big and bigger: annual ranking bulges with pumped-up ...big and bigger: annual ranking bulges with...

Big and Bigger: Annual ranking bulges with pumped-up franchisees

This isn’t your father’s franchise, anymore.

Franchising used to be about small operators, mom-and-pop companies that owned one or two locations and made it a family business. But franchisees have matured and grown

over the years. Now franchising is dominated by giant, sophisticated operations run by people in suits with Ivy League degrees. They have restaurants across the country and collect hundreds of millions of dollars in sales a year.

Proof is in the Franchise Times Restaurant 200, our annual ranking of the nation’s largest restaurant franchisees by total sales. Operators on the list are getting bigger. Much bigger.

“It’s a natural evolution of the growth in the overall marketplace,” said Dean Zuccarello, CEO of the Castle Rock, Colorado-based investment bank Cypress Group. “As franchising has become more mature, franchisees have gotten larger. We’ve seen the industry from the 1970s and ‘80s grow from onsies-twosies, mom-and-pop shops to large platform franchisees.”

Consider: In 2009, the average franchisee on our list had 83 locations and $109 million in sales. By last year, the average operator had 101.6 locations and $131.5 million in sales. In other words: unit count and sales for franchisees on the Restaurant 200 have grown more than 20 percent since the end of the recession. And unit count and sales grew by 10 percent last year alone.

One franchisee, No. 1 Flynn Restaurant Group out of San Francisco, reported more than $1 billion in sales ($1.2 billion to be precise), the first time in the ranking’s history that an operator reported a 10-figure sales number. No. 2 NPC International, a Pizza Hut operator out of Overland Park, Kansas, isn’t very far behind at just a shade under $1 billion.

Put another way: Franchisee Flynn is only slightly smaller than the franchisor Jimmy John’s in terms of sales. In terms of unit count,

1,200-unit NPC is bigger than Carl’s Jr., and is actually the 9th largest restaurant operator of any kind in the United

States, in terms of number of locations.

One reason for much of this growth: the influx of private equity into the market. Private equity groups own many of the largest franchisees, or they have significant investments in them.

“If you look at the investment criteria for private equity groups, and you think about franchisees, they

almost always hit the hot spots for private equity firms,” said Adam Birnbaum, managing director at the New York-

based investment banking firm Grandwood Capital.

One of those groups, Argonne Capital, has been on a franchise-buying spree lately. It bought several IHOP operators and then branched into Applebee’s and put them all together to become our third-largest franchisee: Richardson, Texas-based Summit Restaurant Group. Another private equity group, Altamonte Capital Partners, bought Taco Bell’s largest franchisee, Birmingham, Alabama-based Tacala (No. 13).

The average franchisee on our list has 101 locations and $131.5 million in annual sales—up more than 20 percent since the end of the recession. How are they getting so large? With private equity fuel flowing to legacy brands.

Articles by Jonathan Maze

Research by Matt Haskin and

Abbi Nawrocki

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Private equity groups are helping drive the consolidation trend because they want the companies to grow. For instance, in 2011 Brentwood Associates bought the Fort Smith, Arkansas ,Taco Bell franchisee K-MAC (No. 15) and in 2012 K-MAC bought a 25-unit operator out of Missouri.

In 2011 Goldman Sachs bought out Weston Presidio’s investment in Flynn Restaurant Group and the next year Flynn made two huge deals, for 99 Applebee’s units in the Southeast from the Polish company AmRest and the 76-unit Taco Bell operator Southern Bells.

In 2011 Olympus Partners bought NPC and recently the franchisee started buying Wendy’s locations for the first time.

“The equity funds have come into the business in a big, big way,” said Steve Schwanz, president of Franchise Capital Advisors in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Investors in franchises have had the lending to make the deals. The largest franchisees tend to be concentrated in a handful of brands: Applebee’s, Burger King, Yum’s concepts (KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell), Wendy’s and a few others. These are legacy brands with long records of steady sales and profits and are considered lower risks. And they attract lenders in droves.

This lending has only recently started to be made available to smaller operators and to other brands. But it’s been available to large franchisees of legacy brands for years now. “Two years ago, it was hard to find money,” Schwanz said. “If I had a deal, I was going to three or four institutions. Today, I could probably go to 15.

