Let’s Dish! today announced it has signed a franchise area development agreement with Cherry Hill, New Jersey-based LD Philly, LLLP to franchise 11 Let’s Dish! retail meal preparation stores in the Philadelphia area within the next three and a half years.
Stores will be located throughout Philadelphia, including areas in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey. This agreement is a significant step toward the company’s national expansion plans just two years after co-founders Ruth Lundquist and Darcy Olson opened their first Let’s Dish! location.
LD Philly, LLLP, is led by chief operating officer Eric Danver, a food service industry veteran who has partnered with key investors including Charles Bryan and Mark Sneed. The company’s principles have a combined 75 years of experience in developing, financing and operating restaurant concepts.
Danver brings extensive food industry management and operations experience to LD Philly, previously serving as director of operations for Domino’s Pizza Corporate and currently as COO for PJPA, LLC, a Papa John’s Pizza franchise with 14 locations throughout Pennsylvania and Delaware. Danver had previously developed 20 Papa John’s franchised locations in the Philadelphia market. Charles Bryan, president of LD Philly, is a restaurant corporate finance and investment veteran who is currently a managing director for Baltimore-based Bengur Bryan & Co., Inc., a middle market investment banking firm specializing in restaurant and consumer businesses. Bryan previously was a vice president in the consumer investment banking group at Alex Brown & Sons. Sneed is the current president of Phillips Foods, Inc., a major global seafood distributor and restaurant operator.
“Let’s Dish! is the breakaway brand in this category and our ability to attract high quality partners such as LD Philly is a testament to our success,” said Lundquist. “We’ve spent two years laying the groundwork and have built a strong, sustainable business model with enormous growth potential. We are excited to share with Philadelphia-area families a whole new way to serve high-quality, craveable meals at home.”
“After an extensive review of this industry, we believe Let’s Dish! has got it right,” said Danver. “From the corporate leadership to the store design, this concept is head and shoulders above the rest and fills such an important need for busy families. We are excited to bring a new kind of meal solution to the northeast – one that is fun, a great value and most importantly, that tastes amazing.”
Let’s Dish! currently has four company-owned locations in the fast-growing Twin Cities suburbs of Eden Prairie, Maple Grove, Woodbury and Apple Valley. The company has stores currently open or in development in eight states nationwide.
