As the recession blows, fast food business grows
Mucho Burrito brand extends fast and healthy business for entrepreneur
From his years working at and planting restaurants in Ottawa and environs – spots such as the Barley Mow, Aunt Sarah’s, Extreme Pita and Grace O’Malley’s – entrepreneur Sean Black says he sees this place as a stable and dependable town.
“Certainly Ottawa hasn’t seen the huge growth, from store sales that, let’s say, Alberta has seen over the past five years; it’s been more steady and more single-digit growth in Ottawa where you would expect double digit growth in Alberta,” he says.
“But it certainly is much more of a recession-proof town today than it was in 2000 when the high-tech bust hit.”
Hence his decision to open up the 17th restaurant in his latest venture, Mucho Burrito, at the Kanata Centrum a couple of weeks ago.
He says he and his partners in the “fresh, fast and healthy” brand of food are already meeting with great success despite the relative youth of their chains against stalwarts such as McDonald’s and Tim Hortons.
As a franchise, Extreme Pita has had $70 million in sales this year, with Mucho already posting $15 million of its own. Both are under the Extreme Brandz umbrella, which is based in Toronto.
Mr. Black has 43 more restaurants being developed, and hopes to have 100 by the end of 2010.
And Extreme Pita has 218 locations across the country, 24 in the United States, and several under development in international locations such as Dubai.
“While a lot of people have been pulling back, we’ve been aggressively pushing forward,” Mr. Black, who is also now based in Toronto, says.
“Certainly, today you look at the industry (and) the reason why we’re able to do it is, while a lot of the other guys aren’t growing, it opens up a tremendous number of real-estate opportunities.”
It takes about $350,000 to get a Mucho Burrito restaurant started – in excess of $100,000 more than an Extreme Pita – due to the complexity of the cooking and the scale of the operations, Mr. Black points out.
His franchisees have backgrounds in real estate and development and know a good deal when they see it, says Mr. Black – a useful trait local market analyst Barry Nabatian also pointed out, adding recession-era prices can help new businesses when buying equipment and land.
Mr. Nabatian adds that Kanata was a smart spot to set up shop. “A lot of the employees – despite the loss of jobs in Kanata – are working for tech and science companies,” he says, pointing out the demographic trends towards the younger side.
Mr. Black says theat “The image of healthy and fresh is going to be popular.”, who began his restaurateur career at age 14, serving food at Arnprior’s Aunt Sarah’s. He his eyes firmly focused on Mucho, which he says has legs due to the popularity of Mexican restaurants in the United States.
And he’s a big believer in Extreme Brandz, having bought an Extreme Pita franchise in 2003 and only a year later, becoming so successful that he had several stores under his belt. He sold off the stores to buy a partnership in the company, which plans to launch a smoothie business, Pur Blendz, within a few months.
“The launch in Ottawa … has been a huge success and sales have by far exceeded expectations,” he says.
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BIO BOX: SEAN BLACK
Born: 1974
Education: Arnprior District High School
Selected previous positions: Area developer for Extreme Pita (overseeing Ottawa market); franchisee for Extreme Pita; business manager, Bank Street Jeep Eagle; franchisee, Pizza Pizza; owner, Aunt Sarah’s; employee, Aunt Sarah’s.
Involvement with restaurants: Extreme Pita, Mucho Burrito, Barley Mow, Grace O’Malley’s, Pur Blendz.
Awards: Entrepreneur of the Year, Foodservice and Hospitality Canada (2006)
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Elizabeth Howell
Ottawa Business Journal
June 17, 2009
Alex Rechichi, left, president of Extreme Brandz, and partner Sean Black at the opening of their latest Mucho Burrito, in Kanata’s Centrum Plaza, this week. The Extreme Brandz chain of Extreme Pita and Mucho Burrito restaurants boasts annual revenue of $85 million.
