Pancheros Mexican Grill intends to open its 11th location in New Jersey in Marlton this fall – the start of what company officials say will be a major expansion in the state.
Joe Gale, the director of franchise development at Pancheros, said the Iowa-based company has seen great potential in New Jersey since it opened its first franchise in the state in 2008. Now, it’s looking to act upon it – potentially increasing the number of restaurants 5-fold in the coming years.
“Pancheros has been in the market for 16 years now,” he said. “We feel strongly that our customers connect with our brand and love it.”
Gale said internal stats bear that out.
There are more than 90,000 Pancheros loyalty members in New Jersey, accounting for nearly 12% of the company’s members nationwide. And in the past 12 months, the New Jersey restaurants had a 23.68%loyalty member participation rate – well above the industry average of 12.56%, Gale said.
Gale attributes that to the franchisees in the state.
“Since opening our first Jersey location in 2008, we have built strong relationships with our New Jersey partners, with many franchisees now operating multiple locations, and we aren’t looking to slow down – we want to continue growing our footprint with the right partners,” he said.
“We are actively looking for new, qualified, experienced restaurant operators to fill the market as well, with the market capable of holding five times the amount of locations we currently have across both New Jersey and Pennsylvania.”
Gale said the company does not have specific locations in mind for expansion. Rather, it is looking for the right franchisees.
He said potential franchisees can expect to invest between $680,500 to $1,387,500 to open a new restaurant – and that it takes approximately six months to build the restaurant and prepare for opening after signing an agreement.
The company said the average unit volume is growing steadily:
2020: $1.17M AUV
2021: $1.36M AUV
2022: $1.44M AUV
2023: $1.56M AUV
“We’ve had great market penetration in the Midwest and have started to experience that in New Jersey,” Gale said. “We see it as a fantastic market for growth potential with our audience.”
