Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue IV, 2012 | Page 43

R E C O N N E C T : Guillermo Perales
By Kerry Pipes

Perpetual Grow-Motion
Guillermo Perales thinks bigger in Texas… and Florida

A

fter visiting with Guillermo Perales five years ago, perhaps the
most pointed question to ask him
today is, “What have you not been

up to?”
When last we spoke with the country’s
largest Latino restaurant franchisee, he was
holding steady at around 140 units across
five brands. Today, following two recent
mega-deals with Arby’s and Burger King,
he’s flirting with 400 units, making him

the fourth largest franchisee in the country. Perales has more than doubled the
size of his company by adding both new
units and new brands (Del Taco, CiCi’s
Pizza, T-Mobile, and Arby’s) to his holdings, which still include Popeyes, Burger
King, and Golden Corral.
“We’re in growth mode, yes,” he says, in
typical understatement. “With Arby’s pushing to refranchise many of its locations, it
was a good move for us.” This year alone,

his “growth mode” has included adding
51 Arby’s and purchasing 19 Burger Kings
out of bankruptcy in the Dallas area, and
adding 96 Burger Kings in central Florida. (Both brands have recently rolled out
refranchising initiatives.) And talk about
domination: although he already has 72
Burger Kings in the Dallas area, his goal
is to own all 96.
Born and raised in Mexico, Perales
showed signs of excelling early on. As a
university student, he graduated with highest honors before departing for corporate
life in the U.S. His first job, with Mexican
company Gruma Corp. in the 1980s, provided the experience he needed and was a
stepping-stone to starting his own business.
One thing he learned during those years:
“It’s better to be a part of a bigger system.
It takes away some of the risk when you
have a recognizable name, and it makes
financing easier to get.”
He set his sights on the Dallas market
and has never looked back. He identified
some key sites and by 1997 had opened his
first Golden Corral in Dallas. An SBA loan
helped him meet the financial criteria and
Name: Guillermo Perales
Title: President and CEO
Company: Sun Holdings, LLC
No. of units: 398: Burger King
(172), Popeyes (73), Arby’s
(52), CiCi’s Pizza (49), Golden
Corral (33), T-Mobile (12), and
Del Taco (7).
Age: 50
Family: Wife, Adriana, and three

children, 14, 12, and 8.

Years in current position: 15
Years in franchising: 15

Multi-Unit Franchisee Is s u e IV, 2012



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