Franchising
Fuzzy's Taco Shop debuting taqueria concept
March 17, 2021
Texas-based Fuzzy's Taco Shop has created Fuzzy's Taco Shop Taqueria, which includes Fuzzy's recipes via a reduced menu in a smaller, to-go-focused footprint, Jessica Wescott, the brand's COO and CFO, said in a company press release.
"As real estate opportunities became available over the last year, we realized we didn't want to limit our franchisees to the traditional Fuzzy's model with larger square footage requirements," she said.
A traditional Fuzzy's Taco Shop unit is between 3,000-4,000 square feet, while the Fuzzy's Taqueria will typically operate within 1,200-1,800 square-foot spaces.
The first Taqueria will open in April in Minneapolis, a new market for the brand, which has nearly 150 franchise- and corporate-owned locations in 16 states. Real estate broker Peter Fitzgerald and tenured restaurant operator Ed Pittsley approached the brand with what Wescott described as the "perfect 1,100 square-foot location for a Fuzzy's within North Loop in Minneapolis."
"We understood from a consumer perspective this new footprint needed to be branded differently," Wescott said. "It was important to keep the overall Fuzzy's vibe our guests have come to love and trust with our great food, cold drinks and Baja feel, but also make the Taqueria a little different to showcase the reduced menu and a more take-out driven focus."
Why now?
Plans for the new footprint began prior to the pandemic, as leadership noticed a continued shift of dining to off-premise. The pandemic, however, reinforced the need for a model that would allow flexibility for restaurant partners and new franchisees, Mel Knight, president of Fuzzy's Taco Shop, said in the release.
"The most important factor with this new opportunity was maintaining the Fuzzy's experience while keeping true to ourselves and what has earned us our cult-like following over the years," Mel Knight said. "This new footprint will offer more flexibility, and we are looking forward to expanding the Fuzzy's Taqueria brand."
Founded in 2003 near the Texas Christian University campus in Fort Worth, Fuzzy's Taco Shop has 150 franchise- and corporate-owned locations in 16 states.
