their though as the industry saw, nothing Restaurant Group remained vision on page 16.) worked quite like already having a drive- at No. 3, growing sales by $75 million Investment bankers and transactional thru window. That’s where the results to $1.5 billion even as it shed 27 Burger lawyers say 2020 was an exceptionally from 2020 become asym- King restaurants to end active year. All the new transactions and metric and we see clearly the year with 1,009 Flynn Restaurant Group’s monster deal the overall average is By Nicholas Upton Burger Kings and 65 for 937 Hut and 194 Wendy’s units made up of two extremes. Research by Matt Haskin . At No. 4, MUY will show up next year as the large con- On the positive end, and Max Wolf Companies crested the $1 tinue to get larger. But the Flynn-NPC operators with a high billion mark for the first deal is a stark reminder that there is no portion of -service time as it grew sales by 6 “too big to fail” in the restaurant space concepts thrived. MUY Companies, the percent, or $61 million. It also shed net and diversification is paramount. No. 4 operator this year, pushed sales 6.2 locations, selling off 15 Pizza Huts and As John wrote in Franchise percent higher. No. 17 on the list, QSR adding two Wendy’s and one Bell. Times sister publication the Restaurant operator Ampex Brands, grew sales by The No. 5 spot saw a bit of a shakeup. Finance Monitor, a 1 percent sales 10 percent even after selling 32 locations. KBP Investments claimed it this year as it decline pushed a $1.6 billion dollar com- At the other end, casual dining suffered. grew sales by $62 million to reach $986 pany to the brink. Summit Restaurant Group, a 360-loca- million in overall sales. “NPC had a millstone around its neck tion IHOP and Applebee’s franchisee, Two major trends continue: consolida- in the form of a crushing $900 mil- was hit hard. The operator reported a tion and diversification. The top 10 alone lion debt load (over seven times debt to sales decline of nearly $300 million or bought or sold 660 restaurants, shuf- EBITDA) and a decade of underperfor- 37 percent. The company sold off 67 fling around more locations than many mance in the brand,” he wrote. locations, but casual dining was obvi- operations ever reach. Across the whole The past year will be remembered for ously a rough segment of the restaurant list, operators grew to 30,222 locations, many reasons in the restaurant space. space. Golden Corral operator Metro a slowdown from last year’s pace, but All the pain, however, may lead to fur- Corral (No. 182) shed 15 locations from growth nonetheless. ther growth and sophistication and with its count; its $41 million in sales reveals Cover subjects Matt Ailey and Matt time, the year will—hopefully—be a soft some major declines in the -focused Slaine of Quality Restaurant Group are patch.

Paradox is a global conversational AI platform that’s helping 20,000+ franchise locations shorten and simplify the hourly hiring process by making applying to jobs as simple as a text conversation, and automating candidate screening, interview scheduling, offers, onboarding, and more. Paradox is proud to support franchisees across the country from some of the Franchise Times’ top brands — including McDonald’s, Wendy’s, , Applebees, Dunkin’, and . To learn more, visit https://www.paradox.ai/ use-case/franchise-hiring

August 2021 | Franchise Times 31 15 Summit Restaurant Group Richardson, TX Franchise Times $499,000,000 247 IHOP Restaurant 200: Top 20 113 Applebee’s 7 17 Sonny’s

