Ranking the biggest franchise owners in the U.S.
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Ranking the biggest franchise owners in the U.S.
Units shift as M&A fuels growth
among Restaurant 200 operators
T
he Restaurant 200 reflects operators, the largest franchisee
many of the major trends groups continued rapid growth.
in the restaurant industry, The top 10 companies now The Top 2OO Operators Command
one being the big continue to account for $11 billion in sales
grow. But the industry is facing with an additional $158 million • $42.0 billion in revenue
real change and difficulty even added in 2019. There was also • 30,124 restaurants
at the top. These year-end 2019 plenty of growth beyond the top
numbers serve as one final bench- 10. In fact, the next 190 restau- • Top 5 firms combine for $7.5 billion in sales
mark for the industry before the rant operators grew even faster.
COVID-19 pandemic changed The percentage of sales in the
everything. top 10 accounted for 27 percent
Flynn Restaurant Group of the overall sales in the group The 10 Sellers of the Restaurant 200
maintains its No. 1 position for of $42 billion, down slightly
the ninth year in a row. But it was from 28 percent last year. That
Rank LY Company Units 2018
a down year for the California- marks a switch in a five-year
based restaurant giant. The com- sales trend that heavily favored 76 QK Holdings 91 Denny’s, 9 Del Taco
pany shed seven Applebee’s and the largest operators. Diversified
78 64 Buffalo Wild Wings
sales dipped by $5 million. Flynn The average operator on the Restaurant Holdings
added one Arby’s, five Taco Bell Restaurant 200 has $210 mil- 95 Four Foods Group 72 Little Caesars, 49 Kneaders
units and a single Panera. lion in revenue and oversees 151
NPC International retains the locations. That’s up from $202 Wisconsin
128 34 Applebee’s, 31 Pizza Hut
Hospitality Group
No. 2 spot even as it struggled million and 143 units last year.
with finance issues in 2019. The 147 Ultra Steak 22 Little Caesars, 13 Texas Roadhouse
company grew to $1.6 billion All together now 160 McEssy Investment Co. 23 McDonald’s
in sales, a $67 million increase Mergers and acquisitions
in the self-reported numbers. shifted hundreds of restaurants 161 Ocedon 62 Burger King
But even that wasn’t enough to around on the Restaurant 200 185 Southwest Deli Group 33 McAlister’s Deli
stave off liquidity issues. The list. In all, 10 of the top 200 com-
company faced a credit rating panies sold the entirety of their 191 FOR Northwest 38 Burger King
downgrade from Moody’s and operations. The largest was QK 195 Lunan Corporation 37 Arby’s
filed for bankruptcy protection Holdings, which reported $154
midway through 2020. million in sales in 2018 and
Carrols Restaurant Group ranked No. 76 on last year’s list- Others on the list of sellouts largest Burger King operator and
continued to expand, and the ing. The Denny’s and Del Taco or near sellouts were McEssy No. 3 on the ranking, added 187
company was the top sales operator sold all of its 94 Denny’s Investment Co., which sold many BK restaurants and 65 Popeyes,
grower in the rankings. The mas- locations to WKS Restaurant of its 23 McDonald’s locations. contributing to its sales growth.
sive Burger King operator added Group (No. 17). The next largest, No. 165 Ocedon sold most of the Sun Holdings’ acquisition of
$273 million in sales. For some Diversified Restaurant Holdings Burger King locations it operated, 51 McAlister’s locations repre-
context, that level of sales alone (No. 78), was taken private and No. 195 Lunan Corp. sold sented another trend as the larg-
would put an operator solidly at when private equity firm ICV most of its Arby’s stores. est operators diversify with new
No. 39 on the ranking. Partners took over the company’s The common theme among brands within their markets. The
The Dhanani 64 Buffalo Wild that group was great prices for Dallas-based company run by
Group in Sugar Wings locations. active consolidation companies. Guillermo Perales already has
Land, Texas comes By Nicholas Upton Four Foods Despite ongoing industry hard- 290 Burger Kings, so taking on
in at No. 4 with Research by Group, the No. 95 ships, including rising labor costs a new concept, complex or not,
an estimated $1.1 Matt Haskin operator last year, and lagging traffic, prices for the starts to make sense.
billion in sales, unloaded all of its right brands remained high. The WKS Restaurant Group added
and Max Wolf
and Sun Holdings franchise locations decision between investing in $169 million in sales, much of
jumps to No. 5 and became a pri- remodels and updates or cash- that from its Denny’s acquisition,
from the No. 9 position last vate equity fund itself. The Salt ing out has been top of mind for along with six Krispy Kremes
year. The company added $206 Lake City-based operator behind operators in the last few years. and five El Pollo Loco restau-
million in sales (the second the expansion of Kneaders and In all, 24 companies on the rants. The operator grew sales by
most aggressive sales growth) also a major Little Caesars fran- Restaurant 200 opted to sell all nearly 60 percent, making it the
through 2019 as it acquired 51 chisee now invests in fledgling or the vast majority of their oper- strongest percentage sales growth
McAlister’s Delis. restaurant and food-retail con- ations in the last two years. Large leader within the top 200.
