The “better-burger” franchise experiences record-breaking restaurant and franchise sales despite the pandemic.
People are flipping for MOOYAH Burgers, Fries & Shakes, the franchise that served up deals for 22 new restaurants in Q3 – a deal every 2.5 days! The Plano, Texas-based company offering mouthwatering, made-to-order burgers, French fries hand-cut from Idaho potatoes, real ice cream shakes and more in a fun, family-friendly environment, hit record-breaking restaurant and franchise sales in 2021. With 90 existing locations, 10 more franchise locations are expected to be committed before year-end, and 13 new locations are projected to open in 2022.
MOOYAH has been growing rapidly nationwide and shows no signs of slowing down. In the third quarter, the company signed a 15-unit deal with Golden Corral Franchise Owner Marc Verderame to develop the brand across Palm Beach County. The franchise also signed agreements to develop seven additional locations in Florida and California. Recently, the brand opened locations in Upland, California; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Sacramento, California; Winter Park, Florida; Colleyville and Abilene, Texas.
It’s no wonder why Franchise Owners are choosing to invest in MOOYAH. The support from the company’s executive team helps MOOYAH locations reach their full potential. The “better-burger” franchise expects to double its million-dollar restaurants this year, projecting to hit 37 locations after celebrating 18 million-dollar restaurants in 2020. So far, there are already twelve million-dollar locations in place, which is the earliest the franchise has ever reached this milestone.
MOOYAH’s EVP of Operations and Development Mike Sebazco stated, “Our leadership team has been outstanding at pulling together and offering our Franchise Owners the support they need since the onset of the pandemic. We have done everything in our power to help increase their business from marketing to operations and providing the support that has led our Franchise Owners to the strongest million-dollar restaurant year we’ve ever seen. More restaurants have hit a million dollars faster than ever in the past year and for the first time ever, a restaurant will hit the $2 million mark. We are so proud of the work they’ve put in that is clearly paying off across the system.”
The fast-casual “better-burger” franchise also had recent internal momentum, elevating two top performers: Mike Sebazco and Natalie Anderson Liu.
Anderson Liu, who most recently served as MOOYAH’s Vice President of Brand for five years and nearly three years as Director of Marketing before that, is now serving as Executive Vice President of Brand. Under Anderson Liu’s leadership, MOOYAH’s sales during the pandemic have improved at a rate of 14% over industry average and 5.5% over the fast-casual segment in 2020, and she has helped grow comparable same-store sales by 32% from 2013 to 2021.
Sebazco recently transitioned to a new role as EVP of Operations and Development. After serving as Vice President of Operations for more than four years, Sebazco is pleased to move into his new role, keep the momentum going, continue to partner with the Franchise Owners and expand into new areas. Under Sebazco’s direction, MOOYAH was able to re-engineer its offerings to bolster operational efficiencies that reduced ticket times by 35% while picking up more than 1,000 basis points in Prime Costs. In the past 12 months, with Sebazco leading development, MOOYAH has added nearly 50 restaurants to its development queue, including the three largest territories in company history.
“Under Natalie and Mike’’s leadership through the difficulties of 2020 and 2021, they have each done an inspiring job leading the MOOYAH system to adjust and support our Franchise Owners’ needs to help them thrive in their local markets,” said MOOYAH CEO Anand Gala. “Natalie will continue to be responsible for all aspects of marketing, supply chain, as well as determining the new channels to continue our growth and how to best drive these channels. In Mike’s new role, he will be responsible for both franchise and company store operations, development and training. They will further their involvement in the overall long-term strategy of the business and work closely bringing these plans to life for the benefit of the brand and our Franchise Owners.”
MOOYAH has immediate development plans throughout the states of Ohio, Kentucky, California and Arizona, but also wants to grow in key markets such as Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Tampa, Atlanta, Raleigh, Nashville, Orlando and Richmond.
For more information on the growing brand, be sure to connect with MOOYAH Burgers, Fries & Shakes on the Facebook Fan page, and follow MOOYAH on LinkedIn, Twitter @MOOYAHburgers and Instagram @MOOYAHburgers.
For franchising opportunities, please visit franchise.mooyah.com.
