BROWNSVILLE, TX-Buffalo Wings & Rings is moving forward with its plan to expand in the Lone Star State. The chain has signed a new franchisee for the local market and expects to open more than 25 locations in Texas within the next 24 months, according to Dan Doulen, director of sales for Buffalo Wings & Rings.
Buffalo Wings & Rings was named the #1 fastest growing restaurant chain nationwide by Restaurant Business and ranked in the top 500 franchises by Entrepreneur. It serves Buffalo-style chicken wings, burgers, Greek gyros, wraps, salads and more.
A company comprised of Francisco, Juan & Luis Guillermo Cordova will own and operate the new Brownville restaurant. The Cordova’s relatives own and operate the Buffalo Wings & Rings store in Mission, TX, along the Texas-Mexico border.
The Brownsville location is scheduled to open by the end of this year (or early 2011 at the latest). It joins eight other Texas restaurants. Last year alone, the chain opened two locations in McAllen and one each in the cities of Del Rio, Mission, Round Rock and Weslaco. It has 55 locations nationwide.
“Texas is integral to our overall growth strategy,” Doulen tells GlobeSt. “We have several successful stores in Texas. The state has the type of customer that we are looking for: sports fans who want to be loud and have a good time in a family-friendly atmosphere without breaking the bank.”
The restaurants, which measure between 5,000 and 6,000 square feet each, are usually situated in standalone buildings or end-cap locations in larger shopping centers. “We’re looking for sites with great visibility and traffic generators such a big-box retailers,” Doulen says.
The company’s expansion plan calls for controlled growth in markets where the chain has found past successes. Doulen says Buffalo Wings & Rings is actively looking for sites in San Antonio, Houston and Brownville and hopes to find franchisees for Laredo and Corpus Christi in the near future. It will continue to expand in Austin since it already has a presence there, he adds.
“We think there stretch of Corpus Christi to Laredo could potentially support 11 to 12 stores, while San Antonio could support six stores,” Doulen says, adding that the company’s franchise executives plan to make a trip to Texas in early July to evaluate different markets.
As for Dallas/Fort Worth, the chain is currently looking for franchisees with restaurant experience. “We will eventually be in DFW,” Doulen says, but the company is not focused on expanding into the Metroplex in the near future.
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