Restaurant Chains Expand Into Nontraditional Outlets

NACS Daily News

More restaurants are moving into convenience stores, travel centers and other retail locations.

​HAYMARKET, Va. – More restaurant chains are exploring ways to expand without buying expensive real estate locations, including opening scaled-down versions in Walmart stores, supermarkets and convenience stores, Nation’s Restaurant News reports.

To grow this year, chains like Checkers Drive-In, Huddle House and Fazoli’s are eyeing nontraditional locations. Checkers has opened several smaller units in Walmart stores, and has plans to look into more partnerships for that brand and Rally’s with the discount retailer this year.

“With Checkers and Rally’s being the most value-relevant brands in QSR and Walmart being the most value-relevant retailer, it made sense to join forces. We wouldn’t go into a Nieman-Marcus, because that’s not where our consumers live,” said Jennifer Durham, vice president of franchise development for Checkers and Rally’s.

It’s not just fast-food chains joining with other retailers. Caribou Coffee inked a partnership with Jewel-Osco to have on-site coffee shops inside some grocery stores, which already stocks Caribou packaged coffee.

Meanwhile, Huddle House has debuted restaurants inside Pilot Flying J travel centers. “That’s really helping us expand,” said Brian Kendrick, Huddle House director of development. “As the economy improves, there’s going to be more and more commerce, especially with professional drivers going back and forth across the country. …We want to partner with the leaders of the travel industry, and the fact that Pilot is putting so much capital into these locations — who wouldn’t want to get that exposure in a fully upgraded center?”

Fazoli’s has also targeted convenience stores as an important partner for growth—both for the restaurant and for the retailer. “If gas prices are the same as the guy across the street, what differentiates c-stores are the offerings inside,” said Craig Sherwood, Fazoli vice president of franchise development. “The opportunity for us to differentiate a convenience store with our offering, as opposed to typical sandwiches, is we can really go after that meal replacement piece that’s becoming more important.”