While there were shifts and cepts with an aim to scale under franchisees, meanwhile, continue
disruptions among the top the name Savory. to buy more scale. Carrols, the
August 2020 | Franchise Times 33
15 K-Mac Enterprises
Franchise Times Fort Smith, AR
$484,988,000
Restaurant 200: Top 20 289 Taco Bell
6 Golden Corral
11 YUM! Multi
Sun Holdings secured
16 Meritage
1 Flynn Restaurant Group 10 Pacific Bells a spot in the top 5
Hospitality Group
San Francisco, CA Vancouver, WA this year. The Burger
Grand Rapids, MI
$2,338,356,000 $652,000,000 King operator added
$467,700,000
451 Applebee’s 240 Taco Bell 51 McAlister’s in a
331 Wendy’s
369 Arby’s 67 Buffalo Wild Wings diversifying acqui-
264 Taco Bell 17 WKS Restaurant Group sition—one of the
11 GPS Hospitality Cypress, CA brand’s largest deals
2 NPC International Atlanta, GA $466,063,000 so far. The company
Leawood, KS $623,097,000 127 Denny’s also added $206
$1,611,849,000 402 Burger King 66 El Pollo Loco million in sales to
1,229 Pizza Hut 73 Pizza Hut 54 Wendy’s become the second-
393 Wendy’s 19 Popeyes largest sales grower.
18 Doherty Enterprises
3 Carrols Restaurant Group 12 Yadav Enterprises Allendale, NJ
Syracuse, NY Fremont, CA $464,341,000
$1,452,516,000 $596,421,000 96 Applebee’s 25* Charter Foods
1,036 Burger King 221 Jack in the Box 42 Panera Bread Morristown, TN
65 Popeyes 81 Denny’s 3 Quaker Steak & Lube 227 Taco Bell
66 TGI Friday’s
4* Dhanani Group 36 Long John Silver’s
19 Ampex Brands
Sugar Land, TX 13 Tacala Richardson, TX 26 Desert de Oro Foods
$1,150,000,000 Vestavia Hills, AL $432,000,000 Kingman, AZ
516 Burger King $506,516,000 202 KFC 172 Taco Bell
294 Popeyes 317 Taco Bell 141 Pizza Hut 88 Pizza Hut
42 La Madeleine 1 KFC 39 Long John Silver’s
1 YUM! Multi 27 Franchise Management
5 Sun Holdings 20 Sizzling Platter Woodstock, NB, Canada
Dallas, TX 14 Manna Murray, UT 196 KFC
$994,500,000 Louisville, KY $429,442,000 107 Pizza Hut
290 Burger King $500,000,000 304 Little Caesars
161 Popeyes 157 Wendy’s 62 Wingstop 28 Palo Alto
99 Arby’s 83 Fazoli’s 27 Dunkin’ Donuts Denver, CO
27 Golden Corral 200 Taco Bell
6 MUY! Companies
32 Pizza Hut
San Antonio, TX
$980,852,000 $325-$425 Million 29* Hamra Enterprises
373 Pizza Hut Springfield, MO
317 Wendy’s 91 Wendy’s
80 Taco Bell 21 Boddie-Noell Enterprises 70 Panera Bread
Rocky Mount, NC
7 KBP Investments 342 Hardee’s 30 Border Foods
Overland Park, KS New Hope, MN
Carrols Restaurant 22 HAZA Foods
$923,600,000 201 Taco Bell
Group moved up a Sugar Land, TX
767 KFC
spot to No. 3 after 250 Wendy’s 31 RMH Franchise Holdings
128 Taco Bell
it added an incred- 26 Taco Bell Atlanta, GA
8 Summit Restaurant Group ible 252 restaurants 131 Applebee’s
Richardson, TX through 2019. It 23 Quality Dining
$800,000,000 acquired or built 187 Mishawaka, IN 32 Cotti Foods Corp.
310 IHOP Burger Kings and 65 188 Burger King Rancho Santa
117 Applebee’s Popeyes units. It was 40 Chili’s Margarita, CA
17 Sonny’s also the sales growth 104 Wendy’s
leader, adding $273 24 Diversified 84 Taco Bell
9 Covelli Enterprises million in topline Restaurant Group
Warren, OH sales. Sonoma, CA 33 JAE Restaurant Group
$674,200,000 214 Taco Bell Pompano Beach, FL
303 Panera Bread 16 Arby’s 207 Wendy’s
8 Dairy Queen
5 O’Charley’s
34 Franchise Times | August 2020
34 Mitra QSR 47* Premier Kings
Plano, TX Montgomery, AL
$175-$225 Million
179 KFC 198 Burger King
28 YUM! Multi 22 Popeyes
56* ADF Restaurant Group
35* Harman 48 TEAM Schostak Fairfield, NJ
Management Corp. Family Restaurants 218 Pizza Hut
15 Panera Bread WKS jumped 19
Campbell, CA Livonia, MI
spots on the list
122 KFC 65 Applebee’s
57* Cave Enterprises with a big Denny’s
153 YUM! Multi 56 Wendy’s
Chicago, IL acquisition. The
49 Ghai Management 169 Burger King company grew sales
Services by 57 percent in
$225-$325 Million Livermore, CA 58 American Franchise 2019 numbers. Read
112 Burger King Holdings more about Roland
36 Taco Bell Atlanta, GA Spongberg’s company
36* D.L. Rogers Corp. 71 Taco Bell on page 41.
