franchise development

Dallas — Wingstop has opened its 3,000th restaurant globally — a significant milestone as the brand accelerates toward its vision of becoming a Top 10 Global Restaurant Brand with more than 10,000 restaurants worldwide. Wingstop reached this milestone at a record pace, opening nearly 800 restaurants and expanding its global footprint by 50% in just 2 years. During this time, Wingstop entered six new markets: Australia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Puerto Rico, Saudi Arabia and The Netherlands. Wingstop now operates in 47 U.S. states and 15 countries, and expects to soon open …

Lausanne, Switzerland — KFC Europe is opening one of its most iconic European flagship stores, located at the heart of historical Rome near the renowned Trevi Fountain. This landmark launch is a testament to KFC’s continued growth throughout Europe. As one of the fastest growing retail brands in the world, KFC opens a new restaurant somewhere around the world once every 3.5 hours. The choice of Rome as the site for one of the first Western European flagship stores was a natural choice and reflects the brand’s rapid growth across …

Gurugram, India — Moe’s Casa Mexicana™, the global evolution of the popular U.S. fast-casual chain Moe’s Southwest Grill®, is entering the Indian market with franchise partner Unify Foodworks. The brand’s international flagship restaurant will open on Dec. 6, 2025, at Elan Miracle with a second location set to open at Ambience Mall Vasant Kunj. “We are thrilled to bring Moe’s Casa Mexicana to New Delhi and make India our first international market,” says Steven Yang, senior vice president, APAC at GoTo Foods, parent company of Moe’s Casa Mexicana. “Unify Foodworks …

Dallas — Bonchon, a global leader in Korean Fried Chicken, is expanding to Puerto Rico. The company signed a 6-unit deal with a new franchise partner with the first restaurant slated to open in late 2026. “We’re thrilled to expand into a new market with strong demand for Korean cuisine and a trusted, experienced partner,” says Suzie Tsai, CEO, Bonchon. “As Korean food continues to gain global popularity, Puerto Rico presents an exciting opportunity for Bonchon to introduce our signature Korean Fried Chicken. Through our turnkey franchise program, we’re committed …

Minneapolis — International Dairy Queen, Inc. (IDQ), through its wholly owned subsidiary American Dairy Queen Corporation, has signed deals to open DQ® restaurants in new markets Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, and grow the number of DQ restaurants in Qatar. The deals commit to opening 187 DQ restaurants throughout the four markets. “Entering new markets and growing existing markets is a key component of our growth strategy,” says Nicolas Boudet, COO international at International Dairy Queen. “With 7,700 DQ restaurants in more than 20 markets, we’re pleased to add to …

Frisco, Texas — Layne’s Chicken Fingers has signed a monumental 44-unit franchise agreement with Eli Cohen, an experienced real estate and restaurant developer, across its home state of Texas. Layne’s will expand across West Texas, San Antonio and the Coastal Bend. With this deal, the Texas market is now over 90% sold out, leaving room for expansion in just El Paso and a few smaller, single-unit territories. “Sealing an over-40-unit deal in our home state is a major milestone for us as we approach 100% market saturation across Texas,” says …