Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Expands By Creating New Markets

With the ever present need to find new ways of expanding, one restaurant chain has decided to take things to a whole new level and expand their restaurants into non traditional locations such as college campuses, airports and even roadside stops.

A New Direction for Beef ‘O’ Brady’s

Beef ‘O’ Brady’s 238 restaurants, which focus on offering a family sports bar style dining experience, will soon be coming to an airport terminal and roadside plaza near you. The plan has been in the works ever since the company was acquired by Levin Leichtman Capital Partners at the beginning of the year. The new owners have also brought in new management in the form of former Cinnabon, Inc. executive Christoper Elliot.

Elliot in turn decided to recruit one of his former colleagues, Joe Uhl, a former owner of Cinnabon franchise owner. He also brought James Walker on board.  Walker joined the company after a stint at Baja Fresh, where he was the chief development officer.

What They’re Doing WithThe Brand

The new management is making a concerted effort to grow the brand.  A large part of their plans involves moving beyond the traditional comfort zone that Beef ‘O’ Brady’s had occupied until now.

The move is not entirely new to the company, as they had already established a branch at the University of Southern Florida.  However the move into airports and roadside plazas is a first for the company.

Traditional Restaurants Will Not be Left Behind!

Even though Walker is committed to the new strategy he has implemented for the firm, he has also indicated that the company will still support its traditional restaurants, and expand them as needed. He added that he does see plenty of room for growth in the traditional format as well.

Walker told reporters that he was determined to make sure that no one type of restaurant would be used to define the brand name.  The company is commetted committing to expanding into smaller venues while still keeping the larger, traditional family restaurants working at full speed.

One of the areas specifically that Beef ‘O’ Brady’s hopes to expand to with the new restaurants is the world of breakfast meals, something that traditionally was not served at Beef ‘O’ Brady’s.

The New Mantra for Fast Food: Go Abroad Young Man (or Woman)

The traditional advice that was given in the 19th and early 20th centuries to any American wishing to make a fortune was to “go west young man.” Today, the advice to American fast food chains is to simply “go abroad.”

More and more American restaurant owners are finding the home market saturated and are moving to expand their offers overseas. Their hopes are that their fare may be considered somewhat exotic, or that it may cash in on America’s broad cultural appeal to foreign nations.

Two American Fast Food Sandwich Favorites

Among those making aggressive efforts to expand their operations overseas are the Quiznos chain and the Wendy’s/Arby’s Group. Other American restaurants that are focusing their expansion efforts overseas include smaller companies such as Freshli and The Great Steak and Potato Co.

Wendy’s/Arby’s created a separate entity—Wendy’s/Arby’s International—in order to compete overseas.  They have signed an agreement with the Wenrus Restaurant Group who will help them open a chain of 180 outlets featuring both brands throughout the Russian Federation.

The Fast Food Market in Russia

By contrast, McDonald’s by just finished their 20th year as a Russian restaurant. and they now boast 240 outlets across the country. Burger also recently expanded into Russia, opening their first restaurant in January of this year.

In addition to the Russian Federation deal, Wendy’s/Arby’s International just announced that they had signed a separate deal to open 24 outlets in Trinidad and Tobago, along with eight other locations in the Caribbean.

Steak and Potatoes

In other news, Great Steak and Potato Co., a smaller concern which serves cheesesteak sandwiches at their 161 American and Kuwaiti restaurants, announced they had signed a deal with Pastelerias Servicos Corporativos, SA de CV to create additional restaurants for the chain in Mexico. The company is set to open 30 restaurants across Mexico over the next five years.

Finally, Freshli, a small chain with 20 locations in the United States and Canada, has announced that they will be opening four new locations in Vienna.

Beef O Brady’s Expands By Creating New Markets

With the ever-present need to find new ways of expanding, one restaurant chain has decided to take things to a whole new level and expand their restaurants into nontraditional locations such as college campuses, airports and even roadside stops.

Beef O Brady’s 238 restaurants, which focus on offering a family sports bar style dining experience, will soon be coming to an airport terminal and roadside plaza near you. The plan has been in the works ever since the company was acquired by Levin Leichtman Capital Partners at the beginning of the year. The new owners have also brought in new management in the form of former Cinnabon, Inc. executive Christopher Elliot.

Elliot in turn decided to recruit one of his former colleagues, Joe Uhl, a former owner of some Cinnabon franchises and James Walker who joined the company after a stint at Baja Fresh where he was the chief development officer. The new management has decided that a concerted effort will be made to grow the brand and a big part of their plans involve moving beyond the traditional comfort zone that Beef O Brady’s had occupied until now.

Beef O’Brady’s New Target: Colleges, Universities, and Airports

The move is however not entirely new to the company since they had already established a branch at the University of Southern Florida, though the move into airports and roadside plazas is a first for the company.

Even though Walker is committed to the new strategy he has implemented for the firm, he has also indicated that the traditional restaurants that his company had run until now will still be run and expanded as needed. He added that he does see plenty of room for growth in the traditional format as well.

Change is Good, but So is the Old Beef O’Brady’s Menu

Walker told reporters that he was determined to make sure that no one type of restaurant would be used to define the brand name, committing to expanding into smaller venues while still keeping the larger, traditional family restaurants working at full speed.

One of the areas specifically that Beef O Brady’s hopes to expand to with the new restaurants is the world of breakfast meals, something that traditionally was not served at the restaurants.