Nation’s Restaurant News:
Togo’s, the 242-unit sandwich chain, is adding company-operated units after nearly a decade of exclusively franchising its restaurants.
“We are not planning on making a large investment in company restaurants, but we want to get into the business with our franchisees to test and to learn and, obviously, by doing that we also can generate additional cash flow for the company and its investors,†said Togo’s chief executive Tony Gioia.
Gioia said Togo’s began its return to company-store operations in June when the franchisor acquired control of a restaurant in San Pedro, Calif., and turned it into a training location. That move was in advance of the November opening of a new franchisor-operated restaurant incorporating the chain’s newest design elements in Pleasant Hill, Calif.
“We’ll have by early January four company-owned restaurants, pretty much in the [San Francisco] East Bay area,†Gioia said.