News

New year, new units

CUPS, Dickeys, Fatburger, Maui Wowi, Chicken Salad Chick, Capriottis, Modmarket, Sushirrito, Hale and Hearty Soups, Mooyah's, Giardino Gourmet Salads, GRILLiT, Barberitos and Great Wraps are on the move early in 2015.

January 15, 2015

The new year is off to a fast start for many fast casual brands, with new locations and new franchise deals popping up from California to South Carolina. Here's a round up of this week's new units and agreements:

CUPS Frozen Yogurt – That’s Hotwill celebrate the grand opening of its new store at the Boca Town Center Mall, 6000 Glades Road in Boca Raton, Florida on Jan. 17. Ed and Dana Alvarez are the franchisees. They also own a CUPS in Wellington, Florida.

Dickeys Barbecue Pit continues its climb to 500 units with the opening of these new locations:

• 5604 Balboa Avenue, Suite 105 & 106 in San Diego on Jan. 15. It's Dickeys first unit in the market. Assim Shammami is the franchisee.
• 27931 La Paz Road in Laguna Niguel, California on Jan. 15. The franchisee is Stephen Huerth, who also owns a Dickeys in Brea.
• 18742 Soledad Canyon Road in Santa Clarita, California. The franchisee is Anthony Pimentel

Fatburger has opened a cobranded store with sister brand Buffalo’s Express at 2843 Lenwood Rd., Barstow, California.

Maui Wowi Hawaiian is planning to open the first of several company-owned locations in the Denver Metro area. Located at 7581 E. Academy Blvd. at the Hangar 2, in Denver, Colorado, the store is expected to open late spring 2015. Currently, Maui Wowi is 100 percent franchised. The new company location will serve as a training facility for new franchisees and a testing center for new products and customer experiences.

Franchisees SingBev Hospitality LLC opened two new Chicken Salad Chick locations this week, one at at 214 Azalea Blvd. in Summerville, South Carolina and one in the Bank of America Plaza at 101 South Tryon Street, Suite 10/11 in Charlotte, North Carolina. SingBev Hospitality LLC also operates Chicken Salad Chick restaurants in Greenville, Lexington and Columbia, South Carolina.

Chicken Salad Chick has 100 additional franchises sold and in development in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.

Capriottis opened its first Georgia location on Jan. 12. The new location is located at 1611 Satellite Blvd. in Duluth.

Modmarket opened its first unit at Denver International Airport (DIA). The 900-square-foot restaurant is located in the center of the B Concourse. A second Modmarket location is expected to open later this year on the C Concourse.

Sushirrito will open a new location at 448 University Avenue in Palo Alto, California on Jan. 17. The unit will be the brand's fourth, and the first location in the suburbs, according to a company press release.

New York City-based Hale and Hearty Soups will open its first Boston unit on Jan. 22. The new restaurant is located at 185 Franklin Street.

New franchise agreements

Miami-basedGiardino Gourmet Salads is stepping out of South Florida with a three-unit franchise deal for the Nashville, Tennessee market. The Osman family, previous owners of Subway restaurants in various cities in Florida and Tennessee, will open these over the span of the next three years starting in 2015. 

Mooyah's Burgers, Fries and Shakes signed its first Florida deal. Franchisee plans to bring the brand to Jacksonville, according to the Jacksonville Business Journal.

Miami-based GRILLiT, Inc. announced that it has executed a franchise agreement with Greg Mitchell to establish a GRILLiT restaurant location in Tampa, Florida.  The location is expected to be in northwest Tampa, in Pasco County, in the Trinity community area. Mitchell hopes to launch the restaurant in Q3 2015.

Barberitos has inked a deal with franchisee Neil Gottenburg that will bring new restaurants to Marietta, Kennesaw and Woodstock, Georgia. Barberitos has 56 signed locations, with 39 in operation in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Florida.

Franchisee Fred Gamble is on the hunt for real estate in Boston, where he hopes to plant his Great Wraps location.