Since June, the breakfast, brunch and lunch restaurant brand has seen a big jump in franchise interest, signing four multi-unit deals for an impressive 11 new locations across 3 states.
Eggs Up Grill, the breakfast, brunch and lunch restaurant concept, has continued its rapid expansion during the third quarter of 2020. As the brand continues to overcome the challenging impacts of the pandemic, its winning formula is even more attractive to new franchise partners.
“Eggs Up Grill’s positioning, serving approachable, All-American inspired breakfast, brunch and lunch products, combined with a uniquely friendly, community-focused experience has contributed to our franchise partners’ success since our founding in 1997,” says Ricky Richardson, CEO of Eggs Up Grill. “Over the last 6 months, we have built off this foundation to aggressively support our franchise partners, grow sales and profits by exploiting off-premise dining, introduced a range of mimosa drinks for our adult guests, and re-energized our marketing efforts with memorable promotions and increased support for new restaurant openings. While we’re certainly in unique times Eggs Up Grill is powering ahead to help our franchise partners achieve success.”
This focus on brand evolution and passion for franchisee success has not gone unnoticed across the restaurant industry. Eggs Up Grill was recently named to FSR Magazine’s12 Restaurant Chains Primed to Outlast COVID, due to its consumer appeal, focus on supporting franchisees, and its rapid response to the increased demand for off-premise dining.
Additionally, Eggs Up Grill earned a spot on the Franchise Time’s Top 200+ ranking, as well as the 11th spot on Restaurant Business’ Future 50 restaurant concepts.
This work is also paying off in attracting new franchise partners as Eggs Up Grill has signed on several new franchise groups over the past few months, including a three-restaurant deal with husband-and-wife duo Kate Rozen and Geoffrey Giordano in Orlando and a 2-restaurant deal in the Huntsville, Alabama market with Kris and Alex McLellan. The brand signed yet another multi-restaurant deal with franchisee Robert Thompson, a retired naval intelligence officer who is bringing Eggs Up Grill to Richmond, Virginia. Thompson’s deal is the second multi-restaurant agreement signed in 2020 for expansion in Virginia.
“One of the main things that drew me to the brand was the community-oriented approach, which is increasingly important,” said Thompson. “As the former chairman of the Chesterfield school board, I have deep ties to the community and am excited to partner with local schools and do charity work through the restaurant.”
With this impressive array of multi-restaurant development agreements, Todd Owen, Vice President of Franchise Development, notes that the time has never been better to invest in Eggs Up Grill.
“Our brand DNA is all about community and sharing a great meal together,” he said. “We are proud to be that community gathering place where all our neighbors are welcome around our tables or even enjoying our food around a table of their own. Never have people craved those comforting flavors and the familiar, friendly experience that our team members show each guest as much as they do now. Our franchise partner’s commitment to the community is core to our brand DNA, and our strong value for money offer is now even more important to our guests.”
Within days of the pandemic, Eggs Up Grill launched online ordering, boosted partnerships with third-party delivery companies, rolled out improved packaging, and helped franchisees adapt to provide curbside ordering and pickup.
“To accommodate the increased demand for off-premise dining we’re evolving the way we design restaurants,” said Owen. “We are also engineering ways to make our kitchens even more labor-efficient and investing in technology to allow more seamless online ordering and delivery integration into our point-of-sale systems. We are lowering the development costs of opening a restaurant, while ensuring that revenues grow at the same time, making our brand an attractive investment for anyone looking to either expand their portfolio or start a new career.”
Thompson, the recently signed franchise partner in Richmond, is an example of an entrepreneur starting a new career with Eggs Up Grill right now. Thompson originally started researching Eggs Up Grill in February but held off on signing when COVID-19 first hit. After gaining a better sense of the new normal Thompson re-engaged with Eggs Up Grill and in July, decided the time was right to sign his three-restaurant deal.
“Consumers are coming to grips with the new environment, and with a plan to open our first restaurant in May 2021, the timing will be perfect,” said Thompson. “The time is right for a family-friendly, quality experience in the breakfast segment, especially in Richmond, where we have a very underserved market.”
In 2020, Eggs Up Grill will open a record-breaking number of new restaurants over the next year, including three set to open before the end of 2020. Currently, its development pipeline has more than 12 restaurants already set to open in 2021, and the brand has achieved 11 consecutive quarters of same-store sales growth through February 2020.
“The unique appeal of Eggs Up Grill, both as a restaurant concept and business model, is gaining real traction,” said Owen. “Franchising with us is an incredible opportunity. Now more than ever people want to be spending time with their families, and as they venture out and begin to enjoy meals together again Eggs Up Grill is the perfect place to do it. We want to offer our franchisees a strong investment return with the basis in strong community relationships.”
The startup costs for an Eggs Up Grill franchise range from $492,880 to $660,260. The franchise fee is $39,000. To learn more about franchising with Eggs Up Grill, visit https://www.eggsupgrill.com/franchise/.