Top Restaurant Franchises

Convenient Spark

by Nicholas Upton

Getting a sandwich got a little easier in 2019. One of the biggest trends affecting the space was the continued expansion of digital and convenient options to grab a sandwich, bagel or quick lunch. Panera continued to lead in the digital transformation of the segment, and the company edged toward $6 billion in sales with the greater efficiency. The company grew sales by 4.5 percent and units expanded by 2.8 percent as convenient channels helped every location do a little more. The fastest grower, McAlister’s, continued down the same path as it added technology and brought more convenient ways for customers to grab and go. There’s a stark contrast between those that are pushing toward digital initiatives and those that are lagging. The top three companies in the segment have all invested heavily in technology beyond a loyalty program and are taking more market share from customers as they also get more attention from prospective franchisees.

Little by little

By Laura Michaels

Collectively, better burger franchises aren’t poised to overtake their QSR counterparts in total sales anytime soon, but the segment did grow topline revenue by 6.4 percent in 2019, even as two brands didn’t pull their weight. Five Guys is in the top position with its 11.1 percent growth, which translates into a $217 million boost to push the brand past the $2 billion mark. The company also increased its unit count by 54 and moved up four spots to No. 62 overall. BurgerFi and Fatburger were the only other gainers in the segment, up 6.6 percent and 3 percent, respectively. For Fuddruckers and Smashburger, meanwhile, 2019 meant another year of sales declines. Smashburger took a particularly big dip, down almost 12 percent or $38 million. That’s after a 7.8 percent decline in 2018.

Positive overall

By Callie Evergreen

Restaurants in the casual breakfast segment all showed positive sales growth in 2019, with the sector growing 3.4 percent. Redding, California-based Black Bear Diner reached double-digit sales growth at 15.3 percent, on par with its 15.8 percent growth in 2018. The brand’s unit count also grew by 15 percent with the addition of 18 locations. Denny’s and IHOP continue to lead the category in terms of sheer size. Only Huddle House shed units, down six of them from 2018 for a total of 336 locations in 2019. Another Broken Egg Café added two units in 2019 and grew systemwide sales by $8 million.

Dwindling interest

By Nicholas Upton

Traditional casual dining continued the slow decline seen in years past. Overall, the segment shed $293 million in sales as it shuttered 136 locations in 2019. But for the companies that re-tooled, retrenched and tweaked operations, there was a glimmer of growth and easing declines for some. The Melting Pot went through a rebranding in 2018 and got to positive sales in 2019. And Chili’s, which has been retooling and closing underperforming locations for years, was the No. 1 growth brand with 1.7 percent sales growth. The two top brands, however, represent the only sales growers in a segment with some notable declines. Applebee’s shed $160 million in sales and 50 locations; Red Robin lost $25 million in sales and 35 locations; and sales at Steak ‘n Shake declined $175 million as it also closed 16 locations. The traditional casual dining segment joined subs as the only two restaurant segments that lost sales and locations in 2019.

Chicken is King

By Nicholas Upton

The chicken segment continued its hot streak in 2019. For the third year in a row, it was the best performing restaurant category in the Top 200+. In all, the category added more than $4.8 billion in sales—that’s a lot of chicken. Chicken Salad Chick had the highest sales growth for the year. CEO Scott Deviney said the company’s 39.6 percent sales growth was a flywheel of 16 quarters of same-store sales pushing advertising and solidifying the brand’s reach. “It’s a culmination of building the foundation every year brick by brick so we could open restaurants and support more growth,” said Deviney. Every company grew significantly, a rarity among restaurant categories. At the low growth end, Church’s still added $12 million in sales and the giant KFC grew sales by 6.3 percent to $27.9 billion. But it was Chick-fil-A that added the most sales, growing by $2.2 billion, according to FDD research. That puts the chicken juggernaut in the mix with just three other brands that grew by more than $2 billion.

Hotter than before

By Tom Kaiser

The Mexican portion of the franchised restaurant space has been a bright spot for years. While subcategory giant Taco Bell looms large, with nearly 7,400 global locations, brands further down in the Top 200+ are posting impressive sales gains, led by Costa Vida’s 10.6 percent systemwide revenue boost, bringing it to No. 294 overall. Qdoba, too, posted a solid 6 percent increase. After moving the headquarters to San Diego from Denver, Qdoba President Keith Guilbault said the brand’s momentum had been so positive that it was exploring a potential sale of the business before the pandemic scuttled those plans—at least temporarily. New to the ranking, Rusty Taco debuted at No. 471 with just 33 units, but an impressive 14.3 percent increase in sales. Only two brands, Moe’s Southwest Grill (No. 126) and Baja Fresh (No. 322), saw fewer total sales for the year.