Sean Black is a self-taught entrepreneur and his education started early, at the age of 14 when he was slinging doughnuts at an Arnprior shop called Aunt Sarah’s. Five years later, he bought the company.
Today, at the age of 34, the capital-area native is one of three partners in Extreme Brandz, the parent company of Extreme Pita and Mucho Burrito. Together, the two restaurants boast revenues of $85 million — $70 million for Extreme Pita, $15 million for the newer Mucho Burrito.
Black was in town this week to open Mucho Burrito at the Kanata Centrum, the first in the area. The opening extravaganza, where the first 50 customers got free burritos for a year, featured mariachi players who lined the street. All proceeds from the first day were to be donated to CHEO.
But back to Aunt Sarah’s: He worked there as a kid, and then moved on to Pizza Pizza and bartending gigs.
Then Aunt Sarah’s came up for sale, and he had the savings to buy it.
“I was making more than my mom was, going through high school. As soon as football practice was over, I would go work a shift, from 4 or 5 p.m. to 1 or 2 a.m. I saw a great opportunity: work with the menu, upgrade the uniforms, change the staff.”
So he bought it, and ran it for a couple of years before he decided to get out, and make some money from it.
“Believe it or not, the original owner bought it back.”
At that point, he tried the corporate world and worked in sales before becoming business manager at Bank Street Jeep Eagle. But soon, his entrepreneurial spirit kicked in again. He started researching the concept of a pita restaurant in 1996 and, two years later, at the age of 24, bought an Extreme Pita franchise.
He ran the shop at the corner of Albert and Bank streets for a couple of years before selling it, acquiring a portion of the parent company, and taking over operations for Extreme Pita.
“There was a need in the company for someone who was operationally focused,” he says. “The person who was running it at the time was more from a sales and construction background and his partner was working full time with PricewaterhouseCoopers and doing the accounting behind the scenes and, for me, opportunity knocked. I could work on the bigger picture and help other people realize their dreams of opening a restaurant.”
The company has grown exponentially since. Today, there are 250 Extreme Pitas in Canada, and 30 in the U.S. Head office in Mississauga has 30 staff members and there are about 3,000 employees companywide.
“Despite the tough economic times, we’ll probably open another 70 to 80 stores this year,” he says.
“Twenty in the U.S. and somewhere between 50 and 60 in Canada, so we’re almost doubling our U.S. operations alone.”
Then, there’s Mucho Burrito, a restaurant that came about because Black had been opening stores in the U.S. and discovered “real” Mexican.
“Up to that point, I’d only been exposed to Taco Bell or Mexicali Rosa’s,” he says. “I saw an opportunity, instead of going full dine, or quick service, to go fast-casual — which today is one of the fastest growing parts of the restaurant industry — and bring in fresh Mexican.”
Today, there are 14 such stores in operation and 40 in development, and they hope to have 100 in Canada by the end of 2010. They’re now also expanding to the U.S. and looking at China, the Middle East and Australia.
With that concept rolling out, they’ve launched another, a smoothie shop called Pur Blendz. He says to expect to see combo stores with Extreme Pita.
Black, who now lives in Mississauga, is in partnership with two brothers, Mark and Alex Rechichi. Asked how the company is expanding so rapidly in the midst of a downturn, he made two points.
First, it’s a self-financed company.
“We pay cash for everything. If you’re relying on the banks to do it for you, you’re out of luck,” he says.
Second, they’re in a recession-proof sector. In fact, the recession might actually be helping them.
“Instead of going to full-service restaurants, people are picking up burritos and pitas and going home,” he says. “Instead of spending $100, they’re spending $30 for the family.”
The Ottawa Citizen
June 6, 2009
Photograph by: Wayne Cuddington
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Sean Black
(905) 820-7887
Mucho Burrito™ Fresh Mexican Grill Set to Open in Kanata
Grand-opening celebration planned for June 5, 2009
Mucho Burrito™ Fresh Mexican Grill is celebrating its Kanata debut by throwing a grand-opening party on June 5, 2009 from 12:00PM to 7:00PM at Kanata Centrum Shopping Centre, 160 Earl Grey Drive, Kanata, Ontario.
