| Chicken fingers, burritos, and pretty women. Sounds like a dorm kitchen, but they're on the menu in Dallas, according to Metroplex restauranteurs addressing ICSC at the House of Blues Wednesday. | |||
| The panel laid out the hottest concepts for dining in the Dallas marketplace. Saxton Pierce Restaurant Corp's Adam Saxton (third at the table) says the retail downturn and vacant spaces hasn't benefited him in site location for McAlister's Deli or Pinkberry: “To get the best locations is still very competitive. We know where the best areas are, and everyone else wants to be there, too.” Joining Adam were Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers' Rick Fuchs, Bengal Coast Restaurant' Mark Brezinski, Twin Peaks Restaurants' Scott Gordon, Chuy's Michael Hatcher, Freebirds World Burrito's John McKay, and Dallas Restaurant Group's Mike Hoque. | |||
| Scott says his Twin Peaks dining experience is a “breastaurant.” Do we need to explain that? His first breastaurant opened in an old Rockfish shell in Lewisville in 2005 with the mountain lodge atmosphere with friendly, scantily clad waitresses. He's started franchising the concept and now there are six corporate locations and five franchises on the ground with future sites planned in Houston, Lincoln, NE, and Arkansas. The chain tends to retrofit empty boxes with average investment of $400k to $1M to get started, Scott says. (That's a lot of “man-sized" beers.) | |||
| Chuy's has six sites opening this year. “When we're ready to sign the deal, we negotiate, sign, and we're ready to go. We react quickly,” Michael says, adding that company leaders spend more time on the made-from-scratch food (anyone else hungry for some tortilla soup?) than the real estate. Typically located in 7k SF freestanding locations, parking is key, he says, noting that 135 parking spots with some ability to spill into another lot is crucial. A Plano site is under construction and the newest will open in South 7th in Fort Worth this fall. | |||
| ICSC program planning members Goodwin Commercial Properties'Pam Goodwin and The Retail Connection's Jill Tiernan flank Colleyville's ED marketing wiz Ashley Stathatos, who tells us that city leaders are exploring avenues to boost development and redevelopment. Catalyst + Commercial recently delivered the city a new merchandising plan which delineates Colleyville's primary retail market and lists more than 320 popular retailers and restaurants. | |||
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