“Put it this way: availability of capital has opened up.”

These franchisees have also had plenty of available supply of franchise systems in which to purchase. Much of that is due to refranchising. To wit: No. 4 Carrols Restaurant Group, the Syracuse, New York-based Burger King franchisee, bought 278 units from its franchisor, doubling its size and setting itself up for a steady increase in the future.

Or consider Irving, Texas-based Sun Holdings, which jumped from No. 20 to No. 9 on the strength of two major refranchising deals: Sun bought 99 units in Orlando from Burger King, and then 50 locations in Dallas from Arby’s.

But franchisors aren’t the only ones selling. Numerous franchisees are selling. Some simply decide it’s time to exit. Others retire. Charlie Brown

sold Southern Bells to Flynn when his partner decided to retire after 30 years in the business.

“We also thought it was a good time to sell,” Brown said. “Taco Bell had a great year. It had done well the last couple of years. And we had done a lot of asset improvements.” Brown remained with the company as president of the renamed Bell American Group, a subsidiary of Flynn Restaurant Group.

Franchisees that got into the business in the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s may start thinking along the same lines. “There are still a lot of franchisees that fit that profile,” Zuccarello said. “They’ve done it for 10 to 15 years. At some point, they’re going to look for an exit.”

In other words: Expect companies on the Restaurant 200 to keep growing next year.

REVENUE IN DOLLARS FT Restaurant 200

Growing sales and units for a decade, except one yearCompanies on the Restaurant 200 have increased sales every year except the recessionary year of 2008. Here are the numbers from the past decade.

20120

10,000

5,000

25,000

20,000

15,000

20072011 2010 2009 2008 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002

UNITS / REVENUE (IN BILLIONS)

30

40

25

35

15

20

10

17,88718,4

0820,33

1

16,715

16,489 16,9

15

16,03

0

15,50

1

16,166 16,66

3

16,22

31717.918.

81919.921.5

21.321.823.223.926

.3

30 August 2013

1 Flynn Restaurant 1,190,737,000 438 Applebee’s Group, LLC 65 Taco Bell San Francisco, CA

2 NPC International, Inc. 999,718,000 1227 Pizza Hut Overland Park, KS

3 Summit Restaurant Group 656,000,000 257 IHOP Richardson, TX 115 Applebee’s

4 Carrols Restaurant 539,608,000 572 Burger King Group, Inc. Syracuse, NY

5 Bridgeman Foods 530,000,000 165 Wendy’s Louisville, KY 125 Chili’s

* Denotes revenue estimate

# Company Revenue Units Concepts

Franchise Times’ Restaurant 200: TOP 256 Covelli Enterprises 482,300,000 214 Panera Bread Warren, OH 5 O’Charley’s

