ENC Today:
Cam McRae, owner and president of the Kinston-based Tands Inc. that operates the largest number of franchised Bojangles’ restaurants for the Charlotte-based fast food company, opened his 50th store in Grantsboro on Tuesday.
The restaurant is the first Bojangles’ in Pamlico County, and is the newest addition to Tands Inc.’s 31-county territory in Eastern North Carolina. McRae also has several stores in Virginia.
Randy Kibler, president and chief executive officer of the private parent company Bojangles’ Inc. that is known for its Cajun fried chicken and biscuits, said most of the company’s franchisees have between one and seven restaurants, while operating 50 is “really abnormal.â€
McRae is the first franchisee to hit the 50-restaurant mark.
“For somebody to build a company from one — like Cam opened the first store himself, and then he built the company to where it has 50 — that’s an incredible accomplishment in the restaurant business,†Kibler said.