The store is celebrating this day by giving away Complimentary Menu items to everyone who comes by to celebrate with us by enjoying “Mucho food with Mucho quality.”
EMC Business – Continuing to “spice up” the fast-casual food segment with its unmatched Mexican flavour experience, Mucho Burrito announces the opening of its newest restaurant in the Ottawa metropolitan area.
Located at 160 Earl Grey Dr. in Kanata, the new restaurant is the first of four slated to open in the region in the next six to 12 months.
Mucho Burrito will be hosting a grand opening event on June 5 from noon until 7 p.m., during which time customers will receive a free small or regular size burrito.
In fact, the first 50 customers will receive free burritos for one year. Customers will be asked to donate $2 to the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO). A Mariachi band will also be on hand to entertain the crowd throughout the day.
“We’re incredibly excited about bringing the Mucho Burrito brand to Ottawa and continuing our conquest of the virtually untapped Canadian market,” said Sean Black, company co-founder and an Arnprior native. “We look forward to building upon our initial success and feeding the local appetite with our fresh gourmet spin on Mexican food.”
Since launching the brand in June 2006, Mucho Burrito has opened 13 restaurants throughout Canada and is targeting Ottawa as part of a national growth plan calling for 40 locations by the end of 2010 and more than 200 in the next five years.
Described as “Mucho food with Mucho quality,” Mucho Burrito provides customers with an unmatched flavour experience by offering fresh and authentic Mexican food in a contemporary and casual setting. Customers can choose from a variety of menu selections including hand-rolled burritos, tacos and quesadillas, as well as nacho plates, salads and a selection of custom “Johnny Mucho” sauces.
To further augment the company’s growth strategy, Mucho Burrito is seeking franchise owners with a strong desire to grow an up-and-coming brand within the food franchise business. For franchise inquiries please contact Sean Black at (888) 729-7482, ext. 14 or seanb@extremebrandz.com.
EMC News
June 5, 2009
Next week, Grande Prairians will have a new restaurant to satiate their taste buds.
On June 9, Mucho Burrito will become the latest tenant at the Grande Prairie Power Centre, joining Best Buy, Future Shop, Scotiabank and others.
The Mississauga-based chain first came on the scene two and a half years ago and has since opened up franchises in Saskatchewan, and across Alberta. The first Alberta franchise opened last year in Edmonton and was nominated the best restaurant in the city by Urbanspoon.
Stephen Travers, president of Mucho Burrito Alberta, said that what has made the chain successful is that it isn’t a fast-food takeout restaurant. But it isn’t a sit-down restaurant, either.
“We got off to a huge success, the product was welcomed to the marketplace (in Edmonton),” Travers said from his Calgary office. “Our niche kind of fits in between the Taco Times and the Taco Bells of the world, and then the sit-down restaurants of the world. And although we’re still fast food, we’re coining ourselves as ‘fast casual’”
Travers said he was “not at all” worried about entering the Grande Prairie marketplace in the current economic context, noting that the location is “second to none” and there will be a strong franchise owner in the name of Tom Lee.
“In the fast food industry, when times get tighter and times are leaner people cut out that $20-25 sit-down restaurants, and tend to migrate towards restaurants such as ours,” he said. “We are trying to get to as close to a waiter-waitress restaurant dining experience, but still you’re going to be in and out in 10 minutes to get your food.”
In fact, Travers said people would be able to tell the difference between Mucho Burrito and traditional fast food restaurants once they step into the dining room.
“When you look at our dining room area, it is not conducive of a quick-service restaurant,” he said. “It is very upscale, we’ve put a lot of warm features in there so it’s not your typical quick service restaurant.”
Grande Prairie Daily Herald Tribune
June 3, 2009