7 Strategic Restaurants 415,267,000 292 Burger King San Ramon, CA 27 TGI Friday’s

8 Boddie-Noell Enterprises 412,326,000 334 Hardee’s Rocky Mount, NC

9 Sun Holdings, LLC 393,000,000 176 Burger King Irving, TX 72 Popeye’s

10 Harman Management 351,120,000 311 KFC Corporation 4 Taco Bell Los Altos, CA

11 The Briad Group 332,439,000 67 TGI Friday’s Livingston, NJ 49 Wendy’s

12 Doherty Enterprises, Inc. 321,757,000 62 Applebee’s Allendale, NJ 32 Panera Bread

13 Tacala/Boom Foods 320,437,000 225 Taco Bell Birmingham, AL 66 Sonic Drive-In

14 Heartland Food Corp. 317,220,000 380 Burger King Downers Grove, IL

15 K-Mac Enterprises 306,965,000 182 Taco Bell Fort Smith, AR 32 YUM! Multi

16 Pilot Travel Centers, LLC 290,760,000 186 Subway Knoxville, TN 48 Wendy’s

17 * Pepper Dining, Inc. 286,000,000 105 Chili’s Charlotte, NC

18 ADF Companies 279,000,000 287 Pizza Hut Fairfield, NJ 13 Panera Bread

19 D. L. Rogers Corp. 257,000,000 210 Sonic Drive-In N Richland Hills, TX

20 * JIB Management 250,000,000 216 Jack in the Box Fremont, CA 29 Denny’s

21 United States Beef Corp. 246,918,000 276 Arby’s Tulsa, OK 5 Taco Bueno

22 Muy Brands, LLC 243,946,000 164 Pizza Hut San Antonio, TX 46 Long John Silver’s

23 Quality Dining, Inc. 232,725,000 168 Burger King Mishawaka, IN 48 Chili’s

24 KBP Foods, Inc. 231,000,000 147 KFC Overland Park, KS 47 Taco Bell

25 DavCo Restaurants, Inc. 229,136,000 153 Wendy’s Ellicott City, MD

# Company Revenue Units Concepts

# Company Units Concepts

Franchise Times’ Restaurant 200: TOP 26-200

FRANCHISE TIMES’ RESTAURANT 200

For first time, Flynn Restaurant Group displaces NPC as no. 1

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003 RTM RESTAURANT GROUP

RTM RESTAURANT GROUP

RTM RESTAURANT GROUP

NPC INTERNATIONAL

NPC INTERNATIONAL

NPC INTERNATIONAL

NPC INTERNATIONAL

NPC INTERNATIONAL

NPC INTERNATIONAL

NPC INTERNATIONAL

FLYNN RESTAURANT GROUP

$195 Million to $229 Million26 Apple Gold Group 119 Applebee’s Raleigh, NC 6 Burger King

August 2013 31

The industry’s leading multi-unit, multi-concept franchisees

27 Sizzling Platter, Inc. 150 Little Caesars Murray, UT 23 Sizzler

28 Thomas and King, Inc. 88 Applebee’s Lexington, KY 6 Carino’s

29 Interfoods of America, Inc. 143 Popeye’s Miami, FL 18 Burger King

30 * Rottinghaus Co. 377 Subway La Crosse, WI

31 * Southern California Pizza Company 224 Pizza Hut Norco, CA

32 JRN, Inc. 156 KFC Columbia, TN 22 YUM! Multi

33 Cedar Enterprises, Inc. 151 Wendy’s Columbus, OH

$160 Million to $195 Million34 APEX Brands, LLC 101 KFC Plano, TX 69 Long John Silver’s

35 The Rose Group 58 Applebee’s Newtown, PA 6 Corner Bakery Café

36 Pacific Bells, Inc. 81 Taco Bell Vancouver, WA 20 Buffalo Wild Wings

37 * T-Bird Restaurant Group 63 Outback Steakhouse La Jolla, CA

38 * Valenti Management 125 Wendy’s Tampa, FL 17 Chili’s

39 Border Foods Companies 83 Taco Bell Golden Valley, MN 80 Pizza Hut

40 Carlisle Corporation 134 Wendy’s Memphis, TN

41 Century Management, Inc. 60 McDonald’s Memphis, TN

42 * Fugate Enterprises 171 Pizza Hut Wichita, KS 71 Taco Bell

43 T.L. Cannon Management 61 Applebee’s Ponte Vedra Beach, FL

44 Falcon Holdings, LLC 165 Church’s Chicken Westlake, TX 44 Long John Silver’s

45 Caspers Company 51 McDonald’s Tampa, FL

# Company Units Concepts # Company Units Concepts

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32 August 2013


Some of the biggest movers on the Restaurant 200 have been among those franchisees at the very top, but some smaller deals had an impact on our ranking, too. One of those deals: a 22-unit acquisition by big McAlister’s Deli franchisee The Saxton Group.

The Dallas-based company acquired Bothwell Saxton last year, giving it 50 total McAlister’s locations. That helped The Saxton Group not only make its first appearance on our ranking, but also vaulted it into the Top 100 at No. 98. It’s the biggest mover on our ranking.

Another big mover is Rucker Restaurant Holdings. The Chappaqua, New York-based Jack in the Box franchisee acquired 36 more units last year, helping the company to debut on our list at No. 122.

Another debut came at No. 158, Janjer Enterprises, which surged with some new units acquired in late 2011 and built in 2012. That helped the company double revenue from the previous year, giving it a spot high up onto our ranking.

Among companies already on our ranking: TEAM Schostak Family Restaurants moved up 53 spots from No. 128 to No. 74. Schostak, a Burger King franchisee based in Livonia, Michigan, bought into the Applebee’s system last year, acquiring 65 units from the company to shoot up our ranking.

