NEW YORK Wingstop Restaurants Inc., a fast-casual chicken wing chain with 437 units, is planning an expansion push in the northeast, company officials said this week.
The plan calls for the development of 75 franchised stores in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New England and Maryland over the next five years.
Wingstop, which debuted in Dallas in 1994, “is now completely developed there and nearly developed on the West Coast," Wes Jablonski, the company's chief financial officer, said at an event Wednesday in New York.
"In the next seven years, we will become a national chain," he said.
Two franchised restaurants are already open in Philadelphia, and one is under development in Queens area of New York. The Philadelphia units are owned by Raheem Brock, a defensive end for the Indianapolis Colts pro football team.
Wingstop has annual sales of $255 million and has had 25 consecutive quarters of positive same-store sales, according to company officials. Takeout orders comprise 75 percent to 80 percent of the chain’s sales.
Wingstop's northeast expansion comes as the chain is rolling out a new prototype that cuts construction time and provides a more consistent decor. The new look, which incorporates Wingstop’s existing aviation theme, but in an art deco style, has been rolled out to nine stores in California and Texas and a new unit opening this month in Denver.
Contact Elissa Elan at [email protected].