Shane's Rib Shack Franchise Demonstrates Acquired Brand Strategy A Winner

Raving Brands knows how to create and grow a Restaurant concept. Its Moe's Southwest Grill concept, just six years old, already has 330 stores opened and hundreds more in development. Its Planet Smoothie concept, which started in 1995, is proving to be one of the most innovative players in the juice and smoothie category with concepts such as Planet Smoothie Café and the co-branded concept it shares with Nestle Tollhouse Café.

Now, however, Raving Brands has made a strategic decision to seek growth through acquisitions of proven concepts. Its Shane's Rib Shack concept, acquired just two years ago from Shane Thompson in rural Georgia, has set the pace to be one of the industry's hottest concepts. Born out of a tin-roofed, non-air conditioned shack off Highway 155 in McDonough, the franchised Shane's tastes every bit as good as the original.

"We feel very good about the progress and the future of Shane's," explains Chris Morocco, executive vice president and chief development officer for Raving Brands. "We know our success with Shane's is not only important for this brand, but for our entire enterprise as we seek to grow and transform our company."

Since the beginning of the year, Shane's has signed 126 Franchise agreements, including:

Bada Bing Barbecue, LLC - multiple units in Orlando, Florida
Capital Resource Holdings, Inc. - multiple units along the Florida panhandle, including Destin, Ft. Walton Beach, Panama City and Mobile
Loftis Holdings LLC - multiple units across North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee
Schofield Restaurant Group, LLP - multiple units across Florida

"I couldn't be happier with the way we are growing and nurturing this brand," explains Shane Thompson who operates a few of his own Shane's concepts in addition to playing an integral role in the brand's growth. "Raving Brands has demonstrated that you can take a mom and pop concept and scale it without losing its integrity. For those people who feel a mom and pop should stay that way, they should take pride in knowing there's only one original and you can always go back to capture a little of that authentic environment."

It's Shane's rural Georgia flavor -- from store design, to best quality meats and a famous 50-year-old BBQ sauce recipe concocted by Big Dad, Thompson's Grandfather -- that is drawing franchisees. Shane's currently operates 37 shacks and has another 11 scheduled to open before the end of the year.

About Shane's Rib Shack
Shane's Rib Shack is a true American rib shack, known for its hand-cut baby back ribs, chicken and pork and made-from-scratch sides. The company was founded by Shane Thompson in 2002, in rural McDonough, Georgia, who started the restaurant with his grandfather's secret BBQ sauce. Since Atlanta-based Raving Brands acquired the concept in 2004, Shane's Rib Shack has grown to become the country's fastest growing quick-casual barbecue concept with 135 franchise units in development across the country.

About Raving Brands
Founded in 2000, Atlanta-based Raving Brands is a multi-brand restaurant Franchise Company with nine different brands including Moe's Southwest Grill, Shane's Rib Shack, and Planet Smoothie. The company was ranked #1 in Fast Casual magazine's "2005 Top 100 Movers and Shakers." The company's flagship brand, Moe's Southwest Grill, is a 2005 Inc. magazine Top 25 Company, was rated 6th in Fast Casual magazine's "2005 Top 100 Movers and Shakers" and was Nation's Restaurant News' 2004 Hot Concepts! award winner. Collectively, Raving Brands expects to operate more than 1,000 locations of its brands nationwide by 2009.