The new owners of Muscle Maker Grill plan to grow the fast-casual chain in Southern California, where there is a ready audience for its healthful menu, president and CEO Tim Betts said.
Muscle Maker Grill was founded in Colonia, N.J., in 1995. Earlier this year, it was acquired by Irvine, Calif.-based multiconcept operator American Restaurant Holdings Inc., or ARHI. Rod Silva, who founded Muscle Maker Grill, stayed on as director of brand development.
ARHI has been on a buying spree over the past 18 months. It has also acquired the single-unit restaurants Frontera’s Mexican Grill & Cantina in Alhambra, Calif., and Canyon Fireside Grille in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., along with the eight-unit Fresca’s Mexican Grill chain and three-unit JoJo’s Pizza Kitchen, both located primarily in Southern California.
Muscle Maker Grill, which has about 55 units in 11 states, is the largest of the brands, and presents a growth opportunity for ARHI, Betts said. By the end of the year, the company expects to have a total of 60 units.
“We were looking for a number of different acquisitions, and we came across some purporting to be healthy, but they never had the full picture,” Betts said. “What sold us on Muscle Maker is that they had great food, great price points and locations that were readily available, at least on the East Coast.”
The mostly franchised chain has two units in Northern California, but none in Southern California, he said.
“We feel like this could be our largest market out here in Southern California,” Betts said. “Our goal is to really build out the Muscle Maker Grill brand here.”
With only two corporate locations, Betts said the company plans to open about five company-owned units, including a flagship planned for Orange County that will serve as a training unit for franchise operators in the West.
Betts said Muscle Maker locations are typically between 1,500 square feet and 2,000 square feet. The chain looks for locations near Chipotle Mexican Grill or Panera Bread units, in the “beehive of activity.”
The average unit volume for Muscle Maker Grill is around $600,000, and the company had systemwide sales of about $30 million in fiscal 2014, he said.
This year, the chain rolled out a new meal plan program in which customers can order one to three meals per day and either pick it up or have it delivered. The program targets busy consumers who want to eat healthfully or according to a specific dietary plan, but who don’t have time to cook.
ARHI also has growth plans for Fresca’s Mexican Grill, which it acquired in February. The Mexican concept includes five company-owned locations in Orange County and three licensed units in outlet malls in Los Angeles, Arizona and Oregon, Betts said.
“We’re looking to franchise that brand later this year,” he said.
Contact Lisa Jennings at [email protected].
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