Wingstop Will Double North Texas Store Count

"This is a lot of growth, but this is not out of the ordinary for a company at this stage in its life," Wes Jablonski, Wingstop's executive vice president of business development and CFO, tells GlobeSt.com.

Seventeen of the North Texas locations will open by December 2004, 12 in 2005 and one in 2006, Jablonski says of the newly cut deal with brothers Todd and Tracy Metten from Dallas, Rex Heckelman of Garland, Gary Shultz of Bedford, Tim Blakeney of Burleson, Tommy Hicks of Crowley, Joe Hoing of Lewisville, Pam McWhorter of Lewisville, Carol Ellis of Grand Prairie and Tracy Henry and Jacqui Brewer, both of Carrollton.

Wingstop, which has two corporate-owned locations in the region, will add two more in the next six months, according to Jablonski. One lease has been signed for Buckner Commons, a new center in Dallas, and the scouts are still looking in east Richardson for the other. Wingstop's original location is 1250 Northwest Highway in Garland, the same center where it houses the corporate offices and the other corporate site is located in Pleasant Grove.

An average store totals 1,250 sf. The high end of a franchise is $286,000 per door, but the average is a $250,000 investment, Jablonski says. Under the agreements, stores are kept three miles apart.

Two of the nine franchisees looking to expand were part of the original group signed in 1998. McWhorter, with one location in Highland Village, will add a site in the Colony and Blakeney will add two to his three-store lineup in Arlington.

The Mettens, the only new franchisees in the stack, will set up six locations in Allen, McKinney, Murphy, Wylie, Sachse and 2829 Custer Rd. in Plano, which is the only signed lease to date. Both are experienced franchisees: Tracy Metten, 14 Subway stores and Todd Metten, Smoothie King.

Heckelman penned a pact to open Wingstops in Rowlett, Rockwall and Pioneer Shopping Plaza at 701 Bruton Rd. in Mesquite. Shultz, who operates two stores in Tarrant County, will open seven. Hicks will open stores in Crowley and Mansfield to complement two in southwest Fort Worth.

Hoing, a four-year franchisee, signed a pact for three stores in Frisco, Carrollton and North Dallas. Henry and Brewer, also franchisees since 1999, are developing two in Irving and one inside the loop in Dallas. Ellis, joining the Wingstop roster in 2000, staked a claim in Grand Prairie.

The expansion boosts Wingstop's store count to 60. Before the latest round of signings, the chain had 114 franchised stores operational and 133 under development in 22 states. The chain repeatedly is a top-ranked concept on the US circuit.