FSR April 2023

KEKE’S BREAKFAST CAFÉ

promise of Denny’s fran chisees wanting to be involved in Keke’s and this fast-growing seg ment,” Valade said. In recent years, Keke’s was averaging about five new openings annu ally, effectively doubling its unit count between 2016 and 2021. Now with the resources and knowl edge base of a legacy brand at its disposal, that number is expected to increase. For all the enthusi asm and strong sales around daytime eater ies like Keke’s, the sec tor remains sparsely pop ulated at a national level. Most of the larger play ers are still shy of 100 units and remain concen trated in specific regions.

Florida-only brand with the highest concentra tion of locations in the greater Orlando and Tampa areas. Eighty-five percent of its locations are franchised, and that number will only increase as the brand’s growth outside of the Sunshine State attracts new pros pects. Furthermore, leaders expect a fair amount of crossover, with existing Denny’s operators incor porating Keke’s into their portfolios and potentially vice versa. “We’ve learned a lot and we continue to be impressed with the sophistication and level of the existing Keke’s franchisees. We’re also really excited about the

ger player in a segment that’s pretty fragmented and fractured among many smaller brands,” Valade said at the con ference. “With attractive unit economics and the ability to leverage Den ny's franchisor model and economies of scale, this has the realistic goal of becoming the franchi sor of choice.”

With AUVs compara ble to Denny’s (just shy of $2 million) but only a fourth of the hours of operation, Keke’s is poised to become one of the better-breakfast heavyweights. “The demand for the daypart eatery seg ment remains strong, and Keke’s is well-posi tioned to become a big

KEKE’S BREAKFAST CAFE (3)

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APRIL 2023

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