Among the grab-and-go eateries that populate Connecticut”™s strip malls and commercial districts, the Robeks chain is not the most ubiquitous ”“ there are eight stores in the state, with six based in Fairfield County. The chain”™s nationwide presence is also relatively modest, with more than 90 locations open and 50 in development across 13 states and the District of Columbia.
Of course, Robeks has a different focus than the other establishments serving up burgers, pizza slices, tacos and hot dogs. With its mix of smoothies, fresh pressed juices, acai bowls and premium toasts, the chain emphasizes a healthier alternative to traditional fast food mix.
And while it may not be rivaling McDonald’s and Dunkin in terms of the quantity of Connecticut locations, the Robeks management is very happy with the quality of performance in the state. The Business Journals”™ Fairfield County Bureau Chief Phil Hall spoke with Todd Peterson, chief development officer for Robeks, about the company”™s place within Connecticut.
Robeks recently announced that it was planning a further expansion across Connecticut. Has this been a lucrative market for your company?
As a matter of fact, it”™s been a very successful market for us. We”™ve been in Connecticut for some time ”“ I believe we opened up in Stamford in 2004 ”“ and we”™ve been growing consistently. The average volume for our units ”“ in Connecticut, there are eight currently ”“ is generally higher than our average unit volume. There”™s obviously a lot of a lot of affinity for the brand and we want to continue to sort of pursue growth, within Fairfield County in particular.
I used to live down the street from a Robeks and would see it every day. But I don”™t recall seeing very much in the way of either TV advertising or social media advertising for Robex. How you get the word out regarding your Connecticut stores.
Well, we”™re a smaller brand in terms of system size ”“ we”™re just under 100 units, but we”™ll surpass that sometime in this quarter. So, by virtue of that, we need to rely more on marketing engagement with our franchisees in terms of local schools and other sorts of key demographics. We do some things locally around social media and, in some cases, radio ”“ it depends on the cost and availability of a particular media.
What is the state of your franchise market? Are you getting a lot of inquiries, not only from Fairfield County but from around the country for Robeks?
We are, and that segment has really grown in the last 24 months. I think part of that is a byproduct of Covid. We had a tremendous sales increase to 2021 versus 2020, and then another nice year in 2022. Some of it was fundamental elements that we changed or adapted within the business itself, but I think the other piece of it, frankly, was sort of a post-Covid halo around health and wellness.
I think it will continue to be strong. It”™s a segment that has been around for many, many years ”“ we started in southern California back in 1996. We”™re on a steady growth and there is a lot of awareness and interest in our type of a product.
How do you review the franchise applications and determine who gets the nod and who may not be the best fit?
As you might imagine, there is both a subjective and objective kind of look. One of the key objective criteria is a matter of finances ”“ obviously, for someone to be able to build a restaurant there”™s a certain financial requirement. We”™re looking at $300,000 in terms of minimum net worth and $100,000 in liquidity ”“ that typically is the base level.
But beyond that, we engage with a candidate and begin our process to understand if they are good communicators, organized and motivated. We like to see folks that are community minded ”“ it goes to my point earlier around being focused on local restaurant marketing, and that”™s a key piece of the puzzle for us.
We are also looking at their involvement in managing young people, because in many cases that is the employee base ”“ for some young folks, it is their first job.
What about the Robeks menu selection? How frequently does that get updated? And how many new flavors new foods or drinks are you testing at any given time?
I wouldn”™t say there”™s a lot of movement as it relates to the menu. We have a very stable juice and smoothie lineup that”™s been very successful. We will do limited time offers and if it adds some excitement and some energy within the brand, we might be adding it as a menu item.
In 2021, we launched a line of premium toast starting with an avocado toast, and it”™s been a tremendous product for us. We added three new premium toasts to that line as a limited time offer, and as we see how those perform as an extension of original avocado toast products we may well retain one or all those three new products.
What about across the state line? Robeks has a single Hudson Valley store in Carmel ”“ are you planning to do any additional stores in that market?
We”™re vetting potential candidates. With the person that opened in Carmel ”“ I guess it was last year ”“ we are talking with him as well about the potential of extending going from one to two additional locations. We see a lot of similarity in those markets, how they look from a demographic standpoint and how we think they perform.
We still have some opportunity in Connecticut ”“ we have two locations slated to open this year, in Bristol and Milford. And I would say Bridgeport is a market that makes a lot of sense. We”™re excited about Connecticut.
