PHOENIX-As part of a test run, Wingstop Restaurants Inc. of Dallas is preparing to launch its first mall location as part of a 22-store market push in the Greater Phoenix metro.

Before the month ends, Wingstop will open a 2,400-sf spot in Spectrum Mall at 1641 W. Bethany Home Rd. The restaurateur typically leases 1,400 sf to 1,600 sf for mainly take-out and little eat-in space, but the Spectrum mall location will feature more seating to encourage mall shoppers to sit and dine. Wingstop executives say Phoenix's demographics provide ample reason to "test-drive" the eat-in mall concept.

"Spectrum Mall is on the larger side of typical," explains Andrew Howard, executive vice president for Wingstop. "This is a test case to determine if placement in a mall will help us gain some eat-in business."

Howard says Wingstop plans to have 22 locations open in three or four years, an even split of sites with area franchisee, JTR Partnerships Inc. of Phoenix, and company-owned stores. Howard estimates it takes about $250,000 for the all-in cost to open a Wingstop shop. Wingstop currently has stores open at 5833 Thunderbird Rd. in Glendale and 1229 Power Rd. in Phoenix.

Howard says the ideal location is an area with high population densities. He says Wingstop average customer profile is a 25- to 44-year-old male who teams wings and sports programming and families stopping by to pick up dinner. "Our boneless wing product has helped bring in the women-kids-family market, which is important to us," he adds.

According to John Finch, Wingstop's vice president of development, shadow strip centers in front of big box stores, such as Wal-Mart Supercenters, are outstanding locations for the restaurant. "We like the shadow centers because we can get that visibility by the street and get the benefits of freestanding centers without the cost," Finch tells GlobeSt.com. Street visibility is important, he continues, but parking isn't paramount. "As we're mostly take-out, we don't put a lot of stress on a parking lot in a center and developers like that," he says. "We'll need more parking than, say, a RadioShack, but not a whole lot more."

Finch says its lease rates in the metro area are ranging from $18 per sf $28 per sf. "There are some areas that are more expensive," he adds. "We won't go into those immediately until we determine how the volumes are."