16 K-Mac Enterprises Sun Holdings added 1 Flynn Restaurant Group 10 Yadav Enterprises Fort Smith, AR 37 IHOP restaurants , CA Fremont, CA $484,125,000 to the operation at $1,982,131,000 $545,235,000 294 an odd time, but 444 Applebee’s 213 11 YUM! Multi exemplifies the fast- 367 Arby’s 126 Denny’s paced M&A at the top. 17 Ampex Brands 280 Taco Bell 53 TGI Fridays Sun sold 48 Burger Richardson, TX Kings, 12 Cici’s, 14 2 NPC International 11 Covelli Enterprises $475,000,000 Golden Corrals and Leawood, KS Warren, OH 196 KFC 18 loca- $1,598,580,000 $536,998,000 115 Pizza Hut tions. It also added 947 Pizza Hut 282 Panera Bread 23 Long John Silver’s 14 Popeyes and six 393 Wendy’s 6 18 Sizzling Platter Arby’s. 5 O’Charley’s 3 Carrols Murray, UT Restaurant Group 12 Tacala $456,887,000 Syracuse, NY Vestavia Hills, AL 327 $1,528,351,000 $517,180,000 71 1,009 320 Taco Bell 20 Dunkin’ 26 Manna 65 Popeyes 1 KFC Louisville, KY 19 D.L. Rogers Corp. 157 Wendy’s 4* Dhanani Group 13 Meritage Grapevine, TX 83 Fazoli’s Sugarland, TX Hospitality Group $447,800,000 $1,300,000,000 Grand Rapids, MI 245 Sonic Drive-In 27* Charter 504 Burger King $516,000,000 Morristown, TN 20 HAZA Foods 339 Popeyes 340 Wendy’s 242 Taco Bell Sugar Land, TX 41 La Madeleine 31 YUM! Multi 14 WKS Restaurant Group $425,000,000 5 MUY! Companies Cypress, CA 250 Wendy’s 28* Ampler Group , TX $500,835,000 51 Taco Bell , IL $1,041,942,000 124 Denny’s 120 Burger King 358 Pizza Hut 86 Wendy’s 103 Little Caesars 319 Wendy’s 68 29 Desert de Oro Foods 81 Taco Bell $325-$425 Million Kingman, AZ 6 KBP Investments 173 Taco Bell Overland Park, KS 89 Pizza Hut 21 Boddie-Noell Enterprises $986,500,000 Rocky Mount, NC 30 Quality Dining 751 KFC 342 Hardee’s Mishawaka, IN 150 Taco Bell 158 Burger King 6 22 FMI Group 7 Sun Holdings 38 Chili’s Woodstock, NB, , TX KBP Investments 188 KFC 31 Palo Alto $919,500,000 grew sales at the fast- 101 Pizza Hut Greenwood Village, CO 242 Burger King est rate among the 202 Taco Bell 175 Popeyes 23 VantEdge Partners top 10 operators. In 32 Pizza Hut 105 Arby’s Overland Park, KS 2020, the company 127 Taco Bell 32 JAE Restaurant Group 8 GPS Hospitality added $62 million 93 Pompano Beach, FL , GA in sales, a 7 percent 217 Wendy’s $626,742,000 growth rate. The sales 24 Diversified 394 Burger King growth alone would Restaurant Group 33 Cotti Foods Corp. 63 Pizza Hut be enough to come Sonoma, CA Rancho Santa 19 Popeyes in at No. 171 on this 215 Taco Bell Margarita, CA very list. 22 Arby’s 9 Pacific Bells 106 Wendy’s 85 Taco Bell Vancouver, WA 25 Border Foods $579,017,000 New Hope, MN 243 Taco Bell 217 Taco Bell 67

32 Franchise Times | August 2021 47 Sailormen 55* RPM Pizza $225-$325 Million , FL Gulfport, MS 115 Popeyes 178 Dominos 24 Burger King 34 Doherty Enterprises 56* Team Lyders 40 Allendale, NJ 48* Manna Brighton, MI 89 Applebee’s Development Group 173 Taco Bell 42 Panera Bread Encinitas, CA 3 Arby’s How good was the 130 Panera Bread pizza business in 35 Wendy’s of 57 JK&T Wings 2020? Just ask Springs 49* Premier Kings Shelby Township, MI American West Colorado Springs, CO Montgomery, AL 84 Buffalo Wild Wings Restaurant Group. 181 Wendy’s 184 Burger King The -play Pizza 58 Out West 2 Golden Corral 26 Popeyes Hut operator grew Restaurant Group sales by 11 percent 36* Hamra Enterprises 50 , CA last year even as it Springfield, MO Livingston, NJ 89 shed 17 locations. 91 Wendy’s 108 Wendy’s 68 Panera Bread 59 Redberry Group 51 TEAM Schostak , ON, Canada 37 Mitra QSR Family Restaurants 111 Burger King Plano, TX Livonia, MI 23 Pizza Hut 197 KFC 63 Applebee’s 69* Caspers Company 40 Taco Bell 56 Wendy’s 60 JRN Columbia, TN Tampa, FL 38 Quality Restaurant Group 52* Tasty Restaurant Group 146 KFC 61 McDonald’s Greensboro, NC Los Angeles, CA 14 YUM! Multi 70 SA 190 Pizza Hut 161 Pizza Hut Fife, WA 67 Moe’s SW Grill 67 Burger King 61* Cave Enterprises Chicago, IL 53 Arby’s 39* Harman 53* EYM Group 166 Burger King 47 Jack in the Box Management Corp. Irving, TX 71 Stine Enterprises Campbell, CA 144 Pizza Hut 62 B & G Enterprises Phoenix, AZ 115 KFC 36 KFC Morgan City, LA 85 Jack in the Box 147 YUM! Multi 148 Taco Bell 4 YUM! Multi 11 Denny’s 40 American West Restaurant Group 63 Carolina Orange, CA $175-$225 Million Restaurant Group 275 Pizza Hut Charlotte, NC $150-$175 Million 121 Wendy’s 41* Carlisle Corp. 54 Fugate Enterprises Memphis, TN Wichita, KS 64 American 72 Celebration 162 Wendy’s 165 Pizza Hut Franchise Holdings Restaurant Group 75 Taco Bell Atlanta, GA 42 Ghai Management 75 Taco Bell Celebration, FL Services 47 Applebee’s 101 Pizza Hut Livermore, CA 40 Taco Bell 125 Burger King 65* Northwest Restaurants 73 Hospitality 40 Taco Bell Woodinville, WA 115 Taco Bell Restaurant Group 43 Retzer Organization 46 KFC Traverse City, MI Greenville, MS 45 95 Taco Bell 103 McDonald’s 66* PJ United Birmingham, AL 74 Ambrosia QSR 44 RMH Franchise Holdings Fourteen Foods grew 195 Papa John’s Vancouver, WA Atlanta, GA by another 7 percent 107 Burger King 131 Applebee’s in 2020 to remain 67 Delight Restaurant Group 12 Popeyes the largest Dairy , NY 75 The RC Group 45 Fourteen Foods Queen operator. Ten 85 Wendy’s Annapolis, MD Eden Prairie, MN years ago, the com- 26 Taco Bell 71 Taco Bell 244 Dairy Queen pany had 119 loca- 68 Wendy’s of 22 YUM! Multi tions and acquired 46 BurgerBusters Bowling Green Virginia Beach, VA much of the rest in Bowling Green, KY 76 CKA Management 153 Taco Bell small M&A deals 97 Wendy’s Hasbrouck Heights, NJ 10 Pizza Hut since then. 69 Wendy’s 12 Taco Bell

