News

Fish Forward: Captain D’s 'steps on it' for chain expansion

October 24, 2016

Captain D's said the opening of its newest franchise in Hartsville, South Carolina, is the start of its accelerated expansion plans  of the seafood-based chain. The new South Fifth Street location marks the chain's 29th in the state, where new site additions began in earnest last October with openings in Spartanburg and Boiling Springs. 

First-time Captain D's franchisees, Edward Fort and Kelvin Horne, own and operate the new location. Fort is a successful local business owner in the city and Horne has held positions in Captain D's team for nearly 30 years, according to a company press release.

"For nearly three decades, I've witnessed first-hand the time and effort Captain D's has invested into ensuring its product and business model are absolutely top-notch, which has successfully established the brand as a leader in the fast casual segment and propelled its extraordinary success," said Horne. "This impressive growth motivated me to take the next step as an operator of my own franchised restaurant, and we couldn't be more excited to be a part of the company's expansion in South Carolina."

Following the Hartsville opening, Captain D's will continue its ongoing expansion in South Carolina with its next corporate location in Easley, opening next month. The company just closed out Q3 with its 20th consecutive quarter of positive growth, generating a 2.8 percent system-wide same store sales increase. The chain is also expected to rack up its fourth successive year of achieving record high system-wide AUV and its sixth consecutive year of same store sales increases. 

"A year ago we brought Captain D's back to the Upstate of South Carolina for the first time since the early 1990's. Our success and continued development throughout South Carolina since then has proven that this region has tremendous potential with a consumer base that's hungry for more," said Michael Arrowsmith, chief development officer for Captain D's. "The grand opening of our new Hartsville location reflects the strength of our growth, and we know we are just getting started. As we head into 2017, we look forward to accelerating this momentum."