5 key unit growth takeaways from the 2015 Second 100

Marco's Pizza

Marco’s Pizza, ranked No. 2 here, with a 32.3-percent Latest-Year increase, has marched up the unit-growth rankings since it qualified for the Second 100 in 2013 and secured the No. 8 unit-growth spot. While Marco’s was edged out on this table by Twin Peaks, which posted 37 percent growth in the Latest Year, Marco’s was the undisputed king of new-store development, adding a net 141 locations in the Latest Year, the most of any Second 100 chain.

Zoës Kitchen

Second 100 newcomers Zoës Kitchen and The Habit Burger Grill tied for the No. 4 spot on the unit growth rankings, with 29.4-percent growth in the Latest Year, but they got there with different franchising strategies. Habit Burger Grill launched a franchising program in the Latest Year, ending the period with one franchised location, while Zoës, under a buy-back program begun in 2009, acquired five operating franchised locations and two others under development to end the year with three licensed sites.

Black Bear Diner

Black Bear Diner, ranked No. 22 here, led the eight-chain Family-Dining segment with 9.8-percent growth in Latest Year U.S. units, adding a net six sites. Village Inn, No. 35, was the only other family concept to add locations, with a 2.4-percent increase, or five new units. The Family Dining chains as a group ranked last among Second 100 segments for unit growth, recording an average decline of 2.5-percent, compared with the 9.4 percent average increase posted by Limited Service/Burger chains.

Morton’s the Steakhouse

Morton’s the Steakhouse was one of 14 chains, all tied at No. 49 here, that had no change in Latest Year units. That compares with six zero-growth chains in the 2014 Second 100 report and a 12-year annual average of 11 such chains. Nine of the 14 chains with flat unit counts are casual-dining concepts that may have been hampered by the segment’s typically higher build-out costs as well the traffic challenges faced by the segment in recent years.

Sbarro, the Italian Eatery

Sbarro, the Italian Eatery, whose 38.3-percent decrease in Latest Year U.S. units earned it the No. 100 rank here, saw its domestic corporate restaurant base halved, from 408 to 204, as part of a 2014 bankruptcy reorganization. The almost-entirely franchised Quiznos, ranked No. 99 here, also reorganized in 2014 and saw its total U.S. unit count decline by 434 restaurants, or 30.6 percent. Similarly, Friendly’s, which took the No. 97 spot after 17.4-percent decline, exited bankruptcy in early 2012 with its corporate-store challenges largely addressed only to see franchised store closures pick up.