* Denotes revenue estimate

August 2021 | Franchise Times 33 77* Meridian Restaurants 99 T.L. Cannon Management 113 Mas Restaurant Group South Ogden, UT Ponte Vedra Beach, FL , TX 120 Burger King 59 Applebee’s 68 Taco Bell 10 Chili’s 6 YUM! Multi 82 100 Branded 78 Southern Multifoods Management Group 114* Cowabunga Jacksonville, TX Worcester, MA Alpharetta, GA 99 Taco Bell San Antonio Wings 90 Dunkin’ 108 Dominos 8 YUM! Multi is one of the more acquisitive opera- 101 JEM Restaurant Group 115 MBN Brands 79 Toms King tors on the list. It Daniel Island, SC Brookhaven, GA Palatine, IL added 24 Wingstop 60 Taco Bell 63 Jimmy John’s 131 Burger King locations last year to 33 Pizza Hut 41 Burger King increase its location 80 The Saxton Group 102* Lemek 116 RBD count by nearly 30 Dallas, TX Elkridge, MD Restaurants Limited percent. 86 McAlister’s Deli 63 Panera Bread Los Angeles, CA 58 KFC 81* RCO Limited 103* Tar Heel Capital 11 YUM! Multi Columbus, OH Boone, NC 38 Raising Cane’s 78 Wendy’s 117* Quality Restaurant Concepts 82 San Antonio Wings 104 S & L Companies Birmingham, AL San Antono, TX 91 TD Food Group Portage, WI 59 Applebee’s 107 Wingstop Honolulu, HI 46 Culver’s 37 Pizza Hut 118 Hallrich 83* Rottinghaus Co. 37 Taco Bell 105 The Rose Group Stow, OH La Crosse, WI Newtown, PA 124 Pizza Hut 339 92* ADT Pizza 51 Applebee’s Westport, CT 119 DRM 84* California Food 174 Pizza Hut 106 Pizza Properties Omaha, NE Mangement El Paso, TX 97 Arby’s Beverly Hills, CA 93* Boj of WNC 48 133 Burger King Arden, NC 10 Applebee’s 120* The Wolak Group 75 Falmouth, ME 107 Summit Restaurant 97 Dunkin’ 94 PR Restaurants Group, LLC $125-$150 Million Framingham, MA Blue Springs, MO 121* Legacy Apple 60 Panera Bread 112 Pizza Hut Wichita, KS 11 Long John Silver’s 79 Applebee’s 95 Rucker Restaurant 85 Starboard Group Holdings 108* BAJCO Global Coral Springs, FL Austin, TX Management 100 Wendy’s 63 Jack in the Box Canfield, OH 31 Denny’s 133 Papa John’s 86* The Kades Corp. 3 Dairy Queen Houston, TX 96 Benton Properties 53 McDonald’s Springdale, AR 109* Kazi Management 114 72 Sonic Drive-In St. Croix 87 Southern Rock Frederiksted, VI Restaurants 97 Grand Mere 55 KFC Cowabunga in name Franklin, TN Restaurant Group 23 Burger King and practice, the 92 McAlister’s Deli Overland Park, KS company sold off 135 Pizza Hut 110 KC Bell six Domino’s restau- 88 Wenspok Resources Wichita, KS rants even as pizza Spokane, WA 39 Taco Bell was the go-to food of 69 Wendy’s 30 Freddy’s the year. The com- pany is among many 89 Primary Aim $100-$125 Million 111* Janjer Enterprises Restaurant 200 oper- Zanesville, OH Silver Spring, MD ators that sold off 76 Wendy’s 38 Popeyes 98 DORO 38 IHOP restaurants here and 90* Restaurant Eau Claire, WI there to capitalize on Management Co. 106 Hardee’s 112 Emerald City Pizza high multiples and Wichita, KS 3 Taco John’s Mukilteo, WA eager buyers. And it 125 Pizza Hut 97 Pizza Hut still grew sales. 6 KFC

* Denotes revenue estimate

34 Franchise Times | August 2021 Bulking Up: The Restaurant 200 in Numbers

The Franchise Times Restaurant 200 keeps growing. The group now owns over 30,000 restaurants and commands $41.8 billion in revenue.

