Frost is leveraging in-depth franchising experience to help optimize the Teriyaki Madness real estate strategy for incoming franchisees and facilitating partnerships with national providers to overcome the challenges of today’s real estate market.
Teriyaki Madness, the Seattle-style teriyaki franchise, has been signing franchise agreements left and right this year — 95 new units sold among 29 new franchisees. To ensure this growing system of both new and existing franchisees is properly supported, Teriyaki Madness has also been building out its executive team. The most recent hire, Ryann Frost, joined the team in June of 2022 as the new Vice President of Real Estate Development and has since been focused on optimizing the brand’s real estate strategy through strategic, nationwide partnerships and initiatives.
Frost comes from an in-depth background in franchising, spending over eight years working as the Franchise Development Directorfor UBREAKIFIX, a nationwide cell phone repair concept. She joined UBREAKIFIX fresh out of college when the brand only had 10 people on the team and a small number of corporate stores. She helped initiate the franchise program, developing everything from site selection and build-out procedures to marketing and training coordination. Over her tenure, Frost helped grow the brand from a few corporate locations to over 800 franchise units nationwide and even joined as a franchisee herself as a co-owner with her mother.
After relocating to Denver from Florida at the beginning of 2021, Frost was ready for something new and fresh in her career. And no one does “new and fresh” like Teriyaki Madness.
“I was ready to join a company that was in the early stages of their growth trajectory again — I wanted to feel that hustle and energy,” said Frost. “Of course, once I tried the food, I was sold. I knew I could stand behind something delicious and fresh that had all the makings of a great offering, and the team in place was amazing.”
Frost officially started in June to oversee the development of the brand across the country. “My role is to assist franchisees in securing their real estate, whether that be site selection, lease negotiations, LOI or build out and construction,” she said. “We exist to help franchisees find the best location possible at the best price possible.”
As part of that strategy, Frost has also been helping facilitate new partnerships with nationwide real estate providers, leveraging Teriyaki Madness’ growing buying power to establish valuable resources across the country.
Bialow Real Estate, for example, is a Boston-based real estate brokerage that Teriyaki Madness has signed on as its master brokerage partner. “All of our franchisees will be working with them to help find locations,” said Frost. “Typically, we would hire a broker in any real estate transaction, but we want to make that variable of who represents us is more consistent. I had known Bialow from my time at UBREAKIFIX, and they are great partners who are very smart and ready to get their hands dirty. They have relationships across the country with landlords and tenants and represent several other QSR franchise brands, allowing us to share best practices and promote more synergy.”
Corey Bialow, CEO of Bialow Real Estate, says they are equally excited to be representing Teriyaki Madness on its national expansion plans. “We focus on representing ‘best in class’ retailers and restaurants throughout the country and Teriyaki Madness has become a true leader within the quick-casual sector,” he said. “We were impressed from the onset with their corporate culture that encourages diversity, collaboration and a primary focus on the customer. Our companies share a similar set of values and we look forward to executing on their aggressive growth plans to provide the American consumer with a healthy food option as a value proposition.”
Sevan, a leader in innovative program management for clients with multiple sites, is another development partnership Teriyaki Madness is bringing in on the construction side. “We want to give franchisees as much support as possible – especially as we sell so many units across the country – so we are scaling the team to provide that support,” said Frost. “Sevan is an extension of our internal team. They offer franchisees project management services and oversee the actual construction work that happens. We are partnering with Sevan to ensure that we are getting the build-outs done on time and for a competitive price.”
Shiron Olson, Vice President of Operations for Sevan, says Teriyaki Madness is preparing to implement Sevan’s program management suite of services to expand restaurant sites very rapidly. “One of our primary goals is to partner with well-positioned companies like Teriyaki Madness to help them modernize their network and scale quickly,” she said. “We are proud to be leaders in the QSR space, and Teriyaki Madness is positioning themselves for significant growth in the market with fresh, innovative offerings for their customers. Sevan is excited to work hand-in-hand with Teriyaki Madness franchisees and act as a collaborative partner every step of the way, from start to finish.”
Overall, Frost says prospective franchisees are faced with two primary questions: “Should I sign on with Teriyaki Madness? And number two? Real estate. Where should I put my restaurants? By having more experts on the team, working with tenants and landlords and giving us guidance on everything from process to deal terms, we can pass that on to franchisees and give them a broader perspective. Essentially, it is all about offering more support for franchisees so they can make the right decisions around location.”
In her role, Frost says her immediate goal is to further optimize the real estate process for franchisees, especially as the real estate market and restaurant industry continue to create challenges for owners.
“I view myself as a young hustler ready to roll up my sleeves and get my hands dirty,” said Frost. “At Teriyaki Madness, the franchisees are always the first people in mind. Their interests need to be taken care of, and I really admire that about the brand. I am excited to be a part of the team and continue that mission.”
Teriyaki Madness CEO Michael Haith says the team is equally excited to welcome Frost to the TMAD family and has already been blown away by the strides she’s made in the real estate department.
“The demand for Teriyaki Madness is growing everywhere, but expansion is not something we force — we are building out our team with qualified leaders like Ryann to promote healthy growth throughout our system, not just fast growth,” said Haith. “Real estate is such an important piece of the franchising puzzle, and Ryann is bringing the market knowledge and industry connections to ensure Teriyaki Madness franchisees are well taken care of every step of the way.”
Fast casual Teriyaki Shop franchise Teriyaki Madness is committed to unconditionally satisfying guests by offering delicious, made-to-order, healthy (or not) bowls, apps and sides, prepared with fresh, all-natural ingredients served quickly and at a reasonable price. Guests can enjoy their bowls in the shop, or order through the mobile app for delivery or curbside pickup. Teriyaki Madness has been ranked on Entrepreneur’s Top Food Franchises, FastCasual’s Movers and Shakers in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, the Inc. 5000 list for six straight years, and was named the Fastest-Growing Big Restaurant Chain in the United States by Restaurant Business in 2021. Founded in 2003, the brand currently has more than 120 shops open, with franchising opportunities nationwide for qualified single and multi-unit candidates. For more information, visit www.franchise.teriyakimadness.com.
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