Franchise Update Magazine Issue II, 2017 | Page 21

ANATOMY OF A BRAND
featuring ingredients you wouldn’t usually
find at your typical family casual restaurants,
like roasted beets and sumac berry spice.
Additionally, we’ve taken many of our
existing menu offerings up a notch, includ-
ing adding fresh Wisconsin cheese curds,
introducing a new homemade mac’n’cheese
dish topped with multiple proteins, and re-
developed our popular Premium Pretzels.
Also, with “steak” literally the brand’s middle
name, we’re also expanding our steak of-
ferings. At the end of the day, our food is
what keeps Lubies coming back for more,
so we’re doing all we can to invest in our
product. We’re also evolving the brand’s
restaurant design, putting a renewed focus
on providing more flexible, non-traditional
build-outs for franchisees to allow more
aggressive growth in stadiums, colleges,
kiosks, and airports.
A unique franchise opportunity
Using our experience and perspective as
both a franchisor and multi-brand franchi-
see, we’re ready to expand Quaker Steak &
Lube across the U.S. We’ve expanded the
brand’s operations and infrastructure
to provide an invaluable
support system for both
new and existing franchi-
sees, who are reporting
an average unit
volume of $2.95
million—higher than many other casual
dining concepts.
One of the brand’s strongest selling
points for franchisees is its multiple revenue
streams, including to-go and pickup win-
dow orders, and retail products such as our
award-winning sauces and Lube memora-
bilia. Recently, we’ve begun to expand our
catering capabilities with the introduction
of food trailers, allowing us to fulfill off-
premise catering orders. The restaurants
also provide an ideal space for indoor and
outdoor events. We’ve also started test-
ing delivery in certain markets to cater to
the demands of today’s consumer and stay
current with technological advancements.
What’s ahead?
We’re more than just a franchisor of Quaker
Steak & Lube: we believe in the brand and
are investing in it alongside our franchise
network. We recently opened our first cor-
porate location in Columbia, S.C., at the
newly constructed Petro Stopping Center,
a full-service travel center. The new loca-
tion showcases all the changes we’ve made
to the brand with a patio, two bars, and the
ability to host more than 250 guests. Since
opening in early 2017, the Columbia loca-
tion has been a huge success.
Between TravelCenters of America’s
in-depth experience and vast resources and
Quaker Steak & Lube’s loyal following, the
brand is gearing up for aggressive growth.
We’re on track to re-introduce loyal Lubies
and new fans alike to the new Quaker Steak
& Lube, and look forward to taking The
Lube to new heights in the coming years
through national expansion. n
John Ponczoch is senior vice president
of TravelCenters of America and head of TA
Restaurant Group.
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