$42.0 $41.8 Revenue (In Billions) $ 37.5 $40.4 $39.1 Locations $34.6

$31 30,124 30,222 $28.7 28,109 28,642 26,997 $26.3 25,176 $23.2 21,831 $23.9 23,177 17,8 87 20,331 18,408

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

The top 5 fastest-growing operators added more than $433.1 million collectively. The top 20 companies combined for $15.9 billion in revenue, Restaurant 200 2020 Sales Company Sales Y/E 2020 Growth Growth % a decrease of $581.6 million. Delight 187,000,000 89,700,000 92.2% Restaurant Group Quality 300,000,000 135,000,000* 81.8% Restaurant Group Legacy brands are the favorite for the JJB Brands 79,203,857 30,423,610 62.4% Franchise Times Restaurant 200, and large ADT Pizza 138,000,000* 53,000,000* 62.4% operators are the favorites of legacy brands. Ampler Group 375,000,000* 125,000,000* 50.0%

* Denotes revenue estimate % of Total Franchised Rank Brand Companies Units Units in US The average revenue for a Restaurant 200 1 Taco Bell 44 4,482 67% 2 Pizza Hut 31 4,113 77% operator is now $209.1 million—that’s down 3 Burger King 30 4,102 58% by more than $1 million this year. 4 Wendy's 28 3,430 62% The average location count remained,static, but sales slipped on 5 KFC 20 1,862 48% average even as QSR performed well. 6 Applebee's 16 1,302 85% 7 Arby's 14 972 45% 8 Popeyes 12 859 33% $210.4 $209.1 9 Panera Bread 10 859 78% $195.5 $202.0 $187.5 10 Hardee's 4 573 37% 143 151 151 135 141 This table shows a breakdown of the most popular brands in the Restaurant 200, the number of franchisees operating the top brands, the number of locations operated by the franchisee 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 companies and the relative percentage of those locations to the total U.S. franchised locations. Avg. Revenue (In Millions) Avg. Units

August 2021 | Franchise Times 35 135* Schmidt Family 143 Westaco $90-$100 Million Restaurant Group Scottsdale, AZ Portsmouth, OH 40 Taco Bell 50 Wendy’s 7 YUM! Multi 164 122* Paradise Companies 5 Buffalo Wild Wings Natchez, MS 144 Purple Square 39 Applebee’s Management 17 IHOP Tampa, FL Apple Metro got a $80-$90 Million 73 Dunkin’ one-two punch last 123 MRCO 21 Popeyes year. Sales for the Brentwood, TN New York-based 66 Taco Bell 145* Consolidated Applebee’s opera- 2 KFC 136* Wenco Burger Holdings tor fell 50 percent Ashland, OH Destin, FL as travel and dine-in 124 Phase Three Brands 63 Wendy’s 62 Burger King demand tanked. Its Tampa, FL rank fell from No. 92. 83 Hardee’s 137 Friendly 146 Carisch 2 Wingstop Franchisees Corp. Wayzata, MN La Palma, CA 63 Arby’s 125 Daland Corp. 65 Carl’s Jr. Wichita, KS 147 BW Management 94 Pizza Hut 138 Strang Corp. La Porte , IN 156 DMAC81 , OH 36 Buffalo Wild Wings Van Wert, OH 126 Kumar Management Corp 41 Panera Bread 1 Black Rock 69 McAlister’s Deli Foster City, CA 54 Taco Bell 139* Schuster Enterprises 157 Bullard 17 Five Guys Columbus, GA Restaurant Group 68 Burger King Raleigh, NC 127 AES Restaurants $70-$80 Million 27 Moe’s SW Grill Carmel, IN 140 Apple Investors Group 19 Burger King 72 Arby’s Chino Hills, CA 45 Applebee’s 148 Potomac Family 158 Awesome Doughnut 128 Rackson Restaurants 19 Pizza Hut Dining Group Long Beach, CA Bridgewater, NJ Herndon, VA 19 Krispy Kreme 55 Burger King 141 Den-Tex Central 49 Applebee’s 8 The Coffee Bean 1 Popeyes San Antonio, TX 81 Denny’s 149 JJB Brands 159* Oerther Foods 129* Tri-Arc Food Systems Flowood, MS Orlando, FL Raleigh, NC 142 North Bells 90 Pizza Hut 25 McDonald’s 52 Bojangles Collyville, TX 11 Checkers 58 Taco Bell 160 RoHoHo 130 Southeast 12 Wingstop 150 Genesh Charleston, SC Restaurant Group Lenexa, KS 56 Papa John’s , LA 51 Burger King 12 Jersey Mike’s 27 Taco Bell 24 Denny’s 25 Wendy’s 161 Roaring Fork 151* Kergan Bros. Sonic Restaurant Group 131 Parrish Restaurants Lafayette, LA , WI Dallas, TX 163 56 Sonic Drive-In 57 Mexican Eats 26 McDonald’s 152* Hoogland Foods 162 Serazen 132* Chaac Foods Glenview, IL Newport Beach, CA How nice was the Irving, TX 101 Marco’s Pizza 71 Papa John’s 115 Pizza Hut drive-thru last year? 1 Applebee’s For opera- 153* Marwaha Group 163 Desert Taco tor Desert Taco, quite Anaheim, CA Scottsdale, AZ 133* Hishmeh Enterprises nice. The company 140 Subway 55 Del Taco Ventura, CA shed one location 1 Denny’s 89 Dominos but grew sales by $8 million in 2020, 154 Stellaris Group 134* Fourjay an increase of 13 Pacific Palisades, CA $60-$70 Million North Little Rock, AR percent. 59 Carl’s Jr. 49 Wendy’s 10 Slim 155 Brodersen Management Corp. 164 Apple Metro Milwaukee, WI Harrison, NY 40 Popeyes 23 Applebee’s 2 Pizza Studio

