Taco John’s is a quick-service brand that’s over 50 years old, and if you ask Brooks Speirs, vice president for franchise development, the brand’s future has never looked brighter. A close look at some numbers shows why: After rolling out an updated and refreshed store design in late 2019, the brand’s top 25 percent of units were averaging $1.51 million in average unit volume (AUV).
“We are a legacy brand that has spent a good amount of time remaking our image over the past few years,” Speirs says. “We have a new COO, CMO, executive team, marketing agency, new menu items and the new store design that’s really seen a lot of success. There’s truly never been a better time to look at Taco John’s to fill out a franchisee portfolio.”
And now Taco John’s has drawn up a tantalizing deal to recruit new multi-unit franchisees aiming to open multiple units. Any new multi-unit franchisee that agrees to open five or more Taco John’s stores, and signs an agreement in 2021, is being offered up to three years of reduced royalties for each unit opened in the first four years. Additionally, stores will receive $10,000 in dedicated marketing funds to spend within 120 days of opening each store.
“Taco John’s is in an incredible growth phase and we are looking to partner with talented and qualified franchisees across the country,” Speirs says. “With very attractive markets available for development, we’re in a strong position to encourage growth with the right partners through this unmatched incentive offer.”
Beyond the aggressive incentive offer, one of the reasons Taco John’s is such a good investment opportunity, says Speirs, is the fact that its brand recognition is extremely high and the franchisor and marketing team is doing the heavy lifting of ensuring that brand associations are all positive. Taco John’s has always been able to count on the fact that its loyal following loves the brand’s high-quality food at an affordable price. The brand also happens to pride itself on a unique menu in a sector that’s on fire right now: Mexican quick-service.
But another reason Taco John’s has seen much of its success lately is due to the momentum of off-premises channels and the fact that the brand leverages a familiar product through modes of service that are overwhelmingly popular right now, in drive-thru and to-go channels. The franchisor has also rolled out a significant investment in third-party delivery capabilities, loyalty apps, and digital menuboards in the drive-thru space to ensure this legacy brand is as modern as it gets. And now, it wants to position itself as the second-biggest Mexican quick-serve in the country.
“When you look at the quick-serve Mexican landscape, even though it’s one of the most popular cuisines in the country and there’s an obvious number one player, there really isn’t a big second brand in the segment that comes to mind,” Speirs says. “With pizza you’ve got about five brands you can reel off right now. You don’t have that with Mexican, and we want to be that brand, and we are building the infrastructure to make it happen.”
To find out more about how you can grow the Taco John’s brand, visit the Taco John website.
