Loose-Meat Sandwiches to Debut in North Texas

ARLINGTON, TX–Renwood Holdings Inc. has signed a lease for 3,090 square feet at Green Oaks Shopping Center to launch the first Maid-Rite Diner in Texas. Renwood Holdings, owned and operated by the Lund family, has been named a Maid-Rite Corp. franchisee, and, as such, is charged with expanding the quick-casual restaurant concept – best known for its “loose-meat” sandwiches -- throughout the north Texas region.

Peter Kosley and Thad Beckner with Henry S. Miller Brokerage retail division represented Renwood Holdings in negotiating a deal for the Maid-Rite end-cap space at Green Oaks Shopping Center, located at 4101 W. Green Oaks Blvd. The restaurant will open during Q1, 2012. Bob Robbins and Douglas Wilder of GF Investments represented Green Oaks Shopping Center owner, EQYInvest Green Oaks Owner Ltd. LLP in negotiating the five-year lease with Renwood Holdings. Kosley and Beckner have been retained by Renwood Holdings to locate real estate sites for future Maid-Rite restaurants.

Maid-Rite Corp. headquartered in Des Moines, IA, has been around since the mid-1920s and is popular in the Midwest. The concept of loose-meat sandwiches gained a fair amount of fame during the late 1990s on the television sitcom “Roseanne,” as the main character of the show, played by Rosanne Barr, ran a diner that served loose-meat sandwiches based on the Maid-Rite concept.  

Outside of television land, however, Maid-Rite Corp.’s president and CEO Bradley Burt believes the company’s quick-casual concept and tasty menu fits in well with the north Texas population. In an interview with GlobeSt.com, Burt notes that north Texas presents the ideal demographics for the Maid-Rite product including middle-to-upper income families, and an adult audience. Added to that is the fact that there are a lot of Midwestern transplants in North Texas, and Burt says many of those Midwesterners are familiar with the Maid-Rite brand.

From a real estate perspective, ideal locations are those on highly trafficked streets, with a mix of residential and business areas nearby. Burt says end-caps best fit the Maid-Rite concept. “We have free-standing units, but they’re very expensive, and inline units tend to be smaller and are more difficult to access,” he adds. “The Lunds have the ideal unit for the first one. It’s an end-cap, windows on two sides and parking surrounding it.”

Roberta Lund, president of Renwood Holdings tells, GlobeSt.com that a fast expansion and opening one restaurant right after the other isn’t the plan. Rather, she points out, the goal is to get the first restaurant open, making it highly successful as a type of “flagship” restaurant, then opening more. She says the Lunds are eyeing Burleson, just south of Fort Worth, as a location for the second Metroplex Maid-Rite restaurant, and indicated it could open within the next two to three years.

Lund added that Renwood Holdings isn’t looking to have the only franchise in North Texas, either. “We’re hoping to attract other franchisees so we can more quickly build brand recognition beyond just the Midwestern transplants,” she adds.