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Arby's kicks off 2016 with deals to develop 138 units

Arby's Restaurant Group Inc has signed several recent franchise development agreements beginning in late Q4 2015 for the development of 138 new restaurants.

March 17, 2016

Arby's Restaurant Group Inc, parent company of the franchisor of the Arby's brand, has signed several recent franchise development agreements beginning late Q4 2015 for the development of 138 new restaurants. This news follows a strong year of development for Arby's in 2015 with 61 new restaurant openings and 179 remodels system-wide, according to a company press release.

"As we begin 2016 and execute against our strategic priority to expand aggressively in the United States and select global markets, this is an encouraging start to the year for Arby's," said Paul Brown, CEO, Arby's Restaurant Group Inc. "We are more focused than ever on bringing Arby's restaurants to new markets and further expanding in existing markets to Serve, Refresh and Delight our guests with an experience that is truly unique to Arby's."

Arby's remains on track with its goal to reach $4 billion in total system-wide same-store sales by the end of 2018. Arby's achieved industry-leading system U.S. SSS growth of 8.1 percent in 2015 —more than three times the growth rate of the QSR industry. (Source: The NPD Group/SalesTrack Weekly reports same-store sales collected weekly from 45 of the larger QSR chains during Q4 2015 ending Dec. 27, 2015.) Revitalized restaurants have experienced post-remodel SSS increases of approximately 15 percent, in some cases upwards of 20 percent. 

Recent multi-restaurant commitments from existing franchisees beginning in late Q4 2015 include:

• Arby's largest franchisee, United States Beef Corporation, owned by brothers, Jeff and John Davis, to open 70 new restaurants.
• DRM Inc, owned by Matt and Marc Johnson, committed to opening 25 new restaurants across Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Illinois.
• Turbo Restaurants LLC, operated by Guillermo Perales, to open 15 new restaurants in the Houston market. This is in addition to 15 new restaurants that Turbo agreed to develop in Dallas under a previous development agreement. Turbo has also committed to remodeling 12 Arby's restaurants in the Dallas market.
• CAROLINECO LP d.ba. Loves Travel Stops, led by Greg Love, committed to 15 new restaurants in Travel Plazas throughout the United States.
• Mosaic RBNC LLC, operated by Murad Karimi, committed to opening five new restaurants in Raleigh, North Carolina.
• ALB Restaurants LLC, owned by Michael Breitfelder, committed to opening two restaurants in Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin.
• T.G.J. and Co Inc, led by Tom Johnson III, committed to opening two restaurants in Knoxville, Tennessee.  

Additional single-restaurant commitments from late Q4 2015 through today include:

• New franchisee, Croteau-Gilbert Ventures LLC, operated by John Croteau, Nashua, New Hampshire.
• Newberry Restaurant Group Inc, owned by Jake Rasor III, Laurens, South Carolina.
• Heartland Beef Inc, led by Tom Browne, Terre Haute, Indiana.
• J & J  Ostrowski Enterprises, operated by Jeremy and Jennifer Ostrowski, to relocate a restaurant in Rhinelander, Wisconsin.

The ARG Development team is announcing new leadership additions to help guide the brand's growth. Last September, Greg Vojnovic was named chief development officer, reporting to Brown and joining the Arby's Executive Team.

Restaurant industry veteran Jim Cannon recently joined the team as SVP, Design, Architecture & Construction. Cannon joins ARG from Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen and will be responsible for achieving annual goals for company and franchise new restaurant and remodel growth, and leading, planning and executing building design prototypes in collaboration with the Development team and Operations leadership.

Ray Lauletti joined as vice president of Real Estate. Lauletti joins from New Jersey-based fitness club chain Retro Fitness and will be responsible for leading the Real Estate team, overseeing real estate strategic planning, asset management and site selection for new restaurant openings for both ARG and franchisee development.

Patrick Pons joined as managing director, Arby's International. Pons joins from Famous Brands International where he was VP of International Operations, supporting 25 countries and more than 400 locations globally. Pons will lead international franchise recruitment and operations for ARG.

Arby's launched a new franchise development website at DiscoverArbys.com, where prospective franchisees can get background information about the brand, including available franchise markets and requirements.