QSR June 2023

BRAND RENEWAL

ations and just getting back to what made us great. That’s really on the corporate side. The franchisees have done an amazing job forever and they’ve continued to, so we’re trying to make sure that the brand you see on social media and online and on TV matches the in-store experience. And a lot of that really has to do with cor porate stores and getting better.” Terrell, who came onboard in 2022, admits Krystal has had hiccups in the past and the communication with franchisees hasn’t always been the best. For the past decade, leadership hasn’t been consistent. Fred Exum was CEO for nine years until Argonne Cap ital bought the chain in 2012. In the following years, the brand cycled through several chief executives before entering bankruptcy in 2020 a couple of months before COVID hit the U.S. Krystal was eventually purchased by Fortress Investment Group in May 2020 for $48 million. In 2023, the brand merged with SPB Hospitality, parent of Logan’s Roadhouse and Old Chicago. Franchisees have had a front-row seat to the past turmoil, and Terrell says transparency and explaining the data behind deci sions will go a long way in building trust. Some operators have been around a long time. Wayne Hale, who Terrell describes as the “godfather of Krystal,” has been with the brand for three decades. The executive leans on the advice of operators like Hale. There’s an official Krystal Council, but a lot of it is also informal text mes sages and calls. “We’ve made some mistakes and we had to rectify them,” Ter

rell says. “But in general, they know that we care. We’re on the same page. This brand has been around a long time with a lot of owners, and they’ve seen me multiple times. It’s on us to earn their trust. We really try to be as transparent as possible.” Terrell says much of it comes down to getting wins, driving traf fic, and building sales. In January, a new 1,700-square-foot double drive-thru prototype debuted in Center Point, Alabama. It uses 20 percent less kitchen space and comes without a dining room. It was the first company store opening in six-plus years, prov ing to franchisees that Krystal wants skin in the game, Terrell says. Additionally, the brand is leveraging celebrity power to grow fran chises. Victor Cruz, former NFL player for the New York Giants, will open Krystal’s first inline restaurant in New Jersey, where it has no presence. Charlamagne tha God, a popular radio host, plans to open six restaurants in South Carolina. The story Krystal is trying to tell is straightforward. It’s outside of being known as the oldest sliders in the South. Instead, the brand wants everyone to see how it can be so much more, Terrell says. “I think that’s what we’re really trying to get to,” he says. “Our new tagline is ‘Now you Know’ and there’s a reason. So it’s like, ‘Oh, I didn’t know that Krystal had big burgers. I didn’t know Krystal did it this way.’ Now you know. And so that’s ultimately the brand revival where we’re trying to go.”

Ben Coley is the editor of QSR . He can be reached at bcoley@wthwmedia.com .

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JUNE 2023 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com