Grapevine, TX 50 Fourteen Foods 49 Applebee’s
233 Sonic Minneapolis, MN
225 Dairy Queen 59 JRN
37* Manna Columbia, TN
Development Group 51* EYM Group 145 KFC
Encinitas, CA Irving, TX 15 YUM! Multi
69* PJ United
135 Panera Bread 155 Pizza Hut Birmingham, AL
35 KFC 60 TA Restaurant Group
Westlake, OH 194 Papa John’s
38 Wendy’s
of Colorado Springs 52* Team Lyders 69 Popeyes
70 Hospitality
Colorado Springs, CO Brighton, MI 40 Subway
Restaurant Group
181 Wendy’s 177 Taco Bell Traverse City, MI
8 Golden Corral 3 Arby’s 61 RPM Pizza
Gulfport, MS 91 Taco Bell
176 Dominos 17 Pizza Hut
39 American West 53 Romulus
Restaurant Group Restaurant Group 71 Carolina
Orange, CA 62 Starboard Group
Phoenix, AZ Restaurant Group
292 Pizza Hut Coral Springs, FL
105 IHOP Charlotte, NC
100 Wendy’s
40 Retzer Organization 110 Wendy’s
54* Fugate Enterprises
Greenville, MS 63 Redberry Restaurants
Wichita, KS 72* Caspers Company
104 McDonald’s Naperville, IL
168 Pizza Hut Tampa, FL
110 Burger King
75 Taco Bell 63 McDonald’s
41 Carlisle Corp. 23 Pizza Hut
Memphis, TN 55* JK&T Wings 73 Luihn Vantedge Partners
153 Wendy’s 64 B & G Food Enterprises
Shelby Township, MI Morrisville, NC
Morgan City, LA
84 Buffalo Wild Wings 90 Taco Bell
42 Sailormen 147 Taco Bell
Miami, FL 4 YUM! Multi 11 KFC
115 Popeyes 74* Meridian Restaurants
24 Burger King 65* Northwest Restaurants
Woodinville, WA South Ogden, UT
43* Ampler Group 109 Taco Bell 124 Burger King
Chicago, IL 42 KFC 10 Chili’s
83 Taco Bell 75* Rottinghaus Co.
81 Burger King 66 Celebration
Restaurant Group La Crosse, WI
Pacific Bells added
44 The Briad Group Celebration, FL 350 Subway
17 Taco Bell locations
Livingston, NJ and $35 million in 100 Pizza Hut
114 Wendy’s sales. The Vancouver, 39 Taco Bell
Washington-based
67 PR Restaurants
$150-$175 Million
45 BurgerBusters company now
Virginia Beach, VA controls 240 Taco Framingham, MA
132 Taco Bell 61 Panera Bread
Bell locations and 67 76 Wendy’s
5 Blaze Pizza Buffalo Wild Wings. of Bowling Green
68 Toms King
46 SSCP Management Palatine, IL Bowling Green, KY
137 Burger King 101 Wendy’s
Dallas, TX
75 Applebee’s
47 Sonic
* Denotes revenue estimate
August 2020 | Franchise Times 3577 Pizza Properties 113* BAJCO Global
El Paso, TX
$100-$125 Million Management
48 Peter Piper Pizza Canfield, OH
10 Applebee’s 137 Papa John’s
100 JEM Restaurant Group
78* Quality Restaurant Group Daniel Island, SC 114* Boj of WNC
Raleigh, NC 57 Taco Bell Arden, NC
The Ampler Group 34 Pizza Hut
192 Pizza Hut 66 Bojangles
made the largest
27 Arby’s
jump on the list, surg- 101* Paradise Companies 115 KC Bell
79* California Food ing from No. 102 to Natchez, MS Wichita, KS
Mangement No. 43. The company 39 Applebee’s 39 Taco Bell
Beverly Hills, CA added more than 80 17 IHOP 28 Freddy’s
142 Burger King Taco Bell locations,
one of the most popu- 102* PacPizza 116* Mas Restaurant Group
80 Southern Multifoods lar brands on the list. San Ramon, CA Houston, TX
Jacksonville, TX 155 Pizza Hut 70 Taco Bell
97 Taco Bell 5 PH Express
8 YUM! Multi 103 Potomac Family
Dining Group 117 Hallrich
81 The Saxton Group Herndon, VA Stow, OH
Dallas, TX 59 Applebee’s 130 Pizza Hut
90* Lemek
83 McAlister’s Deli Elkridge, MD 104 Kazi Management 118 Benton Properties
82 The RC Group 62 Panera Bread St. Croix Springdale, AR
Annapolis, MD Frederiksted, VI 72 Sonic
91 Metro Corral Partners
70 Taco Bell 55 KFC
Winter Park, FL 119 MRCO
22 YUM! Multi 23 Burger King
33 Golden Corral Brentwood, TN
83 Stine Enterprises 105 Summit Restaurant 55 Taco Bell
92 Apple-Metro
Phoenix, AZ Group, LLC 11 YUM! Multi
Harrison, NY
86 Jack in the Box Blue Springs, MO
29 Applebee’s 120 Wenspok Resources
11 Denny’s 124 Pizza Hut
2 Pizza Studio Spokane, WA
11 Long John Silver’s
84 The Rose Group 93 TD Food Group 56 Wendy’s
Newtown, PA 106 Phase Three Brands
Honolulu, HI 121 The Wolak Group
54 Applebee’s Tampa, FL
38 Pizza Hut Falmouth, ME
84 Hardee’s
85 T.L. Cannon Management 36 Taco Bell 97 Dunkin’ Donuts
2 Wingstop
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 94 Rucker Restaurant
