BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 11, 2002--Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, Inc. (WPW) announced that as of May 2002 it has executed agreements with 5 of 19 planned regional franchisees for its growing Wolfgang Puck Express quick-casual concept. Nineteen company-owned or licensed Expresses are already open, with multiple locations anticipated to open this year.
The Wolfgang Puck Express has definitely left the station and is quickly gathering momentum, says Rob Kautz, President and CEO of WPW. We are pursuing a ground-breaking development concept, to divide the nation into large territories, each comprising $15 billion in industry-wide sales, to attract large operators who have proven, successful track records in each territory, and to provide them with world-class training and food systems.
Regional signees to date comprise a founding group that already reads like a roll-call of industry leaders:
-- In Hawaii and in Reno, NV, the Wolfgang Puck Express franchise has gone to Roger Mercier, former vice-chairman of Denny's and president of Marie Callendar's, and partner Scott Rolles, of Chuck's Steak House and Outrigger Hotels. They opened their first Express in March 2002 at Honolulu's Ward Center.
-- In Florida and Georgia, Ted Moats, former CEO of Logan's Roadhouse, has formed WPE Enterprises to build franchises on the foundation of existing WPW-owned Expresses at Downtown Disney in Orlando and Sawgrass Mills Mall in Sunrise.
-- The mid-Atlantic region of Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC, has been taken by one of the largest franchisees in the nation, which owns and operates more than 100 national brand restaurants.
-- The territory comprised of the 12 counties in New Jersey and New York states surrounding New York City has gone to Lee Magnes, who as a key operations executive with Arthur Treacher and McDonald's oversaw its largest metro New York stores before becoming, on a per-unit basis, the world's highest-volume franchisee for Wendy's International. Magnes also has rights to Manhattan commencing in the fourth year.
-- In New England, Back Bay Restaurant Group, Inc., led by CEO Charlie Sarkis, will drive growth of the Wolfgang Puck Express concept with their outstanding market knowledge gained through primary brands Papa Razzi, Joe's, J.C. Hillary's, Charley's, and Abe & Louie's.
We're forging relationships with only the best people in the restaurant business, says Donald A. Karas, Chairman of Wolfgang Puck Express, who is credited with attracting the founding group of franchise operators. With a total of just 19 regional franchise territories in the U.S., and with the name of America's greatest chef as our brand, we can proceed very deliberately. The goal is to do it right, from the very beginning. Each of our franchisees is required to open only one new store by the end of their first year.
We personally assist each franchisee in the site-selection process, explains Irv Siegel, Director of Real Estate Development for Wolfgang Puck Express. Basically, we give each of them the same level of attention and guidance that we give to our own brokers for internal development.
WPW company-owned Expresses also continue to grow. December 2001 saw the opening of a unit at Sawgrass Mills Mall in Sunrise, FL, and new California locations are in the planning stage. As each unit prepares to open in a new territory, its management team will spend five weeks training in our store, and then we send our company training team to ensure that everyone is motivated, excited, and well trained in providing the highest standards of food quality and service, says Steve Gratz, Vice President of Express Operations.
Each Wolfgang Puck Express features a menu of pizzas, salads, pastas, sandwiches, and other specialties, all prepared quickly to order following recipes from its namesake chef, Wolfgang Puck. Specialties from among the more than two dozen offerings include Four Cheese Pizza, BBQ Chicken Pizza, Chinois Chicken Salad, Tortilla Soup, Baked Lasagna, Rosemary Rotisserie Chicken, Chicken Caesar Sandwich, and Wolfgang's Meatloaf with Garlic Mashed Potatoes.
My simple goal in the Wolfgang Puck Expresses is to make the best, freshest food experiences available to everybody, says Puck. Today, people's tastes and expectations have refined. They no longer want to settle for ordinary meals or junk food when they're on the run, when it's just as fast and convenient to enjoy freshly made gourmet pizzas, salads, pastas, and sandwiches.
Wolfgang Puck Express is a subsidiary of Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, Inc., a privately held corporation that encompasses the famous chef's casual dining and quick-service restaurant businesses; his packaged food products, including his new wood-fired frozen pizzas from ConAgra and his canned soups produced under license by Country Gourmet; his cookware, produced under license by WP Productions and sold via the Home Shopping Network and through Sam's Club stores; and his media activities, including the Emmy Award-winning weekly prime-time cable TV show on the Food Network, the www.wolfgangpuck.com Web site, and a new full-color cookbook, Live, Love, Eat!, set for publication in October 2002 by Random House.
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