Two spots higher is Goldco LLC, the Atlanta-based Burger King franchisee that now has 96 units after it added 33 units last year—giving it a total of 96. The company surged 44 spots to No. 72.

Saxton Group leads big movers on this year's list

46 Western Reserve Restaurant Mgmt 106 Wendy’s Rochester, NY

$135 Million to $160 Million47 AppleILLINOIS/Applesauce, Inc. 78 Applebee’s Crestview Hills, KY

48 Restaurant Management Co. 135 Pizza Hut Wichita, KS 15 Long John Silver’s

49 * Hamra Management Company 48 Panera Bread Springfield, MO 28 Wendy’s

50 Apple-Metro, Inc. 35 Applebee’s Harrison, NY

51 MarLu Investment Group 46 Church’s Chicken Sacramento, CA 43 Arby’s

52 Apple Investors Group 48 Applebee’s Pomona, CA 22 Burger King

53 PJ United 154 Papa John’s Birmingham, AL

54 BR Associates, Inc. 103 Long John Silver’s Jasper, IN 35 Wendy’s

55 Metro Corral Partners 29 Golden Corral Winter Park, FL

56 Pizza Properties, Inc. 43 Peter Piper Pizza El Paso, TX 39 Burger King

57 Wisconsin Hospitality Group 83 Pizza Hut Waukesha, WI 38 Applebee’s

58 Celebration Restaurant Group 96 Pizza Hut Celebration, FL 40 Taco Bell

$110 Million to $135 Million59 Quality Restaurant Concepts, LLC 60 Applebee’s Birmingham, AL

60 Palo Alto, Inc. 98 Taco Bell Denver, CO 38 Pizza Hut

61 Fourteen Foods, LLC 135 Dairy Queen Minneapolis, MN

62 The Jan Companies 100 Burger King Cranston, RI 2 Popeye’s

63 SSCP Management, Inc. 67 Applebee’s Dallas, TX

64 Friendly Franchisees Corporation 72 Carl’s Jr. La Palma, CA

65 Pennant Foods 89 Wendy’s Knoxville, TN

66 BurgerBusters, Inc. 82 Taco Bell Virginia Beach, VA 11 Pizza Hut

67 Meritage Hospitality Group 107 Wendy’s Grand Rapids, MI


August 2013 33

68 RPM Pizza, Inc. 135 Domino’s Gulfport, MS

69 Wendy’s of Colorado Springs 74 Wendy’s Colorado Springs, CO 9 Golden Corral

70 America’s Pizza Company, LLC 128 Pizza Hut Lafayette, LA

71 Paradigm Investment Group, LLC 94 Hardee’s San Diego, CA 4 Donovan’s

72 Goldco, LLC 96 Burger King Atlanta, GA

73 Desert De Oro Foods, Inc. 81 Taco Bell Kingman, AZ 50 Pizza Hut

74 TEAM Schostak Family Restaurants 65 Applebee’s Livonia, MI 62 Burger King

75 Carolina Restaurant Group 68 Wendy’s Charlotte, NC

76 Pacific Island Restaurants, Inc. 45 Pizza Hut Honolulu, HI 38 Taco Bell

77* Lemek, LLC 52 Panera Bread Elkridge, MD

$100 Million to $110 Million78 R.E.E. Inc. 52 McDonald’s Beaumont, TX

79 B & G Food Enterprises, LLC 59 Taco Bell Morgan City, LA 20 YUM! Multi

80 Southern Multifoods, Inc. 60 Taco Bell Jacksonville, TX 22 YUM! Multi

81 McEssy Investment Co. 42 McDonald’s Lake Forest, IL

82 DORO, Inc. 96 Hardee’s Eau Claire, WI 5 Taco John’s

83 Austaco, Ltd. 79 Taco Bell Austin, TX

84 Rosenfield Restaurants, LLC 86 Hardee’s Lakewood, CO 15 Carl’s Jr.

85 * Southern River Restaurants 48 Applebee’s Natchez, MS

86 Luihn Food Systems, Inc. 32 KFC Morrisville, NC 29 Taco Bell



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34 August 2013

87 QK, Inc. 79 Denny’s Holbrook, AZ 5 Del Taco

88 * Gator Apple, LLC 41 Applebee’s West Palm Beach, FL

89 * Potomac Family Dining Group 69 Applebee’s Ashburn, VA

$90 Million to $100 Million90 Platinum Corral, LLC 28 Golden Corral Jacksonville, NC

