Greek from Greece (GFG) Bakery-Café has finalized a deal that will rapidly expand its portfolio from 10 to 41 locations. Thirty of the new locations will open in Long Island, New York, and one will open in Stamford, Connecticut. The significant expansion fuels momentum for GFG Bakery-Café, which recently acquired and rebranded their biggest New York-based competitor and opened a new location in Tampa, Florida.
The new GFG Bakery-Cafés will be housed in converted Dairy Barn drive-thru convenience stores that were in operation for more than 70 years. Most of the locations will retain a drive-thru, with a focus on to-go and grab-and-go foods, and some will also feature an eat-in dining area. The drive-thru feature is a first for the fast casual brand, which has previously focused on eat-in cafés and kiosks.
“Greece has an amazing and storied coffee and café culture,” says Dan Rowe, CEO and founder of Fransmart, the industry leader in franchise development. “GFG sees this untapped segment as the biggest opportunity in the restaurant business. The company invested in a big, big way – buying out competitors and chains like Dairy Barn to quickly convert to GFG restaurants.”
GFG Bakery-Café CEO Georgios (George) Drosos and a group of successful businessmen with high levels of industry experience and knowledge opened the first GFG Bakery-Café in 2017 to long lines and delighted customers. Nine other locations soon followed throughout Manhattan and New Jersey, and a new location in Tampa, Florida, opened in December 2019. The company began to franchise in 2019.
“George is the most dynamic franchise CEO I have ever met,” says Rowe. “The company has invested tens of millions in their production and distribution facilities, making sure every GFG location has its entire supply line of proprietary, made-in-Greece menu items. It’s the ideal franchise – high volume, low start up, few moving parts, easy for a franchisee to operate multi-units, and easy for store-level employees to get it right every day. The food is crave-able, and you can only get it at GFG.”
This expansion will increase GFG Bakery-Café’s footprint to more than 40 locations, making them the dominant brand in Greek Cuisine. With more deals in the pipeline, GFG projects over 100 units will be open and in progress by the end of the year.
GFG Bakery-Café is currently seeking experienced multi-unit foodservice operators to franchise with their concept and scouting potential markets across the country and internationally. Those interested in joining GFG Bakery-Café as franchisees will get support from start to finish, from site selection expertise and sample floor plans to custom training systems and localized brand building.
Article from QSR