What Mama Wants

Fast-casual Asian food concept Mama Fu's is looking expand dramatically. To figure out where it's going, you need to know the secret phrase.

Mama Fu CEO Randy Murphy (between chairman Mark Adams and COO Steve McManus) coined the phrase “one off the end cap” term to describe how it's looking at leasing. The restaurant had been searching for end cap 3,000 SF spaces in strong retail centers, but those are hard to find because of significant growth in fast casual dining, he says. Plus, about 50% of their customers prefer take-out or delivery, so it made sense to look at a smaller footprint (about 1,500 SF) and eliminate much of the dining space. The new smaller concept will be tagged Mama Fu’s Take Out and Delivery.

Randy says there’s plenty of 1,500 SF spaces available just one off the end-cap. Those bring "lower cost per/SF at build-out and we’re able to keep that visibility and name recognition, especially in new markets." (Plus our child sources reveal that first is the worst, and second is the best. And third is usually a spa that waxes hairy chests.) He tells us the first opening will be Austin in mid-March in the HEB North Hills project at Braker Lane and Jollyville. The second will follow in Rochester, Minn., in April. The new concept will feature only fast-casual dining, which reduces utility and labor costs, too.

Mama Fu’s opened seven franchises last year, and Randy is looking to maintain that pace. The restaurants are about a 50/50 split between franchise and corporate stores, which are spread mostly across Texas, but also in Florida and North Carolina. On the radar: the Midwest, with at least 10 more corporate stores opening around the greater Austin area and many more in Texas and its neighbors.