60 Applebee’s 107 Emerald City Pizza 122* Grand Mere
Holdings Restaurant Group
Mukilteo, WA
86 CKA Management Austin, TX Overland Park, KS
101 Pizza Hut
Hasbrouck Heights, NJ 60 Jack in the Box 146 Pizza Hut
69 Wendy’s 30 Denny’s 108* MVP Sonic Group
12 Taco Bell Ridgeland, MS
95 Quality Restaurant
92 Sonic
87 Southern Rock Concepts
Restaurants Birmingham, AL 109 Apple Investors Group
Franklin, TN 60 Applebee’s Chino Hills, CA
90 McAlister’s Deli 45 Applebee’s
96 Primary Aim
19 Pizza Hut
Zanesville, OH
73 Wendy’s 110 Branded TEAM Schostak
$125-$150 Million Management Group Family Restaurants
97 Janco continued its climb,
Worcester, MA
Cranston, RI jumping 18 spots
89 Dunkin’ Donuts
88 The Kades Corp. 82 Burger King this year as it added
Pasadena, TX 1 Popeyes 111 Den-Tex Central 56 Wendy’s locations
54 McDonald’s San Antonio, TX in its home state of
98 Strang Corp.
90 Denny’s Michigan to its multi-
89 Restaurant Cleveland, OH
brand portfolio. The
Management Co. 44 Panera Bread 112* RCO Limited group is based in
Wichita, KS Columbus, OH the Detroit suburb of
99* Ambrosia QSR
129 Pizza Hut 35 Raising Cane’s Livonia.
Portland, OR
6 KFC 102 Burger King
* Denotes revenue estimate
36 Franchise Times | August 2020Bulking Up: The Restaurant 200 in Numbers
The Franchise Times Restaurant 200 keeps growing.
The group now owns over 30,000 restaurants and commands $42.0 billion in revenue.
$42.0
Revenue (In Billions) $37.5 $40.4
$39.1
Locations $34.6
$31
30,124
$28.7 28,642
28,109
26,997
$26.3
25,176
$23.2
$21.8 21,831
$23.9
23,177
17,887
16,715 20,331
18,408
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
The top 5 fastest-growing operators added
more than $256.5 million collectively. The top 20 companies combined
Restaurant 200
for $16.5 billion in revenue,
Company Sales Y/E 2019 2019 Sales Growth Growth %
an increase of $403.2 million.
WKS Restaurant Group $466,063,507 $169,862,814 57.3%
Wenspok Resources $100,086,331 $30,908,331 44.7%
DYNE Hospitality Group $45,513,914 $11,992,504 35.8%
Legacy brands are the favorite for the Franchise
Rucker Restaurant
Holdings
$135,000,000 $35,000,000 35.0% Times Restaurant 200, and large operators are
Trident Holdings $33,993,254 $8,812,419 35.0% the favorites of legacy brands.
Rank Brand Companies # of Units Franchise %
The average revenue for a Restaurant 200 1 Pizza Hut 34 4,538 76%
operator is now $210.4 million—that’s up 2 Taco Bell 44 4,219 64%
by more than $8 million this year. 3 Burger King 28 4,135 57%
The additional eight locations on average helps grow revenue; 4 Wendy's 26 3,153 57%
the average operator now has 151 locations. 5 KFC 20 1,816 46%
6 Applebee's 16 1,381 86%
$210.4
$202.0 7 Panera Bread 11 915 78%
$173 $195.5
$187.5
8 Arby's 14 908 42%
143 151
135 141
9 Popeyes 13 888 36%
126
10 Subway 4 540 2%
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
This table shows a breakdown of the most popular brands in
Avg. Revenue (In Millions) Avg. Units the Restaurant 200, the number of franchisees operating the
top brands, the number of locations operated by the franchisee
companies and the relative percentage of those locations to the
total U.S. franchised locations.
August 2020 | Franchise Times 37136 Bullard Restaurant Group 145* Tri-Arc Food Systems
$90-$100 Million Raleigh, NC Raleigh, NC
28 Moe’s Southwest Grill 51 Bojangles
19 Burger King
123 Rackson Restaurants 146* Maricopa
Bridgewater, NJ 137* Wenco /CNJ Austin Wings
55 Burger King Ashland, OH San Antonio, TX
Still in the $150
62 Wendy’s 83 Wingstop
124 Delight Restaurant Group million to $175
New York, NY 138* Schuster Enterprises 147 AES Restaurants million revenue range,
31 Wendy’s Columbus, GA Carmel, IN The Rose Group, with
26 Taco Bell 68 Burger King 72 Arby’s 54 Applebee’s and
based in Newtown,
125 DMAC81 139* ADT Pizza 148 Howley Bread Group Pennsylvania,
Van Wert, OH Westport, CT Westlake, OH dropped 10 spots
72 McAlister’s Deli 119 Pizza Hut 28 Panera Bread from No. 74 in last
year’s ranking.
126* Hielan Restaurant Group 140* JDK Management Co.
