Fast Casual Seafood Franchise Propels Aggressive Growth Plans for South Carolina
Captain D’s, the leading fast casual seafood restaurant, announced today the opening of its newest franchised restaurant in Hartsville, South Carolina. Located at 829 South 5th St., this new location marks the brand’s 29th in the state and emphasizes the acceleration of Captain D’s franchise and corporate development plans for South Carolina. Since October 2015, Captain D’s has expanded its presence across the region with openings in cities including Spartanburg and Boiling Springs. The Hartsville restaurant will celebrate its grand opening on October 24, starting with a ribbon cutting at 10 a.m. attended by local dignitaries and members of the Greater Hartsville Chamber of Commerce.
The new Hartsville restaurant is owned and operated by first-time Captain D’s franchisees Edward Fort and Kelvin Horne. Fort has been a successful entrepreneur and business owner in the Hartsville area for more than 20 years, and Kelvin, who will be serving as the operating partner, has been a part the Captain D’s team for nearly 30 years, holding several leadership operation positions during that time.
“For nearly three decades, I’ve witnessed first-hand the time and effort Captain D’s has invested into ensuring its product and business model are absolutely top-notch, which has successfully established the brand as a leader in the fast casual segment and propelled its extraordinary success,” said Horne. “This impressive growth motivated me to take the next step as an operator of my own franchised restaurant, and we couldn’t be more excited to be a part of the company’s expansion in South Carolina. We look forward to opening our doors and welcoming the Hartsville community to enjoy the high-quality, affordable and delicious seafood Captain D’s is known for.”
Following the Hartsville opening, Captain D’s will continue its ongoing expansion in South Carolina with its next corporate location in Easley, which is expected to open this November. The company’s growth in the Palmetto State comes on the heels of the outstanding success it has experienced in 2016, closing out the third quarter of the year with its 20th consecutive quarter of positive growth, generating a 2.8 percent system-wide same store sales increase. Additionally, Captain D’s is on track for its fourth successive year of achieving record high system-wide AUV and its sixth consecutive year of same store sales increases.
“A year ago we brought Captain D’s back to the Upstate of South Carolina for the first time since the early 1990’s. Our success and continued development throughout South Carolina since then has proven that this region has tremendous potential with a consumer base that’s hungry for more,” said Michael Arrowsmith, chief development officer for Captain D’s. “The grand opening of our new Hartsville location reflects the strength of our growth, and we know we are just getting started. As we head into 2017, we look forward to accelerating this momentum.”
Coupled with its ongoing menu innovation, Captain D’s credits its new restaurant beach design with contributing to the brand’s compounding success. To date, 50 percent of all restaurants have been reimaged to the brands new vibrant, coastal design, with another 50 locations to be remodeled by the end of this year. With these efforts, Captain D’s has remained true to what it does best — serving high-quality seafood with warm hospitality at an affordable price in a welcoming atmosphere.
With 514 restaurants in 21 states, Captain D’s is the fast-casual seafood leader and number one seafood franchise in America ranked by average unit volume. The company is currently seeking single- and multi-unit operators to join in the brand’s rapid expansion. For more information about franchise opportunities, visit http://www.captaindsfranchising.com or call 800-550-4877.
Headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., Captain D’s has 514 restaurants in 21 states, plus military bases around the world. Captain D’s is the nation’s leading fast casual seafood restaurant and was named the #1 seafood chain in the QSR 50, ranked by AUV. Founded in 1969, Captain D’s has been offering its customers high-quality seafood at reasonable prices in a welcoming atmosphere for more than 46 years. Captain D’s serves a wide variety of seafood that includes freshly prepared entrees and the company’s signature hand-battered fish, which is cooked to order. The restaurants also offer premium-quality, grilled items such as shrimp, and surf and turf, as well as hushpuppies, desserts and freshly brewed, Southern-style sweet tea, a Captain D’s favorite. For more information, please visit www.captainds.com.
