News

New units planned for high-growth states

New restaurants are set to open in three of the five states the NRA predicts will have strong sales in 2015.

January 29, 2015

The National Restaurant Association predicted strong sales gains in five states this year, including Arizona, Florida, North Dakota, Texas and Colorado.

Coincidentally, new restaurants announced openings and development deals in three of those five states this week. Here's a rundown of that activity, as well as openings in other states and countries:

Florida

Newk’s Eatery has announced a new development agreement with franchisee Aeolus Group. The multi-unit operators have committed to open 11 Newk’s locations in the Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota, Lakeland and Clearwater markets in Florida.

The agreement is part of Newk’s growth plans that include opening nearly 30 new company-owned and franchised locations this year. The chain currently has 77 units in 13 states, predominantly in the Southeast.

Texas

Coconuts Fish Cafe opened its first franchise at 5600 W. Lovers Lane in Dallas. The Hawaii-based chain flew cultural ambassador Kimokeo Kapahulehua to officiate a traditional Hawaiian blessing during the grand opening event.

Pie Five Pizza Co. opened its third restaurant in the Houston area. The new restaurant is located at 1473 S. Mason Road in Katy.

Miami-based GRILLiT, Inc. announced plans to open its first franchise location in Texas this summer. The new restaurant will be located in the Greenlawn Crossing Shopping Center in Round Rock.

Burger 21 announced it has signed franchise agreements to develop an additional restaurant in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and its first restaurant in McAllen, Texas. The Tampa-based chain also currently has Texas locations in development in Irving and Austin. To date, Burger 21 has 15 open locations and 25 franchised restaurants in development across the country.

La Madeleine has completed the deal with the Chalak Mitra Group that includes the acquisition of five existing units in San Antonio, Texas and Tulsa, Oklahoma and development of 12 news units in Oklahoma and Central Texas.

Colorado

Dickey's Barbecue Pit opened a new restaurant at 811 Cheyenne Meadows Road, Suite 12 in Colorado Springs, Colorado on Jan. 29. The owner is John Hightower.

Other states

Arkansas

Menchie’s opened its newest location at 7301 Alcoa Rd., Suite 5 in Bryant, Arkansas. The franchisee is Pat Abshire.

California

Dickey's Barbecue Pitopened a new unit on Jan. 29 at 8300 La Palma Avenue, Suite S00A1 in Buena Park, California. The owner is Richard Foiles.

Missouri

RedBrick Pizza announced its second Missouri restaurant will open at 18 South County Centerway in St. Louis. The first RedBrick Pizza in Missouri opened January 2015 at Northpark Mall in Joplin. This new location is the first of several restaurants in the area to be developed over the next three years.

The South County Center and Northpark Mall locations are corporate-owned sites for the franchisor and are immediately available for sale to franchise prospects with restaurant experience who are interested in opening future outlets.

North Carolina

McAlister's Deliannounced plans to open a location at 431 North Berkley Boulevard in Goldsboro, North Carolina in April 2015. The new location will be owned and operated by the Charlotte-based franchise group, Southern Deli (SD) Holdings. Goldsboro will mark the 24th location in the state for SD Holdings.

Illinois

Marcus Lemonis, the host of the CNBC series "The Profit," has announced plans to open The Simple Greek at 478 Central Avenue in Highland Park, Illinois later this spring.

Lemonis' relationship with the restaurant began when the Pittsburg, Pennsylvania-based chain My Big Fat Greek Gyro (now rebranded as The Simple Greek) was featured on his CNBC reality series, The Profit.

Washington

Costa Vida Fresh Mexican Grill has signed a multi-unit agreement for the greater Vancouver, Washington area. Franchisees Kevin Hepner, Brad Hoffman and Scott Dickinson plan to open their first three units by 2017.

The agreement will make Washington home to 10 Costa Vida locations. Costa Vida currently has 68 units total.

International

Froyo concept Pinkberry has partnered with Royal Food Services to open its first store in Panama City, Panama at Costa del Este and plans a second store opening early spring 2015.