Las Vegas — Focus Brands®, the parent company of Auntie Anne’s®, Carvel®, Cinnabon®, Jamba®, McAlister’s Deli®, Moe’s Southwest Grill® and Schlotzsky’s®, is capitalizing on franchise growth in the non-traditional sector, now boasting more than 2,000 non-traditional units across the country. Building on this momentum are two newly signed agreements in the Las Vegas market.
Mother-daughter entrepreneurial team Vicki Richardson and Leila Day, of JV Ventures, recently opened an Auntie Anne’s location inside of Allegiant Stadium. This location adds to their non-traditional portfolio including two Auntie Anne’s at the Las Vegas Premium Outlets North, an Auntie Anne’s Food Truck and an Auntie Anne’s location inside Harry Reid International Airport.
Fifth Avenue Restaurant Group has signed on to open one Cinnabon and six Auntie Anne’s locations across various Las Vegas casinos. The first Auntie Anne’s opened in the Flamingo Hotel in September, and the first Cinnabon is expected to open in New York, New York by the end of the year. Additional locations guests can expect to find Auntie Anne’s iconic pretzels in the coming years are: New York, New York; Horseshoe Las Vegas; MGM Grand; Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino; and Luxor Hotel.
“Focus Brands has always found success in the non-traditional sector, predominately in malls, but we’ve since broadened venue types to include airports, entertainment centers, colleges and universities, big box retailers, hotels, casinos and more,” says Mike Woodward, senior vice president of franchise sales for Focus Brands. “Not only do our non-traditional locations perform strongly, proving the consumer appeal, but these types of non-traditional builds also have the benefit of a smaller square footage with lower startup costs. Pair this with concentrated, high-volume foot traffic, and franchisees see the vast opportunity for enhanced revenue.”
Company leadership sees vast whitespace for aggressive non-traditional expansion, playing a vital role in the portfolio company’s overall development — which is expected to have a record-breaking year.
“We’ll continue to lean into non-traditional expansion as a strategic growth driver,” says Brian Krause, chief development officer of Focus Brands. “Not only do these non-traditional locations present an attractive business opportunity, but with Focus Brands, franchisees gain access to key benefits as a result of the power of our portfolio. They can plug into the shared resources across the company and add more concepts to their portfolio seamlessly and efficiently.”
Atlanta-based Focus Brands® is a leading developer of global multi-channel foodservice brands. As of June 25, 2023, Focus Brands, through its affiliate brands, is the franchisor and operator of more than 6,600 restaurants, cafes, ice cream shoppes and bakeries in all 50 states and over 60 countries and territories. For more information, visit www.focusbrands.com.
SOURCE: Focus Brands