Mckinney, TX Bloomsburg, PA
42 Chili’s 48 Perkins $70-$80 Million
6 Quaker Steak & Lube
127 Daland Corp.
Wichita, KS 141* Southeast 149 Ansara Restaurant Group
107 Pizza Hut Restaurant Group Farmington Hills, MI $60-$70 Million
New Orleans, LA 22 Red Robin
128 S & L Companies 27 Taco Bell 4 Twin Peaks
Portage, WI 18 TGI Friday’s 160 Lehigh Valley
35 Culver’s 150 Parrish Restaurants Restaurant Group
142 Genesh Dallas, TX Allentown, PA
129 Brodersen Lenexa, KS 23 McDonald’s
Management Corp. 21 Red Robin
54 Burger King
Milwaukee, WI 22 Denny’s 151* Fourjay 161* Hishmeh Enterprises
60 Popeyes North Little Rock, AR Ventura, CA
143* Legacy Apple 48 Wendy’s 88 Dominos
130 Great American Wichita, KS 9 Slim Chickens
Chicken Corp. 41 Applebee’s 162 Denco Family
Los Angeles, CA 152* Janjer Enterprises Whittier, CA
59 KFC 144 Westaco Silver Spring, MD 30 Denny’s
11 YUM! Multi Scottsdale, AZ 37 Popeyes 8 Popeyes
47 Taco Bell
131 DRM 8 YUM! Multi 153 Carisch 163 S-Group Companies
Omaha, NE Wayzata, MN Sandusky, OH
93 Arby’s 63 Arby’s 33 Wendy’s
132* Marwaha Group 154* Oerther Foods 164* JS Fort Group
Anaheim, CA Orlando, FL Naperville, IL
148 Subway 24 McDonald’s 89 Jimmy John’s
1 Denny’s
155 North Texas Bells 165 Brumit Restaurant Group
133* Cowabunga Collyville , TX Asheville, NC
Alpharetta, GA Quality Restaurant 54 Taco Bell 56 Arby’s
114 Dominos Group comes in
at No. 78, where 156* Kergan Bros. Sonic 166 Awesome Doughnut
Diversified Restaurant Lafayette, LA Long Beach, CA
60 Sonic
$80-$90 Million Holdings sat last 18 Krispy Kreme
year. Diversified was 8 The Coffee Bean
157 Roaring Fork
one of the few public
Restaurant Group 167 Desert Taco
134 Platinum Corral companies and sold
Milwaukee, WI Scottsdale, AZ
Jacksonville, NC out last year, join-
57 Qdoba Mexican Eats 56 Del Taco
28 Golden Corral ing 9 of the top 200
companies that also 158 BMW Management 168 RoHoHo
135 Friendly did so. Temecula, CA Charleston, SC
Franchisees Corp. 23 Sizzler 56 Papa John’s
La Palma, CA 11 Jersey Mike’s
66 Carl’s Jr. 159* Hoogland Foods
Glenview, IL
104 Marco’s Pizza
38 Franchise Times | August 2020169 Creative Foods Corp. 182 J & S Restaurants
Garden City, NY
28 Burger King
Cleveland, TN
43 Hardee’s
About this Project
170* Vitaligent 183 Northwest Group
O
Saint Louis, MO Tigard, OR ur annual Restaurant 200 franchisee research, pre-
93 Jamba Juice 43 Jack in the Box pared by sister publication Restaurant Finance
14 Auntie Anne’s Monitor, includes questionnaires, phone surveys,
and in some cases, a review of public documents such as
annual reports, 10Ks and FDDs. We sincerely thank the
$40-$50 Million companies that responded to our surveys, as most of the
$50-$60 Million top 200 companies in this year’s ranking provided us with
their complete data.
184 Tria Company Our report consists of ranking companies according to
171 Century Fast Foods Grand Rapids, MI revenue generated by the company’s franchised restaurants.
Los Angeles, CA 32 Burger King If the company happens to operate a restaurant concept
33 Taco Bell 5 Arby’s that is not franchised, or is the franchisor of another con-
172 All Star Management 185 Las Vegas Pizza cept, we will not include that number in the overall reve-
Vourbonnais, IL Las Vegas, NV nue or unit count. In some cases where an acquisition took
36 Wendy’s 46 Pizza Hut
place during the year, we derive pro-forma revenue in cal-
culating the company’s ranking.
173 Womack Restaurants 186* Trigo Hospitality For companies that did not respond to our survey, we
Terre Haute, IN Stevensville, MI confirmed the number of units operated by their company,
36 Popeyes 30 Pizza Hut and then estimated the revenue. In the case of a tie in the
11 MOD Pizza 11 Sonic amount of total revenue, we settled the tie in favor of the
company with the most units.
174 Blue Ribbon Restaurants 187 JJB Brands If you believe your company might make the Restaurant
Walled Lake, MI Flowood, MS 200 list or we’ve missed you (or you know of another com-
