Capriotti's Sandwich Shop and Wing Zone Announce First-of-its-Kind Partnership with RaaS

News provided by

Aug 03, 2022, 09:02 ET

Award-Winning Fast-Casual Restaurant Franchises Sign Deal with Restaurant as a Service to Develop Ghost Kitchens in So. Cal, Oregon and Washington State

LAS VEGAS, August 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In a revolutionary move, two of the nation's premiere fast-casual restaurant franchises announced a partnership today with RaaS (Restaurant as a Service), a management company designed to help restaurants grow their brands via a ghost kitchen model. This news comes not long after both Capriotti's Sandwich Shop and Wing Zone unveiled aggressive development plans that will expand each brand's brick and mortar footprint in states across the country. The RaaS deal demonstrates yet another move towards industry dominance within both the sandwich and wing categories.

RaaS supports existing restaurant concepts by managing operations inside a ghost kitchen facility. The group partners with distinctive and celebrated brands to help them operate profitably by leveraging experience and maximizing revenue within the delivery channel. Since 2017, RaaS's primary focus has been fulfilling demand and helping expanding its partner brands to new territories. This most recent deal with Capriotti's and Wing Zone began with the acquisition of two ghost kitchens in Los Angeles, followed closely by the development of two more location in the LA market. The acquisitions are complete and RaaS will have the ghost kitchen locations in Anaheim and Glendale, California open by the end of July. The next round of development for RaaS will be in the Bay area, where there will be a total of three ghost kitchens open in San Mateo, San Jose and Oakland by the end of the month as well.

"RaaS is the pre-eminent management company for ghost kitchens and we are eager to partner with an industry-leader to help expand our brands into even more territories across the country," said David Bloom, Chief Development and Operating Officer for Capriotti's and Wing Zone. "While we believe our brick-and-mortar locations are unmatched in the fast-casual space, both Capriotti's and Wing Zone have proven to be successful ghost kitchen operations as well and we are eager to employ both means of operations to ensure consumers nationwide are provided the opportunity to experience the difference first-hand."

RaaS operates its own brands, including Gabriella's Pizza, @Flowers, Los Pollos Hermanos, Pizzaoki, and Crumbs,

However, the development agreement with Capriotti's and Wing Zone represents a unique move for the company as they are just beginning to partner with franchise brands. In addition to development in Southern California, Capriotti's and Wing Zone will also work together with Raas to expand throughout Oregon and Washington state, respectively. Pacific Coast growth will be a primary focus for the remainder of 2022, as well as 2023, when the partnership will begin looking at additional opportunities across the Midwest and Sunbelt.

"Capriotti's is an ideal partner to help anchor our ghost kitchen units given it's standing as best in category and we are excited to help expand it and the Wing Zone brand into new locations," said Drew Padnick, President of RaaS.

Outside of recent developments with RaaS, both brands have maintained strong sales and continue to attract investors in markets across the country. Capriotti's celebrated its 46^th birthday in June, taking time to commemorate having been named one of the top 25 most successful brands on Fast Casual's 2022 Top 100 Movers & Shakers list. The brand ranked No. 24 this year, marking its third consecutive year appearing on the prestigious industry listing. The brand was also named one of the Top Workplaces by the Las Vegas Review-Journal this year, making it the third year in a row that the franchise was ranked by their employees as being one of the best brands to work for in Nevada. Just as well, the International Franchise Association (IFA) named Javier Gomez, franchisee of Capriotti's in Fresno, California, as Franchisee of the Year for 2022.

Capriotti's AUV remains impressive with the top 25 percent averaging over $1.3 million, with contributions from newly-opened stores in 2022 producing a sales average of 50 percent higher than the brand's AUV of $994,847. Wing Zone's AUV of $1,017,337 continues to attract potential franchisees- the proof being the development pipeline surpassing 130 stores since 2021

Last month, the award-winning wing franchise launched the first Wing Zone 2.0 location in Las Vegas, positioning the brand for future growth by creating a unique experience for wing fanatics with its innovative, customer-facing technology to provide a fresh take on the dining experience. In the realm of innovation, Wing Zone is also opening the first robotic outfitted ghost kitchen this August in Pasadena, California, an attractive move for potential franchisees given its low-operating costs and high sale expectancy. In addition, the brand will open its first robotic outfitted ghost kitchen in Pasadena, California on August 15^th.

Founded in 1976, Capriotti's is most famous for its 40-year nightly tradition of slow-roasting whole, all-natural turkeys in-house and hand-shredding them each morning to feature in a variety of subs. This includes The Bobbie, the shop's acclaimed best-seller, made with homemade turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and mayo on a soft roll. Founded in 1993, Wing Zone is an international fast-casual restaurant franchise known for its cooked-to-order, flavor-fused chicken wings, and tenders. Both brands are backed by a corporate leadership team that offers a continuous support program for franchise partners through online and field programs, which provides significant support for marketing, retail sales, operations, and growth strategies through every stage of their ownership.

For more information about the Capriotti's franchise opportunity, please visit http://www.ownacapriottis.com. For more information about the Wing Zone franchise opportunity, please visit https://wingzonefranchise.com/.

About Capriotti's Sandwich Shop

Founded in 1976, Capriotti's Sandwich Shop is an award-winning national franchised restaurant chain that remains true to its 40-year tradition of slow-roasting whole, all-natural turkeys in-house every day. Capriotti's cold, grilled, and vegetarian subs, cheesesteaks and salads are available at more than 175 locations across the United States. Capriotti's signature sub, The Bobbie®, was voted "The Greatest Sandwich in America" by thousands of readers across the country, as reported by AOL.com. Capriotti's fans can also download the CAPAddicts Rewards app for iOS and Android, where they can earn and redeem rewards. Capriotti's plans to grow to over 500 locations by 2025 and was ranked on Fast Casual's Top Movers & Shakers List each of the last three years (2020-22). For more information, visit capriottis.com. Like Capriotti's on Facebook, follow on Twitter or Instagram.

About Wing Zone

Founded in 1993, Wing Zone is an international fast-casual restaurant franchise known for its cooked-to-order, flavor-fused chicken wings and tenders. Wing Zone's award-winning flavors are available at more than 31 locations in North American and its 30 restaurants internationally. The brand plans to grow to 200 profitable restaurants by 2025. For more information, visit www.wingzone.com. Like Wing Zone on Facebook, follow on Twitter or Instagram.

About RaaS

Founded in 2017, RaaS is focused on supporting ascending national and regional restaurant brands by helping them with ghost kitchen operations. In addition to partnerships with established brands, RaaS has created multiple home-grown concepts including Gabriella's Pizza, Los Pollos Hermanos, @flowers and Pizzaoki. RaaS currently operates 14 units on the West Coast with nationwide expansion planned for 2023. For more information, visit raas.com

Media Contact: Julianne Stevenson, Fishman Public Relations, 224-558-2510 or [email protected]

SOURCE Capriotti's Sandwich Shop