News

Wing Zone opens at Ft. Hood

December 26, 2011

Chicken wing chain Wing Zone has opened its second military base location at Ft. Hood in Texas, marking the second of 15 locations to open on military bases across the U.S. The first location opened at Ft. Lewis in Seattle.

“We have had a big 2011 and our first double-digit franchisee’s opening marks the proven beginning to our focused multi-unit/multi-brand growth initiative,” said Matt Friedman, CEO/founder of Wing Zone. “To have an established franchisee like AAFES join our system is further proof that the advancements that we made internally are executable externally.”

AAFES, is an agency of the United States Department of Defense that provided merchandise and services to all branches of the military, active duty and non-active duty. In addition to Wing Zone, AAFES supports operations for other restaurant chains such as Taco Bell, Burger King and Cinnabon.

“We have been closely monitoring Wing Zone’s growth and felt now was the perfect time to add the growing brand to our growing portfolio. We are excited to have the growing chain with an elite product that not only complements our other brands, but creates a great dinner-part option at our sites,” said Michael Dillon, senior restaurant program planner for AAFES.

The AAFES opening comes on the heels of Wing Zone’s flavor launch and overhaul of its chicken wing sauces. Wing Zone asked its Facebook fans to rename its sauces such as mild, medium and hot. What they got was Tame, Buffalo Bliss and Hot Shot – all now proprietary to Wing Zone.

Wing Zone also redesigned its brand to incorporate flavor into each component, including the logo, menu, marketing items and in-store design. The campaign includes a consumer engagement program that celebrates the individual tastes and eccentricities that define people’s favorite flavors.