Like any company on the march, Kahala-Coldstone—based in Scottsdale, Arizona—is an entity in transition, which sometimes can be painful. The successful corporation is a product of the May 2007 merger of Kahala Corp., a leading franchiser, developer, and marketer of quick-service restaurants, and Cold Stone Creamery, one of America’s fastest-growing ice cream concepts.

“Through this merger,” Kahala founder and CEO Kevin Blackwell said at the time, “two great franchising powerhouses have joined forces to leverage the best each has to offer to the benefit of our brands.”

Doug Ducey, Cold Stone Creamery’s chairman and the new company’s first CEO, filled in the blanks. “This merger marries Kahala’s vision for growth and stable of brands with Cold Stone’s results-oriented operational and brand-building expertise,” he said. “Kahala-Cold Stone will carry on our mutual dedication to making franchisees successful [by improving] both organizations’ business potential through increased purchasing power, real estate relationships, marketing leverage, and training know-how.”

The new company, he concluded, would put together “our combined passion, culture, innovation, branding, dedication, and a wealth of experience. Together we will have tremendous momentum.”

Four months later the company vaguely announced, Ducey was gone, a victim of the board of directors’ decision to exercise its option of ending Kahala’s relationship with him. Yet the momentum, the ousted CEO gamely predicted, would continue. The merger still makes “tremendous sense for stakeholders, employees and customers,” Ducey said in a statement released when he left. “I am proud of what has been built … and continue to believe the merger can bring cost-savings to the franchisee community along with opportunities to grow revenue.”

Blackwell replaced him as CEO, and continues as the company’s chairman. Kahala’s concepts include Blimpie, purchased last year; Johnnie’s New York Pizzeria; Samurai Sam’s Teriyaki Grill; Surf City Squeeze; and Cereality, a recent addition.

One of the largest restaurant companies in the U.S., Carrols Restaurant Group Inc., headquartered in Syracuse, New York, has its feet firmly planted in the bedrock of quick-service history and its head in the winds of the future.

For 32 years the company has been a major franchise operator of Burger King Restaurants, one of a handful of chains that has defined and popularized America’s classic quick-service fare. Based on number of restaurants, in fact, the firm is the country’s largest Burger King franchisee.

Since 1998, when it acquired Pollo Tropical, Carrols has also been involved in fast-casual Mexican, one of the industry’s fastest-growing sectors. In 2000, it purchased Taco Cabana. And today, industry analysts say, the firm is poised to continue its ride on the breaking crest of that wave.

“Despite the more immediate challenges,” Alan Vituli, the company’s chairman and CEO said in a statement reporting last year’s financial results, “We are confident that we can capitalize on the underlying demographic trends that support our Hispanic brands.”

Specifically he said the company plans to expand those brands by about 10 percent annually, adding 16 to 20 new units per year. “The underlying fundamentals of our Hispanic brands business are strong,” Vituli said.

In the current fiscal year, Carrols expects to open seven to nine new Pollo Tropical Restaurants and nine to 11 Taco Cabanas. It will also open two to four new Burger King Restaurants, though they will actually be existing units relocated.

“We believe,” a company prospectus says, “that the diversification and strength of our restaurant brands as well as the geographic dispersion of our restaurants provide us with stability and enhanced growth opportunities. Our primary growth strategy is to develop new company-owned Hispanic brand restaurants.”