36 Franchise Times | August 2021 165 Heartland 179 Mosaic Management Restaurant Group Atlanta, GA , PA 40 Arby’s About This Project 57 Dunkin’ 4 Moe’s SW Grill 2 Baskin Robbins 180 Heartland Beef Our annual Restaurant 200 franchisee research, 166 Brumit Restaurant Group Bloomington, IN prepared by sister publication Restaurant Asheville, NC 38 Arby’s Finance Monitor, includes questionnaires, 61 Arby’s 181 BAC Holdings phone surveys, and in some cases, a review of public 167* JS Fort Group Bloomfield Hills, MI documents such as annual reports, 10Ks and FDDs. Naperville, IL 33 Five Guys We sincerely thank the companies that responded to 96 Jimmy John’s our surveys, as most of the top 200 companies in this 182 Lehigh Valley year’s ranking provided us with their complete data. 168 JDK Management Co. Restaurant Group Our report consists of ranking companies accord- Bloomsburg, PA Allentown, PA ing to revenue generated by the company’s franchised 48 Perkins 21 restaurants. If the company happens to operate a res- 6 Quaker Steak taurant concept that is not franchised, or is the fran- 183 Pizza chisor of another concept, we will not include that 169 S-Group Companies Las Vegas, NV number in the overall revenue or unit count. In some Sandusky, OH 45 PIzza Hut cases where an acquisition took place during the year, 29 Wendy’s we derive pro-forma revenue in calculating the com- 170 Vibe Restaurants pany’s ranking. Dallas, TX $40-$50 Million For companies that did not respond to our survey, 86 Little Caesars we confirmed the number of units operated by their 5 Wingstop company, and then estimated the revenue. In the case of a tie in the amount of total revenue, we settled the 171 DYNE Hospitality Group 184 J & S Restaurants tie in favor of the company with the most units. Little Rock, AR Cleveland, TN If you believe your company might make the 75 Tropical Smoothie 42 Hardee’s Restaurant 200 list or we’ve missed you (or you know 172 Denco Family 185 Tria Company of another company that should be listed), please con- Whittier, CA Battle Creek, MI tact Matt Haskin at (612) 767-3205 or mhaskin@ 30 Denny’s 30 Burger King franchisetimes.com. 8 Popeyes 7 Arby’s 186* Sterling Restaurants Atlanta, GA $50-$60 Million 51 Moe’s SW Grill 189 Blue Ribbon Restaurants 194 Viking Restaurants Walled Lake, MI Elmhurst, IL 187 Trigo Hospitality 14 Famous Dave’s 27 Burger King Bridgman, MI 2 Penn Station 173 All Star Management 28 Pizza Hut 195 BMW Management Bourbonnais, IL 11 Sonic Drive-In 190 Phoenix Organization Temecula, CA 34 Wendy’s Delray Beach, FL 22 188 Tetra Management 21 Burger King 174 Northwest Group Wichita, KS 6 Denny’s 196 Merbree Holdings Tigard, OR 46 Pizza Hut Ketchum, ID 43 Jack in the Box 191 Metro Corral 19 MOD Pizza Madison, GA 175 Century Fast Foods 11 Jersey Mike’s 18 Golden Corral Los Angeles, CA 197 First Sun 33 Taco Bell Management Corp. Piedmont, SC 176 Ansara Restaurant Group Farmington Hills, MI 200 $30-$40 Million 19 Wendy’s 22 Red Robin 198 Shamrock TBC 4 Twin Peaks Hinsdale, IL Freddy’s operator 192 Carolina 177 Creative Foods Corp. 23 Taco Bell OberRoc lands on the Franchise Holdings Garden City, NY list for the first time. Coral Gables, FL 199 The Restaurant Company 26 Burger King It’s among many oper- 36 Burger King Richmond, VA ators growing to new 178 Howley Bread Group 17 Arby’s heights without 193 Trident Holdings Westlake, OH legacy QSR. Murfreesboro, TN 200 OberRoc 28 Panera Bread 42 Captain D’s San Antonio, TX 2 Grandy’s 21 Freddy’s

