Wingstop Restaurants Inc. is relying on franchises to beef upthe brand, although this year will bring some additionalcorporate-owned locations, Andy Howard, EVP of marketing andresearch and development, tells GSR. The corporation operates sevenfast-casual restaurants in Dallas and Houston, and plans to limitits presence to Texas while delegating the hard push for theexpansion play to "brand partners" or franchisees.

With 204 locations now up and running, Howard says the 100 to125 new restaurants in 2005 will be opened in existing marketsunless a brand partner surfaces for a "five or more unit" buy-infor an inroad into another state. "It's a great tribute to ourbrand when our brand partners come back to build more," Howardsays, adding the goal is to reach 450 restaurants by the end of2006. In the past month, restaurants have opened in Las Vegas,Omaha, Rancho Cucamonga, CA, Charlotte, NC, and La Marque, TX.

With the expansion stage set, Wingstop picked up a newtop-ranking to add to the marquee: the best of breed in the "extrahot sauce" category at an annual cook-off in Buffalo, NY, a meccafor chicken wing aficionados. Competing for the first time at theNational Buffalo Wing Festival, Wingstop bagged first place withits "atomic" flavor and two second-place spots, with the "originalhot" wing earning the "best traditional hot sauce" category and"garlic parmesan" earning the "best creative sauce"designation.