18 Famous Dave’s 51 Pizza Hut pany that should be listed), please contact Matt Haskin
6 Penn Station 12 Checkers at (612) 767-3200 or mhaskin@franchisetimes.com.
175 Elbardi Group 188 Northcott Hospitality
of Companies Chanhassen, MN
Doral, FL 22 Perkins
55 Charley’s 3 Houlihan’s
Philly Steaks
2 Gyu Kaku 189 BAC Holdings
Bloomfield Hills, MI
176 Mosaic Management 33 Five Guys 191 Heartland Beef 196 Shamrock TBC
Atlanta, GA Bloomington, IN Hinsdale, IL
42 Arby’s 190 DYNE Hospitality Group
37 Arby’s 23 Taco Bell
4 Moe’s Southwest Grill Little Rock, AR
60 Tropical 197 The Restaurant Company
177* U.S. Restaurants Smoothie Cafe Richmond, VA
Blue Bell, PA $30-$40 Million 17 Arby’s
31 Burger King
198 Merbree Holdings
178* Sterling Restaurants 192 Viking Restaurants Ketchum, ID
Atlanta, GA Elmhurst, IL 17 MOD Pizza
56 Moe’s Southwest Grill 27 Burger King 11 Jersey Mike’s
179 Surfside Coffee Co. 193 Verlander Enterprises 199 LEV Restaurant Group
Miami, FL El Paso, TX Las Vegas, NV
56 Dunkin’ Donuts JEM Restaurant 11 Village Inn 24 Jamba Juice
3 Baskin Robbins Group landed in the 5 Corner Bakery Cafe 15 The Coffee Bean
top 100 for the first
180* Staab Management Co. time. The company 194 Trident Holdings 200 Square 1 Restaurants
Grand Island, NE acquired 21 Taco Bell Murfreesboro, TN Irving, TX
68 Pizza Hut locations in 2019 to 38 Captain D’s 43 Dairy Queen
fuel the move.
181 Vibe Restaurants 195 First Sun
Dallas, TX Management Corp.
78 Little Caesars Piedmont, SC
20 Wendy’s
* Denotes revenue estimate
August 2020 | Franchise Times 39Legacy Apple.................... 143 S-Group Companies........... 163
Alphabetical Listing Lehigh Valley
Restaurant Group.............. 160
Sailormen........................... 43
Schuster Enterprises.......... 138
Lemek................................ 90 Shamrock TBC.................. 196
LEV Restaurant Group........ 199 Sizzling Platter.................... 20
Company.......................... Rank Desert Taco....................... 167 Luihn Vantedge Partners...... 73 Southeast
ADF Restaurant Group......... 56 Dhanani Group...................... 4 Manna................................ 14 Restaurant Group.............. 141
ADT Pizza......................... 139 Diversified Manna Southern Multifoods............ 80
AES Restaurants................ 147 Restaurant Group................ 25 Development Group............. 38 Southern Rock
All Star Management......... 172 DMAC81.......................... 125 Maricopa Restaurants........................ 87
Doherty Enterprises............. 18 /CNJ Austin Wings............. 146 Square 1 Restaurants........ 200
Ambrosia QSR..................... 99
DRM................................ 131 Marwaha Group................. 132 SSCP Management.............. 46
American Franchise
Holdings............................. 58 DYNE Hospitality Group..... 190 Mas Restaurant Group........ 116 Staab Management Co....... 180
American West Elbardi Group Merbree Holdings.............. 198 Starboard Group.................. 62
Restaurant Group................ 40 of Companies.................... 175 Meridian Restaurants........... 74 Sterling Restaurants.......... 178
Ampex Brands..................... 19 Emerald City Pizza............. 107 Meritage Hospitality Group... 16 Stine Enterprises................. 83
Ampler Group...................... 44 EYM Group......................... 51 Metro Corral Partners........... 91 Strang Corp......................... 98
Ansara Restaurant Group.... 149 First Sun Mitra QSR........................... 35 Summit Restaurant Group...... 8
Apple Investors Group........ 109 Management Corp............. 195 Mosaic Management.......... 176 Summit Restaurant
Apple-Metro........................ 92 Flynn Restaurant Group.......... 1 MRCO.............................. 119 Group, LLC....................... 105
Awesome Doughnut........... 166 Fourjay............................. 151 MUY! Companies................... 6 Sun Holdings........................ 5
B & G Food Enterprises........ 64 Fourteen Foods................... 50 MVP Sonic Group.............. 108 Surfside Coffee Co............. 179
BAC Holdings.................... 189 Franchise Management........ 29 North Texas Bells............... 155 T.L. Cannon Management..... 85
BAJCO Global Friendly Franchisees Corp.. 135 Northcott Hospitality.......... 188 TA Restaurant Group............ 60
Management..................... 113 Fugate Enterprises............... 54 Northwest Group............... 183 Tacala................................. 13
Benton Properties.............. 118 Genesh............................. 142 Northwest Restaurants......... 65 TD Food Group.................... 93
Blue Ribbon Restaurants.... 174 Ghai Management NPC International.................. 2 Team Lyders........................ 52
BMW Management............ 158 Services.............................. 49 Oerther Foods................... 154 TEAM Schostak
Boddie-Noell Enterprises...... 21 GPS Hospitality................... 11 Pacific Bells........................ 10 Family Restaurants.............. 48
Boj of WNC....................... 114 Grand Mere PacPizza........................... 102 The Briad Group.................. 23
Border Foods....................... 31 Restaurant Group.............. 122 Palo Alto............................. 30 The Kades Corp................... 88
Branded Great American Paradise Companies........... 101 The RC Group...................... 82
Management Group........... 110 Chicken Corp.................... 130 Parrish Restaurants........... 150 The Restaurant Company.... 197
Brodersen Hallrich............................ 117 Phase Three Brands........... 106 The Rose Group................... 84
Management Corp............. 129 Hamra Enterprises............... 28 Pizza Properties................... 77 The Saxton Group................ 81
Brumit Restaurant Group.... 165 Harman PJ United........................... 69 The Wolak Group............... 121
Bullard Restaurant Group... 136 Management Corp............... 36 Platinum Corral................. 134 Toms King........................... 68
BurgerBusters..................... 45 HAZA Foods........................ 22 Potomac Family Tri-Arc Food Systems.......... 145
California Food Heartland Beef.................. 191 Dining Group..................... 103 Tria Company.................... 184