Pizza night every night

By Laura Michaels

The pizza category blew by the $40 billion mark in 2019, fueled largely by the off-premises players, which accounted for $37.5 billion of the total, a boost of 4.4 percent in 2019. The sit-down side, meanwhile, suffered a 3.3 percent decline, dragged down by UNO Pizzeria & Grill and Round Table Pizza, which were both hit by double-digit sales decreases. One sit-down concept bright spot was Mountain Mike’s and its 10.9 percent growth, which President and COO Jim Metevier said was driven in part by digital investments, including a new consumer facing website. The brand is also the official pizza of the San Francisco 49ers, from which it “got a lot of traction in Q4.” For carryout and delivery brands, Hungry Howie’s is the sales growth leader at 7 percent. Domino’s comes in next at 5.9 percent growth, followed closely by Pizza Hut at 5.6 percent. Both brands maintained their respective No. 7 and No. 8 overall rankings. At Hungry Howie’s, CEO Steve Jackson attributed the systemwide revenue growth to brand standardization efforts in the works over the past several years, along with a focus on data analysis to understand and reach customers. “A light bulb went off. The pizza category has more information on their customer than anyone else,” he said. “We have your name, your address, what you eat and when you eat it.”

Sizeable portion

By Laura Michaels

QSR brands continue to dominate the burger category, with $157.3 billion of its $160.2 billion in sales. That not only makes the QSR burger segment the largest of any in restaurants, it has the most sales of any in the Top 200+. (Retail is next, at $133.4 billion.) The likes of Burger King, McDonald’s and Wendy’s continue to grow systemwide sales anywhere from 4 percent to 6 percent, while regional brands are making themselves known with double-digit increases. Culver’s leads the pack with 13.9 percent growth, followed closely by Freddy’s at 12.9 percent, a flip of the previous year’s sales leaders. At Freddy’s, CEO Randy Simon said “a combination of comp sales increases, a little bit of new unit development and a price increase” helped push the system’s topline revenue to $536 million. The brand’s unit count grew 13 percent with the addition of 42 restaurants, which Simon attributed to existing operators continuing to build. Elsewhere in the segment, A&W and Sonic each moved the sales needle, up 5.6 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively. Arby’s grew sales 2.2 percent, to nearly $4 billion, but slid two spots to No. 38 overall.

Subs in style

Callie Evergreen

Why do sandwiches always seem to taste better when someone else makes them for you? Sandwich chains were slightly on the rise again with a gain of $127 million in sales in 2019, coming back from a 4.4 percent sales decline after losing $1 billion and shedding nearly 2,000 restaurants in 2018. Despite a 0.6 percent decline in sales, the mega sandwich brand Subway is still the frontrunner in terms of size with $16.1 billion in systemwide sales, while its nearest competitor, Jimmy John’s, sits at $2.1 billion. Jersey Mike’s Subs continued its growth from $1.1 billion in sales to $1.3 billion in 2019, while Jimmy John’s and Potbelly Sandwich Shop both trended down in sales and units. Firehouse Subs added 35 units and grew by $48 million.

Treat yo' self

By Callie Evergreen

Kona Ice led the snacks and treats segment in sales growth at 27.5 percent, which CEO Tony Lamb attributed largely to the mobile concept and being able to back off when they started expanding too quickly. Unit growth increased by 7.1 percent as the brand added 86 franchised trucks, specializing in Hawaiian-style shaved ice. “We have a 6 percent food cost and 10 percent labor cost. Those are some crazy good numbers, and it’s allowed us to have that extreme business model in being philanthropic and community-minded,” Lamb said. “We’re the only guy in our industry to have nearly 1,300 mobile franchises.” Tropical Smoothie Café follows Kona in sales growth at 22 percent, posting $577 million in sales, with similarly sized Smoothie King at 10.9 percent, Cinnabon at 6.1 percent, Dunkin’ at 5.2 percent and Wetzel’s Pretzels at 3.9 percent. Jamba, acquired by Focus Brands in 2018 and with some work to do, took a sales hit of 2.9 percent or $15 million.