Franchising

A&W franchises opening in Charlotte, Las Vegas, St Louis

Photo: File/provided.

July 19, 2021

A&W Restaurants will soon open franchised restaurants in two of America's fastest growing regions — Charlotte, North Carolina and Las Vegas, Nevada. It also is adding a location in St. Louis, Missouri, among the nine agreements the brand has signed for new restaurants nationally so far this year, in addition to its current 900-plus locations in the U.S. and Asia, a new release said.

In fact, A&W's same-store sales for the first half of 2021 nationally are up 19.6% over 2020, making this the brand's ninth straight year of comp-sales growth. Since being acquired by franchisees nearly 10 years ago, A&W comp-sales are up more than 50%.

In Las Vegas, real estate developers, Mike Swecker and Alan Perlmutter, signed an agreement to open five restaurants in Clark County, Nevada, which includes Las Vegas, Henderson and other rapidly growing cities. Additionally, in the Charlotte-area of North Carolina, veteran multi-unit restaurant operators, Ronald and Nadyne Jennings, will build three locations including one each in Gastonia and Kings Mountain in North Carolina and in the Rock Hill, South Carolina area. The franchisees currently are also Schlotzky's and Moe's Southwest Grill franchise owners.

Longtime St. Louis-area franchisees, Jim Sill and Jim Sprick, are adding to their A&W portfolio with the conversion of a former McDonald's in Arnold, Missouri, near St. Louis. They also are converting a former bank building into an A&W in Belleville, Illinois, which will be their eighth A&W.

"Both new and current franchisees recognize A&W offers a unique opportunity," A&W CEO Kevin Bazner said in the release. "A&W is amazingly popular with consumers, and the concept is extremely well suited to conversions and c-stores, which make getting a location up and running faster and more cost-effective." he added.

The search for sites is underway, with the restaurants expected to include a mix of conversions, c-stores and new construction. All new A&Ws are single-brand locations that feature drive-thrus.

"Unlike many other QSR chains that are over-built, we have plenty of white space in markets of all sizes." Bazner said.

Now in its 102nd year, A&W is America's first franchised restaurant chain. It is based in Lexington, Kentucky.