* Denotes revenue estimate

August 2021 | Franchise Times 37 Kumar RPM Pizza...... 55 Management Corp...... 126 Rucker Restaurant Alphabetical Listing Las Vegas Pizza...... 183 Holdings...... 95 Legacy Apple...... 121 S & L Companies...... 104 Lehigh Valley S-Group Companies...... 169 Rest. Group...... 182 SA Foodservices...... 70 Company...... Rank Delight Restaurant Group.....67 Lemek...... 102 Sailormen...... 47 ADT Pizza...... 92 Den-Tex Central...... 141 Manna...... 26 San Antonio Wings...... 82 AES Restaurants...... 127 Denco Family...... 172 Manna Development Schmidt Family All Star Management...... 173 Desert de Oro Foods...... 29 Group...... 48 Rest. Group...... 135 Ambrosia QSR...... 74 Desert Taco...... 163 Marwaha Group...... 153 Schuster Enterprises...... 139 American Franchise Dhanani Group...... 4 Mas Restaurant Group...... 113 Serazen...... 162 Holdings...... 64 Diversified Restaurant MBN Brands...... 115 Shamrock TBC...... 198 American West Group...... 24 Merbree Holdings...... 196 Sizzling Platter...... 18 Rest. Group...... 40 DMAC81...... 156 Meridian Restaurants...... 77 Southeast Ampex Brands...... 17 Doherty Enterprises...... 34 Meritage Hospitality Restaurant Group...... 130 Ampler Group...... 28 DORO...... 98 Group...... 13 Southern Multifoods...... 78 Ansara Restaurant Group....176 DRM...... 119 Metro Corral...... 191 Southern Rock Apple Investors Group...... 140 DYNE Hospitality Group.....171 Mitra QSR...... 37 Restaurants...... 87 Apple Metro...... 164 Emerald City Pizza...... 112 Mosaic Management...... 179 Starboard Group...... 85 Awesome Doughnut...... 158 EYM Group...... 53 MRCO...... 123 Stellaris Group...... 154 B & G Food Enterprises...... 62 First Sun MUY! Companies...... 5 Sterling Restaurants...... 186 BAC Holdings...... 181 Management Corp...... 197 North Texas Bells...... 142 Stine Enterprises...... 71 BAJCO Global Flynn Restaurant Group...... 1 Northwest Group...... 174 Strang Corp...... 138 Management...... 108 FMI Group...... 22 Northwest Restaurants...... 65 Summit Restaurant Benton Properties...... 96 Fourjay...... 134 NPC International...... 2 Group...... 15 Blue Ribbon Restaurants... 189 Fourteen Foods...... 45 OberRoc...... 200 Summit Restaurant BMW Management...... 195 Friendly Franchisees Oerther Foods...... 159 Group, LLC...... 107 Boddie-Noell Enterprises...... 21 Corp...... 137 Out West Sun Holdings...... 7 Boj of WNC...... 93 Fugate Enterprises...... 54 Restaurant Group...... 58 T.L. Cannon Management.... 99 Border Foods...... 25 Genesh...... 150 Pacific Bells...... 9 Tacala...... 12 Branded Management Ghai Management Palo Alto...... 31 Tar Heel Capital...... 103 Group...... 100 Services...... 42 Paradise Companies...... 122 Tasty Restaurant Group...... 52 Brodersen GPS Hospitality...... 8 Parrish Restaurants...... 131 TD Food Group...... 91 Management Corp...... 155 Grand Mere Phase Three Brands...... 124 Team Lyders...... 56 Brumit Restaurant Group....166 Restaurant Group...... 97 Phoenix Organization...... 190 TEAM Schostak Bullard Restaurant Group...157 Hallrich...... 118 Pizza Properties...... 106 Family Rest...... 51 BurgerBusters...... 46 Hamra Enterprises...... 36 PJ United...... 66 Tetra Management...... 188 BW Management...... 147 Harman Management Potomac Family The Briad Group...... 50 California Food Corp...... 39 Dining Group...... 148 The Kades Corp...... 86 Mangement...... 84 HAZA Foods...... 20 PR Restaurants...... 94 The RC Group...... 75 Carisch...... 146 Heartland Beef...... 180 Premier Kings...... 49 The Restaurant Company... 199 Carlisle Corp...... 41 Heartland Restaurant Primary Aim...... 89 The Rose Group...... 105 Carolina Franchise Group...... 165 The Saxton Group...... 80 Holdings...... 192 Hishmeh Enterprises...... 133 Purple Square Management...... 144 The Wolak Group...... 120 Carolina Restaurant Hoogland Foods...... 152 Quality Dining...... 30 Toms King...... 79 Group...... 63 Hospitality Restaurant Tri-Arc Food Systems...... 129 ...... 3 Group...... 73 Quality Restaurant Concepts...... 117 Tria Company...... 185 Caspers Company...... 69 Howley Bread Group...... 178 Quality Restaurant Trident Holdings...... 193 Cave Enterprises...... 61 J & S Restaurants...... 184 Group...... 38 Trigo Hospitality...... 187 Celebration Restaurant JAE Restaurant Group...... 32 Rackson Restaurants...... 128 VantEdge Partners...... 23 Group...... 72 Janjer Enterprises...... 111 RBD California Vibe Restaurants...... 170 Century Fast Foods...... 175 JDK Management Co...... 168 Restaurants Ltd...... 116 Viking Restaurants...... 194 Chaac Foods...... 132 JEM Restaurant Group...... 101 RCO Limited...... 81 Wenco...... 136 Charter Foods...... 27 JJB Brands...... 149 Redberry Group...... 59 Wendy’s of CKA Management...... 76 JK&T Wings...... 57 Restaurant Bowling Green...... 68 Consolidated Burger JRN...... 60 Management Co...... 90 Wendy’s of Holdings...... 145 JS Fort Group...... 167 Retzer Organization...... 43 Colorado Springs...... 35 Cotti Foods Corp...... 33 K-Mac Enterprises...... 16 RMH Franchise Holdings...... 44 Wenspok Resources...... 88 Covelli Enterprises...... 11 Kazi Management Roaring Fork Westaco...... 143 Cowabunga...... 114 St. Croix...... 109 Restaurant Group...... 161 WKS Restaurant Group...... 14 Creative Foods Corp...... 177 KBP Investments...... 6 RoHoHo...... 160 Yadav Enterprises...... 10 D.L. Rogers Corp...... 19 KC Bell...... 110 Rottinghaus Co...... 83 Daland Corp...... 125 Kergan Bros. Sonic...... 151

