Under a joint strategic development program, five U.S. and Canadian restaurant chains -- Bruegger's Bagels, Fazoli's Restaurants, Friendly's Ice Cream, Smokey Bones Bar & Fire Grill and Timothy's Coffees of the World Inc. -- will bundle and leverage their brands and personnel, to pursue non-traditional concession opportunities.
The brands have joined forces to target non-traditional concession opportunities such as food courts at airports, universities and hospitals.
The companies, with the backing of their financial sponsor -- Sun Capital Partners -- plan to take a flexible approach to bundling brands, meaning that depending on the availability of space or preference for certain brands, they will offer a single brand option or a combination of two, three, four or five nameplates.
The chains are poised to build upon the earlier success of Bruegger's in expanding its market presence to airport locations in 2008, including Boston's Logan Airport, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, Raleigh-Durham International Airport and Cleveland's Hopkins.
Bruegger's, Friendly's, Fazoli's, Smokey Bones and Timothy's -- an independent brand and operating division of Bruegger's -- combined currently operate almost 1,300 restaurants and outlets in 28 states.
"We look forward to introducing our compelling suite of brands to concession directors, concessionaires and potential franchisees around the country with the goal of bringing a broader choice of quick, yet delicious portable menu options to alternative venues in our target markets," said Chris Cheek, VP of Franchise Development at Bruegger's.
