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Tips, advice on preparing the brand for unit expansion

Brand unit and location growth requires capital and resources, but there are some other critical aspects as well, according to several successful franchise and restaurant leaders.

Roland Dickey Jr., president and CEO of Dickey’s Barbeque Restaurants.

November 6, 2015 by Judy Mottl — Editor, RetailCustomerExperience.com & DigitalSignageToday.com

Depending on a company’s management philosophy and strategy the declaration that there is no one silver bullet when it comes to expanding a brand’s physical footprint may be viewed as a welcome bit of advice or a frustrating tip of insight.

But given who offered it up, there’s no denying it has a compelling ring of truth.

“The message today is there is no one answer on how to grow and there are two different strategies if you’re talking two different brands,” said Randy Gier, CEO of RAVE Restaurant Group, the parent company of the Pie Five Pizza franchise and full-service Pizza Inn operations.

“You have to match the expansion model to the business strategy,” he explained during “The Next Level: Prepare Your Brand for Unit Expansion," a session at the Fast Casual Executive Summit held in Miami in late October. Joining Gier on stage were Craig Dunaway, owner of Penn Station East Coast Subs, and Roland Dickey Jr., president and CEO of Dickey’s Barbeque Restaurants. Mike Todd of PAR moderated the one-hour discussion.

RAVE's Pizza Inn is a full-service concept founded in 1958, and now boasts 250 restaurants. Its latest concept, Pie Five, which launched in in 2011,now  has 73 locations in 16 states, and 500 franchise units and company locations under development

“They are two separate brands, but we are on a growth trend with both,” Gier said. That growth is tied to a “tightly defined franchise strategy that offers clear criteria for franchise partners and a strong pipeline for development,” he said.

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit is a fast casual family-owned chain established in 1941, and began franchising in 1994, and now has 520 restaurant locations in 43 states.

“It took time to grow, and now we’re seeing the biggest growth as yet in the past five years,” said Dickey Jr., adding “at a time [the recession years] when there wasn’t a whole lot of growth we took it as an opportunity to grow and it’s been very exciting.”

Success and growth, he noted are tied to a few corporate strategies. One is within the food decision-making realm.

“We have kept our menu simple compared to other BBQ franchises, and we are always looking to innovate,’ said Dickey Jr. “Simplicity is also key to reinforcing brand in the store."

Simplicity proved successful for Penn Station’s growth as well, related Dunaway, who admitted the first location struggled at the outset, and growth came after a long and arduous process.

“We made money in spite of ourselves,” he said with a smile.

There are currently 300 Penn Stations locations throughout 15 states. Penn Station's origins can be traced back to Jeff Osterfeld's first venture in 1983, as owner/operator of "Jeffrey's Delicatessen" in Ohio. The first Penn Station opened in 1985 and the original menu had four sandwiches. In 1988, the vision was for an upscale, quick -service dining experience revolving around "fresh ingredients and display cooking" and that was formulated into a franchising concept.

“It was about simplicity for us,” Dunaway said, noting there is one choice of bread unlike some eateries that can offer up to over a dozen choices.

“What we focus on is strategic concentric growth,” he said, noting that in choosing franchise partners the focus is finding someone with a strong business acumen.

“We are not in the business of teaching someone all about business or how to run a business,” he said.

Another key growth aspect is realizing the role culture plays in brand expansion and ensuring partners care as much about the culture as the company-owned locations do. Staff and management hiring is critical as well.

Growth, said Dickey, also involves striving to be the best and always working on that goal.

“It [growth, expansion} is not a place to get to, it’s a journey you are on forever,” he said.

About Judy Mottl

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Judy Mottl is editor of Retail Customer Experience and Digital Signage Today. She has decades of experience as a reporter, writer and editor covering technology and business for top media including AOL, InformationWeek, InternetNews and Food Truck Operator.

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