Boasting 21 straight quarters of positive same-store sales growth and the highest average annual sales volume of any national bakery cafe brand, Corner Bakery Cafe announced today that it will be expanding its ever-growing family of restaurants as part of an ongoing aggressive franchise growth strategy. Cutter Restaurant Group will be developing restaurants in Colorado and Cornerstone Foods LLC will develop restaurants in Utah for a total of 22 Corner Bakery Cafes within the next five and four years respectively.
“Since Corner Bakery first opened its doors in 1991, our growth in the fast-casual dining segment had primarily been limited to our company-owned operations until the launch of our franchise program late last year,” says P.J. Evans, vice president of franchise development for Corner Bakery Cafe. “Now with the additions of Cutter Restaurant Group and Cornerstone Foods LLC to the Corner Bakery family, our total franchise commitments to date equal 66 locations coast-to-coast—and by 2010 we expect to have development commitments for over 300 new franchise restaurants.”
A seasoned restaurateur with more than 60 years of industry experience to his family’s credit, John Cutter, president of Cutter Restaurant Group, is the former president and CEO of Friendly’s and former COO of Boston Market. Family owned and operated by Cutter and his two sons, Jamey and Steve, Cutter Restaurant Group will acquire two company-operated Corner Bakery Cafes in Denver effective October 1, 2007, and also develop 12 additional restaurants in Colorado over the next five years.
<{>A current franchisee and area developer of Blimpie in Utah and parts of Idaho and Oregon, Ron Bagley, president of Cornerstone Foods LLC, will develop eight Corner Bakery Cafes within the next four years throughout the state of Utah. When the Corner Bakery Cafe franchise program was publicly announced earlier this year, Bagley was one of the first restaurateurs to put in a phone call.
CBC Restaurant Corp. launched a strategic franchise development program in October 2006. The program, one of the most competitive in the industry, is designed to attract potential franchise partners who have relevant multi-unit restaurant experience and have received “best-in-class” recognition within their current system. Cutter Restaurant Group and Cornerstone Foods LLC mark CBC Restaurant Corp.’s fourth and fifth franchise partnerships, respectively.