91 CLP Corporation 41 McDonald’s Homewood , AL

92 Treadwell Enterprises, Inc. 92 KFC Springfield, MO 3 HuHot

93 Stine Enterprises, Inc. 71 Jack in the Box Phoenix, AZ

94 Starboard Group 75 Wendy’s Coral Springs, FL

95 Daland Corporation 103 Pizza Hut Wichita, KS



96 J&B Restaurant Partners 58 Friendly’s Bohemia, NY 8 Taco Bell

97 Frisch’s Restaurants, Inc. 29 Golden Corral Cincinnati, OH

98 The Saxton Group 50 McAlister’s Deli Dallas, TX 4 Pinkberry’s

99 Retzer Resources, Inc. 41 McDonald’s Greenville, MS

100 PR Management Corporation 32 Panera Bread Newton, MA

$70 Million to $90 Million101 Strang Corporation 34 Panera Bread Cleveland, OH

102* Neighborhood Hospitality/ 41 Applebee’s Woodland Group, Inc. Hazard, KY

103 Morgan’s Foods, Inc. 57 KFC Cleveland, OH 7 Taco Bell

104* Mancha Development Co. 36 Denny’s Corona, CA 34 Burger King

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105* The Bistro Group 28 TGI Friday’s Cincinnati, OH 5 McAlister’s Deli

106 Den-Tex Central, Inc. 71 Denny’s San Antonio, TX

107 Hospitality Restaurant Group, Inc. 41 Taco Bell Traverse City, MI 15 Pizza Hut

108 Emerald Foods, Inc. 71 Wendy’s Houston, TX

109 High Plains Pizza 87 Pizza Hut Liberal, KS

110 Parikh Network 70 Popeye’s Edison, NJ

111 V&J Holding, Inc. 62 Pizza Hut Milwaukee, WI 30 Burger King

112* Kazi Management VI, LLC 53 KFC St. Thomas, VI 24 Burger King

113* Stanton & Assoc., Inc. 62 Wendy’s Jackson, MI 2 Biggby Coffee

114 WKS Restaurant Corp. 51 El Pollo Loco Lakewood, CA 3 Denny’s




115 Diversified Restaurant Holdings 33 Buffalo Wild Wings Southfield, MI 12 Bagger Dave’s

116 Benton Properties, Inc. 65 Sonic Drive-In Springdale, AR

117 Bros. Management, Inc. 26 McDonald’s Knoxville, TN

118 FourCrown, Inc. 58 Wendy’s Oakdale, MN

119 Gala Corporation 18 Applebee’s Costa Mesa, CA 9 Famous Dave’s

120 Kessler Group, Inc 45 Friendly’s Rochester, NY 21 Burger King

121 Romulus, Inc. 46 IHOP Phoenix, AZ

122 Rucker Restaurant Holdings, LLC 57 Jack in the Box Chappaqua, NY

123 KC Bell, Inc. 61 Taco Bell Wichita, KS

124* Killian Management Services 35 McDonald’s West Bend, WI

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Franchisees on the Franchise Times Restaurant 200 aren’t the adventurous sort. For the most part, they stick with older, better-known brands considered less risky, whether it’s their first, second or third concept.

But a few do venture out into something new, or at least something less well-known. And thus, among franchisees on the 200, you’ll find an odd brand here or there that you may not have heard of—or at least isn’t that common among list operators.

So, in addition to 19 Moe’s Southwest Grill locations and 18 Burger Kings, Raleigh, North Carolina-based Bullard Restaurant Group owns eight locations of Smithfield Chicken ‘N Bar-B-Q. That’s a 30-unit QSR chain specializing in Eastern North Carolina-style barbecue—a local specialty. And Springfield, Missouri-based Treadwell Enterprises (No. 92) has two HuHot Mongolian Grill locations to go along with its 92 KFCs.

Some franchisees will jump on trends. Two franchisees on our ranking operate frozen yogurt concepts—the source of considerable growth in franchising the past two years. The Saxton Group (98), the Dallas-based company that operates 50 McAlister’s Deli locations, owns four Pinkberry locations.

