In The News
June 17, 2009 - Ottawa Business Journal
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
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