Aventura, Fla. — Smokey Bones reopened all of its 61 restaurants in 16 states on June 30. During the pandemic, Smokey Bones created and opened its 61st restaurant, a ghost kitchen in Chicago and opened a new brand, The Wing Experience, in June as a virtual restaurant located inside its ghost kitchen. “We are proud to not only have reopened all of our restaurants, but we have demonstrated, with the launch of our ghost and virtual kitchens, that Smokey Bones is a growth brand, now and in the future,” says …
restaurants
Helena, Mont. — Slim Chickens, a leading fast-casual franchise which features dine-in and drive-thru in the “better chicken” segment, is expanding into Montana. Mike Sartwell, who is an existing multi-unit franchisee with Slim Chickens, is bringing four new restaurants to Montana. The first location, which is a conversion, will be located at 1450 Prospect Ave. in Helena. Sartwell has an extensive portfolio of restaurants across North Dakota, Montana, Missouri and Illinois. His portfolio consists of quick-service and fast-casual brands. “Our group has developed Slim Chickens restaurants in North Dakota, and …
Minneapolis — Leading casual and quick-serve restaurant brand veteran Aric Nissen has joined Restaurant Technologies as chief marketing officer. Previously, Nissen served as vice president of revenue management for Subway, helping build out revenue strategies for the global chain. His role at Restaurant Technologies, a top provider of foodservice cooking oil and hood and flue management solutions, will be to lead the company marketing efforts through the next stages of growth, following on the successful acquisitions of AutoMist and Grease Lock. These solutions, along with the company’s flagship Total Oil …
Riverside, Calif. — Farmer Boys®, the fast-casual concept known for its award-winning burgers and exceptional service, has promoted John Lucas to vice president of brand consistency. Previously, he was director of franchise operations. In this new role, Lucas is responsible for ensuring that Farmer Boys maintains consistent operational standards across every element of the brand and delivers a high quality, reliable guest experience in every restaurant. Lucas joined the Farmer Boys team in 2017 as a franchise business consultant and has served the company as director of franchise operations since …
Irvine, Calif. — Juice It Up!, one of the nation’s leading handcrafted smoothie, açaí bowl and raw juice chains, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2020, is opening the brand’s flagship “new store prototype” location this summer in Costa Mesa, Calif. This corporate-owned location will be the first to feature the brand’s new store design and will serve as an innovation kitchen for R&D, as well as a training and test center to continually share best practices with franchisees systemwide. The flagship location is opening on Costa Mesa’s 17th …
New York City — Shake Shack Inc. and licensee Maxim’s Caterers Limited have expanded their partnership, with plans to open a minimum of 15 Shacks in South China by 2030, including locations in Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Fuzhou and Xiamen. The Shenzhen location is slated to open next year. Together, Shake Shack and Maxim’s Caterers Limited plan to operate 55 Shacks in mainland China by 2030. Maxim’s currently operates Shake Shack locations in Shanghai and Hong Kong, with Beijing and Macau in development with goals to open later in 2020. As a …
Hauppauge, N.Y. — BOSS Facility Services’ Robert S. Keingstein lost his battle with cancer on June 20, 2020. He was 68 years old. Bob was a true industry professional with a passion and knowledge of the HVAC industry for over 51 years. Bob started his career as an HVAC apprentice for Forman Air Conditioning at the age of 17 and instantly fell in love with the trade. At the age of 23 he started his first HVAC company and never looked back. He became involved with ACCA (Air Conditioning Contractors …
Lexington, Ky. — A&W Restaurants is expanding from California to New York and from Louisiana to Minnesota, the result of agreements signed with 10 new franchisees. The latest multi-unit deal, signed this month, will bring three locations to Lafayette, La. The popular fast food chain has opened 12 restaurants in the last 18 months. It now has 16 in development, with four being built by current franchisees. The new locations will be in major cities, such as Chicago and St. Louis, as well as mid-size and smaller communities. Seven will …
Pittsburgh — Moe’s Southweast Grill has opened its first ever kiosk-only restaurant. Located in Pittsburgh, the kiosk-only restaurant is owned and operated by Moe’s multi-unit franchisee Mike Geiger, seats 16 and features Moe’s new brand design. The build took approximately 10 months to complete, with the final inspection scheduled for one day after the city shut down due to COVID-19 (March 13). This timely launch provides a more contactless ordering option in the time of COVID-19, as well as additional sanitation efforts have been put in place in accordance with …
Waterbury, Conn. – Wing It On!, a New England-based wing joint, has formed a strategic franchising initiative that will accelerate its U.S. expansion. With 12 locations open and in development, Wing It On! has now set its sights on targeted franchise growth, zeroing in on key regions throughout the Northeastern and Southeastern sections of the United States. “We’ve been patient with our growth, primarily because we wanted to give all of our energy to our fans and the business at our first few locations. In the last 18 months or …