QSR August 2022

QSR 50

accelerated in 2021. Effectively, chief brand officer Chad Crawford said, CKE integrated and brought to life point of sale, with Olo and Punchh enabling the consumer side of it. “I think the most important thing is to be able to have a more direct communication and relationship with the guests, to have them access and appeal and inter act with and build the relationship that they’ve already started, but deeper with both the Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s brands,” Crawford said. More recently, CKE teamed with Universal Pictures for an activation around the release of Jurassic World Dominion. This included a new “Primal Menu” and the transformation of two Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s locations into “dinosaur bite magnets.”

Costa said in July 80 percent of his time would revolve around domestic growth. But as the brand headed into the second half of 2022, the other 20 percent would increase on the international front. “We will be crossing the 1,000 mark in the next three years approximately,” he said. “We want to be a national brand. That’s what we’re building toward, and the team we put in place, everyone we’ve hired—our dreams are big.” Bojangles is taking $1.9 million AUVs through one of quick-service’s fastest-growing segments in chicken (chicken entrees at U.S. restaurants increased 4 percent in the year ending April 2021, according to The NPD Group). And doing so with a chain that’s continued to stress operations, speed of service, prod

CKE IS SPENDING $500 MILLION TO REVITALIZE CARL’S JR. AND HARDEE’S, ESPECIALLY AT THE DRIVE-THRU.

uct quality, and other back-end support pillars to fuel smart development. Costa said the first two years under new lead ership were spent working on foundational fixes, while also modernizing the brand. Year 3 was where pipeline building took hold, especially after the installation of the company’s first franchise sales team. The new group covered regions. In the past, everyone was respon sible for the entire country. The first big franchising deal of 2021 came when Bojangles signed a development deal with longtime franchisee Jeff Rigsby to open 45 stores in the next seven years. A couple of months later, Bojangles announced a “40 and 40” deal with Chaac Foods to open 40 new stores and acquire

32 Bojangles

It’s been nearly four years since Bojangles was sold for $593.7 million to Durational Capital Management and The Jordan Company. Before, it spent roughly three years as a publicly traded company and was work ing to reroute sales at the tail-end. At the time of the deal, same-store sales declined 0.2 percent. Bojan gles’ turnaround began with a portfolio optimization to close underperforming units and refranchise others. The growth arrow has flipped since. In 2019, the brand retracted by 10 locations. The next year, it expanded by 12. And in 2021, Bojangles added a net of 15 stores. But more vitally, the framework continues to be laid for larger targets. Today, despite its more than 770-unit foot print, the brand primarily remains a Southeast, regional concept with strongholds in the Carolinas, Virginia, and Georgia. Yet leadership wants to change that scope— with a goal to open 100 restaurants per year and target contiguous development in areas like Dallas, Houston, Orlando, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. Also, to broaden reach overseas. Chief growth officer Jose

40 corporate locations. In June, Bojangles signed fran chise agreements with Sajib Singha and Asish Baidya of SAT Restaurant Group and Khalid Siddiqui of LASH Foods to open three stores each in the Dallas and Hous ton markets, respectively, as well as 15 company-run units. Less than seven months later, the brand said it had signed a total of five multi-unit agreements and planned to build 30 corporate-owned stores, to bring about 50 new restaurants to the greater Austin, DFW, Houston, and San Antonio markets in the coming years. In all, Bojangles said there was potential to hit 100-plus locations in Texas over the next seven to 10 years. Across 2021, Bojangles signed development agree ments to open over 100 stores in key markets. In Q1 2022, the brand inked deals for 46 new venues, including Vir ginia Beach; Northern New Jersey; Northeast Ohio; Baltimore, Maryland; and Washington, D.C. It’s been a busy stretch. Costa said he expects future development to be split 50/50 between new and existing franchisees. \ CONTINUED ON PAGE 64 È

AFTER A MULTI-YEAR TRANSFORMATIONAL JOURNEY, BOJANGLES APPEARS POISED FOR BIG-TIME EXPANSION.

CARL’S JR., BOJANGLES (2)

60

AUGUST 2022 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com