Another operator, No. 130 AB Enterprises out of Redding, California, owns three Spoon Me frozen yogurt locations in addition to 14 Burger Kings, 12 Applebee’s, eight Logans Roadhouse locations and four Marie Callendar’s.

Another franchise, the Fort Worth-based, 57-unit Subway franchisee Texas Subs (No. 198), owns a unit of the growing better burger concept Mooyah.

Jackson, Michigan-based Stanton & Associates (No. 113) prefers coffee. The 62-unit Wendy’s franchisee has two locations in the Biggby Coffee chain.

Lesser known brands make list, too, here and there

$60 Million to $70 Million125 First Sun Management Corp. 48 Wendy’s Clemson, SC

126* Original Bread, Inc. 34 Panera Bread Wichita, KS

127 Food Management Investors, Inc. 23 Applebee’s Minot, ND 1 Qdoba

128* Ultimate Challenge, LLC 94 Domino’s Willmar, MN

129 Hallrich, Inc. 84 Pizza Hut Kent, OH

130 AB Enterprises 14 Burger King Redding, CA 12 Applebee’s

131 Kades Corporation 29 McDonald’s Pasadena, TX

132* Janus 1 Unlimited, Inc. 31 McDonald’s Houston, TX

133 DiPasqua Enterprises 106 Subway Winter Park, FL

134 Cotti Foods Corp. 61 Taco Bell Rancho Santa Margarita, CA


135 Carisch, Inc. 68 Arby’s Naples, FL

136* Las-Cal Corporation 65 Taco Bell Las Vegas, NV

137 Howley Bread Group, Ltd. 25 Panera Bread Westlake, OH

138 DenSuccess 48 Denny’s Apex, NC

139* Fourjay, LLC 49 Wendy’s North Little Rock, AR

140 Ansara Restaurant Group, Inc. 22 Red Robin Farmington Hills, MI

141 RGT Management, Inc. 52 Taco Bell Collierville, TN 7 Long John Silver’s

142 Lehigh Valley Restaurant Group 19 Red Robin Allentown, PA

143* Apple Corps, L.P. 25 Applebee’s Witchita , KS

144 Dolan Foster Enterprises, LLC 58 Taco Bell Pleasanton, CA

145 Parrish Foods 24 McDonald’s Dallas, TX

August 2013 37



146 Metz Group 14 TGI Friday’s Dallas, PA 2 Krispy Kreme

147* Hunt Enterprises 27 McDonald’s Hauppauge, NY

148* Oerther Foods, Inc. 25 McDonald’s Orlando, FL

$50 Million to $60 Million149 Verlander Enterprises, LLC 10 Village Inn El Paso, TX 10 Applebee’s

150 LDF Food Group, Inc. 42 Wendy’s Wichita, KS

151* William Tell, Inc. 18 Applebee’s Salt Lake City, UT 8 Famous Dave’s

152* J.S. Ventures, Inc. 25 Applebee’s Wichita, KS

153 DRM, Inc. 70 Arby’s Omaha, NE

154 Fowler Foods, Inc. 45 KFC Jonesboro, AR 15 YUM! Multi

155 Top Line Restaurants, Inc. 37 Denny’s Chandler, AZ

156 Serazen, LLC 68 Papa John’s Orange, CA

157 Mirabile Investment Corp. 43 Burger King Memphis, TN 7 Popeye’s

158 Janjer Enterprises, Inc. 29 Popeye’s Silver’s Springs, MD

159 BMW Management, Inc. 23 Sizzler Temecula, CA

160 RLC Enterprises, Inc. 50 Taco Bell Northbrook, IL 11 KFC

161* OCAT, Inc. 50 Taco Bell Modesto, CA

162* West Quality Food Service, Inc. 45 KFC Laurel, MS 20 YUM! Multi

163 Bullard Restaurant Group 19 Moe’s Southwest Raleigh, NC 18 Burger King

164 Brodersen Management Corp. 37 Popeye’s Glendale, WI

165 S-Group Companies 33 Wendy’s Sandusky, OH

166* Koning Restaurants International 62 Pizza Hut Miami, FL

167 The Bailey Company, LLP 50 Arby’s Golden, CO

168 NRD Holdings, LLC 28 Domino’s Atlanta, GA 14 Popeye’s

169 VKC Group 100 Subway Sugar Land, TX


170 GPS Hospitality 42 Burger King Atlanta, GA

171 RoHoHo, Inc. 55 Papa John’s Charleston, SC 4 Jersey Mike’s

172* JAX, LLC 16 Golden Corral Charlotte, NC

$40 Million to $50 Million173 C & P Restaurant Company, LLC 12 Captain D’s Macon, GA 8 Cheddar’s

