Franchising

Chicago real estate developer to open 5 A&W restaurants

Provided

August 31, 2021

After spending more than 30 years helping restaurant companies find sites and build locations in Chicago, local real estate developer Lee Fry Companies, Inc. is turning the tables and will operate its own A&W restaurants, according to a press release.

Lee Fry and his wife Karin, who is involved in the company's development process and operations, recently acquired the North Aurora A&W from a retiring franchisee in the Chicago area. They also just closed on the purchase of a shuttered Burger King in Addison, a suburb of Chicago, which they plan to convert to an A&W. Preliminary work is underway and the unit is expected to open before the end of the year.

The Frys have plans for at least five A&W restaurants.

"Everybody we have dealt with, from bankers to city planners, has a memory about A&W. We like that it is a 100-year-old brand with a great reputation," Karin Fry said in the release. "We also like that A&W is owned by franchisees. Too many chains make decisions that benefit shareholders, not franchise owners."

A&W CEO Kevin Bazner personally worked with Fry and Lee Fry Companies' consultant Anthony DiMauro on their plans, including visiting Chicago to inspect potential sites. Bazner said the Midwest, including Chicago, is A&W's "sweet spot," since many of the brand's early locations were opened there. "Whenever we return to a community, there's tremendous excitement, which translates into sales," he said in the release.

There are more than 900 A&W restaurants in the U.S. and Asia.