38 Franchise Times | August 2021 ‘Zees find growth outside Tier 1 brands

By Laura

Fifteen years ago James Oberg decided, as he described it, to “put the parachute on and jump” when he signed a multi-unit agreement to bring an upstart burger brand to Texas. Today, Oberg operates 21 Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburger locations and his franchise group, OberRoc, debuts on the Restaurant 200 at No. 200 with nearly $31.7 million in sales to finish 2020. “I was ready for something different,” said Oberg of being just the seventh fran- chisee in the system back in 2006 and the first in Texas, where his territory now stretches from Austin to San Antonio, over to Victoria and down to Corpus Christi. Having spent most of his career in restaurant operations with concepts Freddy’s was still a start-up when James Oberg brought the brand to Texas in 2006. including Magic Time Machine, On the Border Mexican Grill and Sunset Station, is the concept’s food. related dining restrictions and now it Oberg wanted to get on the ownership “If you really analyze its menu, every needs to fine-tune the infrastructure side. side. His brother, Ron Oberg, a product Freddy’s has is of a higher qual- “We’ve gotta stay up in technology and franchisee in Kansas where Freddy’s is ity than a lot of our peers,” said Rochelle. have the POS system, the best online app based, put the brand on his radar. And in 2020, it didn’t hurt that all but for ordering … and, I’ll just say it, the “I said, why Freddy’s? It’s , one of OberRoc’s locations has a drive- Chick-fil-A speed of technology,” said shakes and fries, it’s been done 3 million thru (only six in the entire system don’t Oberg. times by 1 million concepts,” recalled have drive-thrus). Oberg. “My brother said, it’s quality, While sales at OberRoc’s restaurants S&L finds winner in Culver’s service, everything, and you’ve just gotta were down as much as 40 percent in the Brothers Chad Stevenson and Jeff come up and taste it.” (Ron Oberg is also early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, Liegel joke that they couldn’t decide a multi-unit Freddy’s ‘zee.) Oberg said they rebounded what they wanted to do after high school Taste it he did, and by late spring and have so they convinced their parents to buy Oberg opened his first been positive since August a Culver’s franchise. It’s a graduation Freddy’s in the mega 2020. present that’s worked out quite well as retail center The Forum at “COVID was kind of their S&L Companies finished 2020 with Olympia Parkway outside a non-paid-for market- $117.3 million in sales from 46 Culver’s San Antonio in 2006. His ing tool that drove people restaurants and moved 24 spots up the development agreement to us that might not have Restaurant 200 ranking to No. 104. calls for OberRoc to open experienced Freddy’s and Based in Portage, , S&L had another 14 locations. say, why haven’t I tried just four stores in 2010 when Stevenson As a system, Freddy’s this?” said Oberg. “Now and Liegel bought the business from their grew to 389 locations to the issue is, we just don’t parents. Their scale—S&L is the largest finish 2020 and pushed have enough staff. And it’s Culver’s franchisee—is unique within the systemwide sales up nearly not just us, its national.” system because the franchisor doesn’t 20 percent, to $643 million. James Oberg His Freddy’s typically have sell big development deals. S&L proved Its average unit volume for about 40 employees per itself a strong operator, the brothers said, the year was $1.68 million. In March, store but are down to 25 now, a staffing and started signing smaller multi-unit its founders sold the chain to St. Louis- challenge he thinks will ease in the fall. agreements and acquiring restaurants. It based private equity firm Thompson Looking ahead, Oberg and Rochelle now has locations in Wisconsin, , Street Capital Partners. said they’re ready to see what invest- Michigan and in , where S&L “It was very successful for us from ments Thompson Street and new CEO signed a five-unit deal in 2015 helping the start,” noted OberRoc partner Jeff Chris Dull will make in the brand, par- introduce the brand in the state. (Today Rochelle, who pointed to the group’s ticularly in technology. Like most restau- S&L has 15 locations in Florida.) “well-placed” locations, including lots rants, Freddy’s was forced to accelerate While opening restaurants remains a of interstate frontage in the Austin-San online ordering, curbside pickup and Antonio corridor as one factor. The other delivery efforts because of pandemic- Franchisee growth continued on 40

