Dickey’s Barbecue Pit is expanding in Michigan with a franchise development agreement for three stores. Owner/operators Ed and Carrie Wenzel have recently become the new owners of the Macomb Township location and will open two new locations in Sterling Heights and Auburn Hills. The Sterling Heights location is slated to open by summer 2016, and the Auburn Hills will follow by the end of the year. As a family business, they plan to give their twins their professional start in the restaurants, eventually turning over ownership. For now, however, Ed and Carrie will co-manage the new stores.

Having spent their careers in the auto industry, the Wenzels had dreamed along with their family of opening a restaurant for years. When the time was right the couple researched franchise concepts in which to invest. They chose Dickey’s Barbecue Pit because of the high-quality product, low franchise fees, and ongoing training and marketing support. “We are excited to offer delicious Texas-style barbecue to these communities,” Carrie Wenzel says. “We believe in Dickey’s family-owned brand and look forward to expanding our family business with it.”

Carrie Wenzel graduates Barbecue University, Dickey’s four-week training program for owner/operators, on March 25. Barbecue University trains owner/operators in all aspects of restaurant ownership, from slow smoking meat to customer service.

 

“The Dickey family congratulates Ed and Carrie Wenzel on their first store opening, and we look forward to supporting the opening of their next two locations,” says Roland Dickey Jr., CEO of Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants Inc. “We currently have seven Dickey’s locations in Michigan, and look forward to further expanding in the region.”       

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