Brooklyn Dumpling Shop, the nation’s fastest growing dumpling automat concept, is celebrating the grand opening of its first franchised location near the University of Connecticut today, Tuesday, Feb. 22. As the first of five units operated by veteran franchisee Matt Rusconi, the downtown Storrs location marks the return of the famed automat concept to Connecticut. Situated in the walkable downtown of Mansfield, the store is located at 106 Royce Circle alongside the campus of UConn.
“I am extremely excited to open the first Brooklyn Dumpling Shop franchise location here in downtown Storrs,” Rusconi says. “I have a long personal and professional history with this area as I grew up in eastern Connecticut and my dad graduated from UConn, not to mention that this is the fourth business I’ve been involved with in the area.”
This one-of-a-kind quick service restaurant (QSR) serves to be a perfect fit for a college town like Storrs. Guests will be able to place an order on their phone or via one of the restaurant’s point-of-service kiosks, offering an experience that is Zero Human Interaction from start to finish. When a guest’s order is ready, the customer will receive a text notification to pick up their delivery from a specially marked, temperature-controlled locker, which will open automatically after the customer scans their provided barcode. The menu features more than 30 different dumpling combinations, from Buffalo Ranch to Peanut Butter and Jelly, and other favorites popularized by NYC’s famed Brooklyn Chop House.
“The amount of buzz we’ve already seen online around the store makes this a really exciting time for me and certainly for Matt,” says Stratis Morfogen, founder of Brooklyn Dumpling Shop. “The ‘direct messages’ have been piling in and the doors have hardly been opened – we’re ready to share our dumplings with the UConn community and look forward to doing so across Connecticut.”
Brooklyn Dumpling Shop has sold locations in over 10 states and continues to close deals. The Connecticut grand opening is slated to be the first of many in 2022. Most recently, the brand inked a multi-unit franchise deal to bring five locations to the Philadelphia market.
Brooklyn Dumpling Shop has proven itself to be a brand on the rise, landing on QSR magazine’s 40/40 List of America’s Hottest Startup Fast Casuals for 2021.
Brooklyn Dumpling Shop is partnered with Fransmart, the industry-leading franchise development company behind household brands, like Five Guys Burgers & Fries and The Halal Guys, as its exclusive franchising partner to grow the brand. The innovative automat concept is currently looking for experienced franchisees and qualified investors to introduce the concept to major media markets across the country.