August 2021 | Franchise Times 39 Franchisee growth continued from 39

big part of the growth strategy—S&L has six under con- struction—acquisitions are equally important. The com- pany added seven units since the start of 2021 to bring its total to 53 and is in the process of purchasing four more. “We have a lot of existing relationships with franchi- sees who, when they’re ready to sell, they call us up,” said Stevenson. Following the Culver’s strategy (it’s a requirement in the franchise agreement), S&L puts an owner-operator in every restaurant, which Liegel said leads to better per- formance. “Eighty to 90 percent of our owner-operators started in Culver’s with us in high school and chose that as their career path,” he said of the benefits of longev- ity. He and Stevenson are equally “present and engaged,” Liegel continued, and sales at their stores are up 21 per- $75,000,000 $52,000,000 cent so far this year. “We’re very aggressive” when it comes to executing on KC BELL, INC. RMLS HOP, LLC ROMULUS the Culver’s operations manual, put in Stevenson, and RESTAURANTS $15,000,000 upsize to their mantra is, “don’t get complacent.” existing facilities Senior secured credit facilities “And we create that environment for our other own- ers,” Stevenson continued. “That’s how Culver’s raised us.” Lead arranger and administrative agent Lead arranger and administrative agent Like Freddy’s, Culver’s benefitted from its drive-thrus throughout the pandemic and Liegel noted that channel isn’t slowing down even as dining rooms are back open. “We’ve almost kept the entire dine-in business and added the drive-thru on top of it,” he said. To address the labor shortage, S&L moved all full-time store employees to a minimum of $15 per hour without having to take much of a price increase. “We’re able to staff better, which equals better service, which leads to $28,000,000 $12,000,000 more sales,” Stevenson said. As the brand pushes its butterburgers and frozen cus- AMSN GROUP, ET AL EL POLLO LOCO tard into new markets on the East and West coasts and PACK-HUYNH, LLC Senior secured credit facilities, as S&L continues its own expansion, Stevenson expects refinance, and acquisition Senior secured credit facility Culver’s to benefit from what he called a unique position in the QSR segment. Sole arranger Sole arranger “In a good economy, we get a lot of trade up, and when the economy is down, we get a lot of trade down,” he said. “We sit right in the middle.” Systemwide sales for Culver’s hit $1.98 billion in 2020, HELPING CLIENTS DELIVER RESULTS up from $1.79 billion in 2019; the company finished the year with 783 locations. Average sales across Culver’s EVERY STEP OF THE WAY franchise locations were $2.6 million in 2020 and the cost to open a restaurant ranges from $2.4 to $5.4 million.  More than 100 years of combined experience  Supporting more than 30 brands  National reach

wintrust.com/franchise Chad Stevenson, left, and Jeff Liegel of S&L Companies are the largest Culver’s operators with 53 restaurants. Wintrust Franchise Finance is a division of Lake Forest Bank & Trust Company, N.A., a Wintrust Community Bank. Banking products provided by Wintrust Financial Corp. banks.