WOWorks family of restaurant brands, Saladworks, Frutta Bowls, Garbanzo Mediterranean Fresh and The Simple Greek, achieved strong growth and added 60 new restaurants in 2021. The WOWorks’ expansion of its better-for-you restaurant concepts included 42 Saladworks, 10 Garbanzo Mediterranean Fresh and eight Frutta Bowls locations. WOWorks also ended 2021 by signing a total of 28 new franchise agreements, representing 112 new locations, demonstrating the robust demand for fresh, flavorful and healthy fast-casual dining options.

Some notable WOWorks growth milestones and key accomplishments in the past year include:

• WOWorks restaurants as a whole have seen accelerated growth with its brands in non-traditional restaurant venues such as Ghost Kitchens, Combo Kitchens, grocery stores, airports, colleges and universities.
• Among the 60 WOWorks restaurants that opened across the US and Canada, nearly 48 percent were non-traditional openings.
• WOWorks opened 15 new locations in Canada, 17 Ghost Kitchens locations, and 10 Combo Kitchen locations.
• 18 percent of non-traditional openings were in grocery retail stores, including the first franchisee-owned store-within-a-store Frutta Bowls restaurant in Doylestown, PA.
• With seven Saladworks and four Frutta Bowls, the company opened 11 store-within-a-store restaurants at grocery locations.
• Besides traditional stand-alone restaurant development, WOWorks opened six co-branded restaurant locations.
• WOWorks’ 2021 growth also included new Garbanzo Mediterranean Fresh openings in the Salt Lake City Airport and Binghamton University.
• Pennsylvania had the most WOWorks restaurants open in 2021. With seven Saladworks, five Frutta Bowls and two Garbanzo Mediterranean Fresh, the state representing 23 percent of WOWorks overall 2021 growth.
• Saladworks had the most robust growth with nine franchise and seven corporate openings.
• On top of their 60-unit growth, WOWorks added the Simple Greek Brand in 2021, growing the company’s portfolio to four healthy halo restaurant brands.

 

“With our restaurants having the ability and flexibility to work in a variety of locations and footprints, we are attracting new entrepreneurs looking to get into the fast-casual industry and multi-unit operators looking to expand their portfolio and diversify with our proven, profitable concepts, says Kelly Roddy, CEO or WOWorks. “With a number of newly signed franchise deals this past year, we will continue this momentum of strong growth through a mix of restaurant formats in non-traditional and traditional channels well into 2022.”

WOWorks franchise owners come from different backgrounds, including existing franchise owners of different brands; varied business ownership backgrounds, such as construction, hotels, and fitness; former professional athletes; and military veterans. The company has franchising opportunities available in 49 states (all states excluding Hawaii) and offers 50 percent off franchise fees for veterans.