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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 01, 2005
Sandwich chain to open next month - First of several quick-casual
restaurants to come to Kern aims at Starbucks regulars
By MATT PHILLIPS, Californian staff writer
e-mail: mphillips@Bakersfield.com
A Southern California-based sandwich wrap chain is moving into
Kern County, with plans to open at least three new stores over the
next few years.
Tacone Flavor Grill will be opening a location in November or
early December at Valley Plaza mall, next to Starbucks.
Tacone sells a line of soups, salads and desserts as well as
wrapped sandwiches such as its Malibu Melt (grilled or breaded
chicken breast), the Thai Cone (chicken and jasmine rice) and
Perfect Ten (black beans with sautéed peppers and onions).
The average bill for an individual is around $8, owners said.
The store will be one of three planned for Kern County over the
next three to four years, said Harjit Randhawa, president of the
franchisee group for Kern County. Plans could include an
additional two restaurants, he said.
There are some 31 Tacones up and running, said Craig Albert,
president of the company. About 25 new outlets will open over the
next year. There are a total of 135 Tacones in development, he
said.
The company likes to open in close proximity to Starbucks stores
because Tacone tries to reach the same patrons, Albert said.
"That's our customer," said Albert of Starbucks regulars.
Executives say Tacone is more of a "quick-casual" chain than a
fast-food restaurant.
Quick-casual outfits -- such as Baja Fresh, Chipotle Mexican Grill
and Boston Market -- try to blend fast-food-style speed with the
service, decor and food quality of sit-down restaurants. The
segment is one of the fastest growing parts of the restaurant
business.
Time-pressed consumers think the concept hits the spot. In 2003,
quick-casual restaurants generated $7 billion in sales, an 11
percent jump from the previous year, according to information from
Chicago-based restaurant researcher Technomic Inc. in a previous
interview.
Over the last three years, the quick-casual segment grew an
average of 15 percent per year, said Joe Pawlak, a senior
principal at Technomic. That's four times as fast as the
restaurant industry as a whole, he said.
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