McAlister's Deli Franchise Has Another Record-Setting Year; Expects Even More Growth in '07

A growing network of successful franchisees combined with the increasing popularity of McAlister's Deli lead the 221-store chain to record-setting numbers in 2006. In fact, McAlister's Deli was ranked #4 in Fast Casual magazine's Top 100 (December 2006), naming it "one of the best limited-service restaurants in all the land."

Headquartered in Ridgeland, Miss., McAlister's opened 43 franchised restaurants in 2006. System wide sales for 2006 surpassed $255 million and sales in 2007 should surpass $325 million. In July 2005, McAlister's Deli was acquired by Roark Capital Group, an Atlanta-based private equity firm with $560 million of equity capital under management (www.roarkcapital.com).

Growth will be driven primarily by targeting experienced multi-unit operators already in the industry who are looking for a new concept to add to their portfolio. The target ratio for franchised versus company-owned units is 85 percent franchised and 15 percent company-owned.

"We have a great group of franchisees who continue to grow and develop high volume restaurants. Each year they continue to raise the bar even higher in terms of sales and operations," said Patrick Walls, chief development officer and senior vice president for McAlister's Corporation.

McAlister's has been profitable in each of its 18 years with a fast-casual concept that produces average Restaurant volume of $1.3 million in its restaurants that encompass 19 states. McAlister's "deli-style" menu features more than 90 choices of sandwiches, wraps, soups, spuds (giant baked potatoes loaded with multiple toppings), salads and desserts.

All of McAlister's Deli franchisees operate, or have executed development units to operate multi-unit restaurants, the two largest being Dallas-based Saxton Pierce Restaurant Corporation, which operates 21 restaurants, most in Texas and Oklahoma, and JME, Inc. with 15 restaurants in Tennessee and Northern Mississippi.

Building on the success of this last year McAlister's plans to open 50 new restaurants in 2007. They also plan to enter three new states - Colorado, Nebraska and New Mexico. "We will continue focusing on attracting experienced multi-unit franchisees of other concepts to become McAlister's Deli franchisees," said Walls. "Our concept and brand are established, but in terms of growth we're still rising."