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Noodles & Company to open first international unitNoodles & Company to open first international unit

Toronto location will be chain’s first to serve breakfast

Lisa Jennings, Executive Editor

June 4, 2015

2 Min Read
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Noodles & Company is taking its first step outside the U.S. with a location scheduled to open in Toronto next week, the company said Thursday.

The Broomfield, Colo.-based fast-casual chain will make its Canadian debut in the TD Centre, a six-tower office-and-retail complex in Toronto’s financial district.

Kevin Reddy, Noodles & Company chairman and CEO, said in a statement that the chain’s globally inspired menu will have appeal in Toronto.

“The TD Centre is a very attractive location for our first restaurant in the market, serving as a busy hub for a broad group of consumers to work, shop and dine,” Reddy said. “We believe it is an ideal location to introduce the brand to the market.”

For now, Noodles & Company plans to expand into Canada with company-owned locations.

Next year, the chain plans to focus development on existing markets, including Canada, which will allow for the building of stronger brand awareness.

Noodles & Company president Keith Kinsey said more units are planned in the Toronto area and in Canada as a whole, but he couldn’t say definitively how many at this point.

Because of the number of office workers in the complex, the restaurant will be the chain’s first to offer breakfast, in addition to lunch and dinner.

The breakfast menu will include items like a Spinach Bacon English Muffin, a Jam & Ham English Muffin, a Mediterranean Breakfast Wrap, a Sriracha Steak Breakfast Wrap and a French Toast Breakfast Sandwich, along with assorted pastries, organic oatmeal, yogurt and coffee.

Kinsey said the chain has done some testing of breakfast in the U.S.

“Right now, we’ll only do breakfast in Canada,” he said, because it is a good fit for the location. “But who knows about the future.”

Noodles & Company operates and franchises 455 restaurants across the U.S. The company expects to open 50 to 60 units this year, surpassing the 500-unit milestone before the end of 2015.

Contact Lisa Jennings at [email protected].
Follow her on Twitter: @livetodineout

About the Author

Lisa Jennings

Executive Editor, Nation's Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality

Lisa Jennings is executive editor of Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality. She joined the NRN staff as West Coast editor in 2004 as a veteran journalist. Before joining NRN, she spent 11 years at The Commercial Appeal, the daily newspaper in Memphis, Tenn., most recently as editor of the Food and Health & Wellness sections. Prior experience includes staff reporting for the Washington Business Journal and United Press International.

Lisa’s areas of expertise include coverage of both large public restaurant chains and small independents, the regulatory and legal landscapes impacting the industry overall, as well as helping operators find solutions to run their business better.

Lisa Jennings’ experience:

Executive editor, NRN (March 2020 to present)

Executive editor, Restaurant Hospitality (January 2018 to present)

Senior editor, NRN (September 2004 to March 2020)

Reporter/editor, The Commercial Appeal (1990-2001)

Reporter, Washington Business Journal (1985-1987)

Contact Lisa Jennings at:

[email protected]

@livetodineout

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-jennings-83202510/

 

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