News

Greek from Greece lands 31-unit deal

Provided

February 10, 2020

Greek from Greece Bakery-Cafe has finalized a deal that will expand its portfolio from 10 to 41 locations. Thirty locations will open in Long Island, New York, and one will open in Stamford, Connecticut. The significant expansion fuels momentum for GFG, which recently acquired and rebranded its biggest New York-based competitor and opened a new location in Tampa, Florida, according to a company press release.

The GFG units in New York will be housed in converted Dairy Barn drive-thru convenience stores that were in operation for more than 70 years. Most of the locations will retain a drive-thru, with a focus on to-go and grab-and-go foods, and some will also feature an eat-in dining area. The drive-thru feature is a first for the fast casual brand, which has previously focused on eat-in cafes and kiosks, said Dan Rowe, CEO and founder of Fransmart, the company helping GFC to expand via franchising.

"Greece has an amazing and storied coffee and Cafe culture," he said in the release. "GFG sees this untapped segment as the biggest opportunity in the restaurant business. The company invested in a big, big way – buying out competitors and chains like Dairy Barn to quickly convert to GFG restaurants."

GFG Bakery-Cafe CEO Georgios (George) Drosos and a group of businessmen with industry experience opened the first GFG Bakery-Cafe in 2017. Nine others followed throughout Manhattan and New Jersey, and a new location in Tampa, Florida, opened in December 2019.

"George is the most dynamic restaurant CEO I have ever met," Rowe said. "The company has invested tens of millions in their production and distribution facilities, making sure every GFG location has its entire supply line of proprietary, made-in-Greece menu items. It's the ideal franchise — high volume, low start up, few moving parts, easy for a franchisee to operate multi-units, and easy for store-level employees to get it right every day. The food is crave-able, and you can only get it at GFG."

GFG plans to have 100 units open or in progress by the end of the year.