Page 72 - Entrepreneur - USA (January - February 2020)
P. 72
THE FRANCHISE
Those healthy sales are
Taco Bell fueling the next big Taco Bell
2 boom. In 2018, the company
— — — and through its Cantina con-
STARTED FRANCHISING 1964 TOTAL UNITS 7,136 COST TO OPEN $525.5K–$2.96M added 329 franchise locations,
cept, it’s continuing its reverse
WHEN TREA TURNER stole sec- itself has continued to grow into the Grubhub app, which sprawl from strip malls into
ond base in the World Series in every direction, including provides a geofence function cities, with upscale, urbanized,
this fall, it was tacos on the two notches higher on our list. that allows franchisees to hand booze-pouring Taco Bells.
house for everyone in the coun- Sales were up 6 percent, to over food within a minute of So what happens when the
try. As part of an annual Taco $11 billion, in 2018, and as of the driver’s arrival. And with taco giant runs out of corners to
Bell promotion (the brand calls third quarter 2019, year-to- more than 4,800 U.S. Taco put new stores on? Simple: It’ll
it “Steal a Base, Steal a Taco”), date same-store and overall Bells now offering delivery, the travel abroad. As of 2018, only
the freebies sent America a sub- sales were up 5 and 8 percent, brand has inspired more than 7 percent of Taco Bells were
tle reminder that, yes, the chain respectively. 14 million customers to reg- international. “Earlier this year,
faces increasing competition in Driving the growth, in part, ister for at-home taco service. we signed our largest master PHOTOGR APH COURTESY OF TACO BELL
the crowded Mexican fast-food is the company’s focus on “Already, we see about double franchise agreement to date,”
market it created, but no, you convenience. To better serve the check size for delivery says Grams. “We’ve committed
can’t beat it on value—just try. pickup customers, Taco Bell orders compared to what we to opening 600 restaurants in
If America got a little pudg- was the first restaurant to inte- see in-store,” says Mike Grams, India in the next 10 years.”
ier that Wednesday, Taco Bell grate its POS system directly global chief operating officer. —LIZ BRODY
70 / ENTREPRENEUR.COM / January-February 2020 TOTAL UNITS NUMBERS AND COST TO OPEN AMOUNTS AS OF JULY 31, 2019.
