Beef O”™Brady”™s, the Florida-based chain of family-style sports-themed restaurants that has a college bowl game named after it, has decided to take on its toughest opponent yet ”“ the New York market ”“ and the line of scrimmage will be in White Plains.
“At this point in history it makes sense,” said James Walker, the restaurant”™s chief development officer. “People are value conscious, yet they demand quality. We”™re sports oriented and family oriented. It sounds like something that should go into White Plains to me.”
Beef O”™Brady”™s has been around for 27 years, and is in 22 states, with the greatest concentration of restaurants in the Southeast ”“ Florida, Arkansas, Kentucky and Texas. The northernmost location is in Brewer, Maine (near Bangor, population 9,500) and it”™s opening in Saudi Arabia later this year. Why? “They love sports, and American brands, and they have a very strong economy,” Walker said.
But getting back to White Plains, Walker said it seems like a good fit for several reasons. “They have the kind of real estate we usually go into, strip malls, but we also look at freestanding locations. He said the rents and the demographics are appealing, as are the sports fans.
The Florida-New York vacation connection was also a contributing factor, Walker said. “One of the other things that”™s great about White Plains is people go to Florida on vacation. So there”™ll be good brand awareness. People will go to Florida, then come home to go to the restaurant.”
There is no shortage of restaurants of any type in the New York area, though, so what about the competition? “We have a unique position because of our high quality food and value,” Walker said. He cited Chili”™s and Applebee”™s as the main competitors. “But we think we”™re more value oriented and quality oriented.” He said price ranges vary because they are determined by the individual franchisees, but an Angus burger starts at $7.99 and that”™s with fries. “And there”™s the sports aspect that Applebee”™s doesn”™t have.”
He said before making the decision to come to White Plains, many markets were scouted. And he said he was aware that New Yorkers have more than their share of individually owned restaurants and are not limited to choosing among national chains. “While we are known as a national chain with over 200 locations, we”™re also a very integral part of local communities,” Walker said. “We won”™t come in as a faceless national chain, but through a franchisee who would have local ties.”
Finding the franchisee, he said, will actually be the first order of business. “We did a show in New York, we also advertised, and used our website ”“ beefobradysfranchise.com ”“ as we started aggressively looking for a franchisee about a month and half ago. By the end of the year we hope to find the right person and open in the first or second quarter of next year.”
Walker said he has talked to brokers, but that it is premature to talk about possible locations. The franchise fee is $35,000 due to the company, and then there are the construction costs, which of course vary by market and individual site.
Walker also said that as is the case with most businesses these days, finding financing is challenging. “Banks are generally more cautious about who they lend to. We don”™t offer financing to franchisees, but we do have third party lender we work with,” he said. “It”™s important that folks looking to get into the business have a sound business plan. It”™s important that they”™re in a position where they”™re not looking to finance the entire project through debt. That will make them more attractive to banks.”