Mangement......................... 79 Hielan Restaurant Group.... 126 PR Restaurants................... 67 Trident Holdings................ 194
Carisch............................. 153 Hishmeh Enterprises.......... 161 Premier Kings..................... 47 Trigo Hospitality................. 186
Carlisle Corp....................... 42 Hoogland Foods................. 159 Primary Aim........................ 96 U.S. Restaurants............... 177
Carolina Restaurant Group.... 71 Hospitality Quality Dining..................... 24 Verlander Enterprises......... 193
Carrols Restaurant Group....... 3 Restaurant Group................ 70 Quality Restaurant Vibe Restaurants............... 181
Caspers Company................ 72 Howley Bread Group.......... 148 Concepts............................ 95 Viking Restaurants............. 192
Cave Enterprises.................. 57 J & S Restaurants.............. 182 Quality Restaurant Group..... 78 Vitaligent.......................... 170
Celebration JAE Restaurant Group.......... 34 Rackson Restaurants......... 123 Wenco.............................. 137
Restaurant Group................ 66 Janco.................................. 97 RCO Limited..................... 112 Wendy’s of Bowling Green.... 76
Century Fast Foods............ 171 Janjer Enterprises.............. 152 Redberry Restaurants........... 63 Wendy’s
Charter Foods...................... 26 JDK Management Co.......... 140 Restaurant of Colorado Springs.............. 39
CKA Management................ 86 JEM Restaurant Group....... 100 Management Co.................. 89 Wenspok Resources........... 120
Cotti Foods Corp.................. 33 JJB Brands........................ 187 Retzer Organization............. 41 Westaco............................ 144
Covelli Enterprises................. 9 JK&T Wings......................... 55 RMH Franchise Holdings...... 32 WKS Restaurant Group........ 17
Cowabunga....................... 133 JRN.................................... 59 Roaring Fork Womack Restaurants.......... 173
Creative Foods Corp........... 169 JS Fort Group.................... 164 Restaurant Group.............. 157 Yadav Enterprises................ 12
D.L. Rogers Corp................. 37 K-Mac Enterprises............... 15 RoHoHo............................ 168
Daland Corp...................... 127 Kazi Management Romulus Restaurant Group... 53
Delight Restaurant Group... 124 St. Croix........................... 104 Rottinghaus Co.................... 75
Den-Tex Central................. 111 KBP Investments................... 7 RPM Pizza.......................... 61
Denco Family.................... 162 KC Bell............................. 115 Rucker Restaurant
Desert de Oro Foods............. 27 Kergan Bros. Sonic............ 156 Holdings............................. 94
Las Vegas Pizza................. 185 S & L Companies............... 128
40 Franchise Times | August 2020WKS leader: ‘I can’t do this myself’
By Nicholas Upton McGuinness. “As minimum wage goes higher,
as the cost of compliance goes higher, it’s
W
hat does it take to jump 19 spots on becoming an increasingly margin-pressured,
the Restaurant 200? penny-profit business that you have to use the
A big acquisition helps. WKS best available tools. That takes a lot of work
Restaurant Group bought 97 Denny’s loca- to learn and then to actually use properly.”
tions in 2019, which contributed to sales The company’s size also allows for broader
growth in 2019 of $169 million and sent the support across divisions. In McGuinness’ case,
company from No. 36 on the 2019 rankings instead of keeping the books and reporting,
to No. 17 this year. he spends a lot of his time on strategy and
But as Roland Spongberg, founder and analysis. Scale also helped him hire a key
CEO of WKS, learned early on, growing to risk management person that few companies
such scale requires a central focus: people. under 100 units could utilize, let alone afford.
“When I started in the business, I had four “I think being able to hire people like that
partners. We built three restaurants in five is critical. When I got here in 2007, there was
years and we were losing money every year. nobody else on the senior leadership team
My partners said, ‘We learned our lesson and that had worked at a bigger company than
we’re out,’” said Spongberg. “I bought them WKS,” said McGuinness, a former CFO at
out and went to work in the restaurants. I two of his franchisors, Denny’s and El Pollo
thought, I see a lot of these restaurants, some Loco.
of them must make money.”
What he found in his three El Pollo Loco All in the family—with guardrails
restaurants, though, were a lot of young To keep folks like McGuinness and other Founder Roland Spongberg formed WKS in
workers who weren’t engaged, and plenty leaders, WKS is careful to avoid becoming a 1987 with a single El Pollo Loco location.
of quality issues. While El Pollo Loco was nepotistic empire. That’s a focus for Joanna
known for succulent marinated chicken, Blake, VP of people services and general they hire and keep good people, making it
for example, the chicken coming out of counsel for the company. clear that you don’t need to have the last
Spongberg’s restaurants was dry. “When I joined, they were really candid name “Spongberg” to succeed.
“I saw immediately the issue. I had no and said there’s an issue with a family mem- “We go out of the way to avoid nepotism.
experience but a little insight. I said, ‘We ber, this is how we want to deal with it. So, I’d say Roland expects more from me than
can’t serve dry chicken, we have to take care I wasn’t taking a stab in the dark or step- anyone. And I go out of my way to do such a
of people,’” explained Spongberg. “In 90 ping on toes,” said Blake. “It all worked out good job that he’d never have to think twice
days, we had a big turnaround. I got up to because there was a path through it that we about that,” said Jay. “One of the things that
six restaurants and I realized I was in the could find. Really the way we’re structured can be toxic to an organization is that you
people business and I can’t do helps guard against nepotism.” have to be related to the right person to get
this myself. If I want to grow, Given the size of WKS, it’s ahead.”
