World’s largest barbecue concept signed franchise deals to add 74 locations to pipeline and opened 700th location across all brands in 2021
Dickey’s Restaurant Brands has taken its strong expansion plans to new heights as the world’s largest barbecue concept finished 2021 with the addition of its 700th location, and more than 200 openings – becoming one of the fastest growing franchises in the industry.
In 2021, Dickey’s Restaurant Brands’ tremendous growth can be attributed to the family-owned franchise driving impressive development for Dickey’s Barbecue Pit and launching three new virtual concepts – Wing Boss, Big Deal Burger and Trailer Birds Hot Chicken.
Throughout the year, Dickey’s Barbecue Pit opened 54 restaurants. Along with those openings, the growing franchise business increased its virtual footprint across the country with the addition of 151 locations implementing Big Deal Burger, Wing Boss and Trailer Birds for delivery and pickup only. Additionally, Wing Boss opened its first-ever brick-and-mortar restaurant in Addison, Texas in Q3.
The Texas-style barbecue brand is carrying its growth momentum into 2022. Dickey’s ended 2021 with record sales, finishing 16.5% up in same stores sales for the year against 2020, the second-highest sales year on record. Dickey’s has now seen 22 months of consecutive same store sales growth. Guest satisfaction scores also hit a record high for the brand. In December, Dickey’s Restaurant Brands celebrated opening its 700th location worldwide across all of its concepts. Trailer Birds began serving the Ocoee, Florida community, securing Dickey’s Restaurant Brands’ landmark opening. In addition, Dickey’s signed franchise deals to add 74 locations to the pipeline for 2022 openings.
“Dickey’s has made incredible strides over the last year and our growth shows we have loyal guests and quality food and that we’ve continued to learn from our 80 years’ experience. Our long-term success comes from being committed to serving our communities, taking care of our folks and legit Texas BBQ,” said Laura Rea Dickey, CEO of Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. “At Dickey’s, we take our mantra of ‘Evolve or Fail’ very seriously. We will find a path or make one through our challenges to reach success. In 2021, we showed that our brand innovates and adapts to meet the fast-changing consumer environment, and new and existing franchisees are signing on because of this. I’m proud of the achievements we made in the past year and can’t wait to see what’s in store for 2022.”
To learn more about Dickey’s, follow Dickey’s Barbecue Pit on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Download the Dickey’s Barbecue Pit app from the Apple App Store or Google Play.
Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants, Inc., the world’s largest barbecue concept, was founded in 1941 by the Dickey family. For the past 80 years, Dickey’s Barbecue Pit has served millions of guests in 44 states Legit. Texas. Barbecue. At Dickey’s, all our barbecued meats are smoked onsite in a hickory wood burning pit. Dickey’s proudly believes there’s no shortcut to true barbecue and it’s why our name isn’t BBQ. The Dallas-based, family-run barbecue franchise offers eight slow-smoked meats and 12 wholesome sides with ‘No B.S. (Bad Stuff)’ included. Dickey’s Barbecue 550 locations across the United States and eight other countries.
Dickey’s was named to Newsweek’s 2022 America’s Favorite Restaurant Chains list and USA Today 2021 readers’ choice awards. Dickey’s won first place on Fast Casual’s “Top 100 Movers and Shakers” list, been named a Top 500 Franchise by Entrepreneur and named to Hospitality Technology’s Industry Heroes list. Led by CEO Laura Rea Dickey, who was named among the country’s 50 most influential women in foodservice in Nation’s Restaurant News, was recognized by Fast Casual’s Top 100 Movers and Shakers list and honored by Dallas Business Journal. Dickey’s Barbecue Pit has also been recognized by Fox News, Forbes Magazine, Franchise Times, The Dallas Morning News, The Wall Street Journal, People Magazine and QSR Magazine. Dickey’s Barbecue is part of Dickey’s Restaurant Brands which has more than 700 restaurants nationwide including brands Wing Boss, Trailer Birds, Big Deal Burger and bbqathome.com. DRB is led by CEO Roland Dickey Jr. For more information, visit www.dickeys.com.
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