174* C&R Management Co. 26 McDonald’s West Jordan, UT

175 Northcott Company 21 Perkins Chanhassen, MN 4 Houlihan’s

176 Primary Aim, LLC 30 Wendy’s Zanesville, OH

177 Wendco Group 39 Wendy’s Pensacola, FL

The five brands with the most franchisees on the Franchise Times Restaurant 200:

Top brands dominate FT Restaurant 200

39 26

26 ® 26

27

38 August 2013


178 Ryan Restaurant Corp. 8 Applebee’s Billings, MT 7 Famous Dave’s

179 Staab Management Co. Inc. 62 Pizza Hut Grand Island, NE

180 SD Holdings 35 McAlister’s Deli Matthews, NC

181 Shamrock Co, Inc. 24 Taco Bell Hinsdale, IL 11 KFC

182 Hart Restaurant Management, Inc. 42 Burger King Corpus Christi, TX

183* GC Partners, Inc. 13 Golden Corral Winston-Salem, NC

184 R & L Foods, Inc. 16 YUM! Multi San Antonio, TX 9 Taco Bell

185* Thomas 5 Ltd. 32 Wendy’s Dublin, OH

186 RREMC, LLC 35 Denny’s West Palm Beach, FL 1 Dairy Queen

187 PFC/Classic Dining 31 Denny’s Algonquin, IL 1 Ruby Tuesday

188 RedKing Foods, LLC 36 Burger King Maple Grove, MN

189 Rawson Foodservice, Inc. 21 Wendy’s Rocky Hill, NJ


Franchise Times Restaurant 200 is compiled annually using a combination of companies’ self-reported information and estimates gleaned from publicly available documents. Those documents include annual reports, Securities and Exchange Commission filings, and Franchise Disclosure Documents. The ranking is compiled by Franchise Times’ sister publication, the Restaurant Finance Monitor.

The ranking is based on the companies’ prior year revenue from their operations for which they are a franchisee. It does not count franchisees’ privately owned, non-franchised concepts, or concepts for which they are the franchisor. Nor does the ranking include revenue from other business operations, such as hotels or real estate interests. In some cases, where an acquisition took place during the year, we derive pro-forma

revenue in calculating the company’s ranking.

For companies that did not respond to our survey, we confirmed the number of units operated by the company and then estimated the revenue. In the case of a tie in the amount of total revenue we give favor to the company with the most units. We give preference on our ranking to companies that provide us with their information, rather than companies for which we have to estimate annual revenue.

If you believe your company might make the list or we missed you, or you know another company that should be listed, contact Abbi Nawrocki at (612) 767-3200; [email protected]

Our ranking of the top 200 franchisees is combined with the second 200 franchisees in a report prepared by the Chicago consulting firm Technomic.

How we compiled the ranking

190 Bartlett Management Services 46 KFC Clinton, IL

191* Ocedon Restaurant Mgmt. 52 Burger King Castle Rock, CO

$36 Million to $40 Million192 WMCR Co. 38 KFC Alpena, MI 2 Taco Bell

193* Faris Properties, LLC 22 McDonald’s Clinton, TN

194 Century Fast Foods, Inc. 32 Taco Bell Los Angeles, CA

195 H & K Partners 34 KFC Milwaukee, WI 7 YUM! Multi

196 U.S. Restaurants, Inc. 34 Burger King Blue Bell, PA

197 Mach Robin, LLC 14 Red Robin Sun Valley, ID

198 Texas Subs, Inc. 57 Subway Fort Worth, TX 1 Mooyah

199 Tricorp Food Services, Inc. 12 TGI Friday’s Chesterfield, MO

200 Pizza Hut of Arizona 33 Pizza Hut Tucson, AZ