I needed a lot of good people.” a balance to both maintain the To help reinforce its culture, Blake has
Since then, a lot has qualities of a family business a seat at the leadership table. The com-
changed. The company when it comes to making deci- pany is also rolling out a major profit-shar-
expanded dramatically, ending sions, but also not looking the ing program, and every single GM in the
2019 with 66 locations of El other way when someone isn’t group’s close to 300 restaurants meets for
Pollo Loco, 127 Denny’s units, performing. With a company three hours each month during a “vital fac-
54 Wendy’s stores, 35 Krispy that’s 30 years old and has a tor team meeting.”
Kremes and 10 Blaze Pizzas. It lot of tenured people across There’s an hour of sharing results, an hour
grew from a modest California the org chart, Blake said that of setting goals and another hour of train-
chicken chain operator to fin- balance stretches from the top ing, recognition and problem solving. The
ish the year with more than to the store level. sessions always begin with how restaurant
$460 million in sales. “We have a lot of fam- and district leaders have seen the company
As WKS grew, efficiencies Joanna Blake ily members that are non values on display since the last meeting.
and key people came into the Spongberg, a lot of other fam-
fold. While it remains a family company, ilies that have come to WKS and brought Culture and COVID-19
with Spongberg at the top and his sons Jay their family in as well. And it’s lovely, but it The company’s culture faced an excep-
and Brian Spongberg as COO and mar- creates certain issues—but we’re open to it tional test when the COVID-19 pandemic
keting manager, respectively, the company because we see it work,” said Blake. “I think began. Roland Spongberg said it was like a
sought to bring in people such as CFO Matt you gain a lot of credibility and can keep punch in the gut.
McGuinness, who joined 13 years ago at 38 people, as well, if you’re responsive and take “When COVID hit over that weekend in
locations and has overseen a lot of growth. action when you say you will” and are con- the middle of March—when I looked at the
“Since that time, I would say environmen- sistent when applying policies. sales that Monday I was gasping for air,” said
tal factors for the QSR industry have cre- Jay Spongberg said he and the rest of the
ated a tailwind for larger operators,” said family put up guardrails for themselves so WKS group continued on 42
August 2020 | Franchise Times 41WKS group c ontinued from 41
Spongberg. “Denny’s was down 80 percent and every brand was
significantly down. Our business is not built to handle this kind
of shock, it couldn’t handle 40 percent let alone 80. We ended up
closing 60 Denny’s completely.”
He said sales at Wendy’s quickly came back, and Krispy Kreme
actually did better than normal. But dine-in focused Blaze and espe-
OPERATING
cially Denny’s were mired in difficulties. “Customers didn’t want
to come in, employees didn’t want to work. Everyone was fearful
of COVID and what might happen. So, it was—and is—tough,”
said Spongberg.
IN A VIRTUAL The company made a massive digi-
tal transformation, with more frequent
online meetings, a new video studio
ENVIRONMENT
and digital communications to reach
the 11,000 employees, some still work-
ing and some furloughed. Expenses
were cut by about 75 percent, along
Virtually nothing has changed with many employees. Spongberg said
those were hard conversations, but
ultimately the communication and sup-
port from the home office was well
received.
“I was pretty surprised how well
Matt McGuinness it went,” he said. “We try to explain,
our business is owned by my family.
We don’t have access to massive capital, so we can only do what
we can do. The bottom line is that restaurant has to make money.
Unfortunately, if you don’t make money you can’t stay open. They’ve
heard that from me many times.”
SPEED IN EXECUTION.
Instead of a full furlough, WKS kept managers on reduced hours,
ready to return and bring their teams when possible.
“For the stores that were closed, we said to the GM we can’t
pay you, but we’re going to furlough you to half, we’ll give you
20 hours and get you unemployment, so just stay in touch with
your team and just go check the restau-
CERTAINTY TO CLOSE. rant every few days,” said Spongberg.
Blake said her division turned
into a full-fledged benefits and relief
organization.
“A big focus was on how can we
provide them resources, so we cre-
COUNT ON US.
ated a website, we sent out text mes-
sages, and anything we could to apply
for unemployment, what charitable
funds might be available and what
resources were out there,” said Blake.
“It was making sure we were bring-
ing the field along with what we had
learned and communicating things as Jay Spongberg
best and as transparently as possible
so it wasn’t all on their shoulders. That’s a big part of our success
coming though COVID, but I think it all goes back to the culture.”
Jay Spongberg said there was a shared sacrifice across the orga-
nization, not just out in the field.
Your franchise finance experts “Roland, he quit taking a salary. We had some pay cuts across
the key people in our company so it was a shared sacrifice. We
For all your financing needs, visit had great cooperation from our lenders and other partners, but
if not for that faith in the brutal facts, we could be in a very dif-
wintrust.com/franchise. ferent situation.
“We tried to help people understand the situation and that it
really does suck for everybody, but if we don’t make these moves
Wintrust Franchise Finance is a division of Lake Forest Bank & Trust Company, N.A., a Wintrust Community there’s not going to be any jobs to come back to,” said Spongberg.
Bank. Banking products provided by Wintrust Financial Corp. banks.You can also read
