News
Hot Doggin' DFW
June 14, 2010
| Apparently DFW loves its franks. In 2008, we were the 7th largest hot dog consuming city in the US—8th largest in sausage, according to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (proof there's an association for everything). Linking it all together, Robert Hapanowicz launched Everyone's Frank in Plano last month, with a second site in the works. | |||
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| More weenie info: Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, 818 hot dogs are eaten every second in the US, Robert tells us. With condolences for Jimmy Dean, we know Robert as The Sausage King of Dallas. He tells us we never “saw such sausage in a place†like Everyone's Frank in Plano (Coit Road north of Park Boulevard). The fast casual restaurant offers a variety of artisan sausages, hot dogs, and its signature drink, the Ice Pick. That's a frozen vodka, lemon juice, and sweet tea concoction. And yes, it's 5 o'clock somewhere. | |||
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| We caught up with Henry S. Miller Brokerage SVP Daniel Harris, with Robert in Plano last week, who tells us the Coit location is heavily trafficked with lots of residential nearby as well as car dealerships and medical facilities. (Patients become customers, not vice versa.) Daniel tells us Addison and Plano were targets after studying the overall DFW market. They both have strong daytime populations and demographics, he says. “Its not hard to represent a national chain, but it's more challenging to do a start-up because you have to get landlords excited about the concept,†Daniel says. | |||
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| Robert relishes the opening of his second location next month in the Addison Walk retail strip at 5000 Beltline Rd., just off of the Dallas North Tollway. Landlord SFERS Real Estate Corp. was repped by United Commercial Realty's Dan Shoevlin. Robert's goal: change the typical hot dog and sausage experience. More restaurants will follow if these two are successful, he says, and his hopes are high because fast casual dining is the fastest growing segment of restaurant industry. Plus, there aren't a lot of national chains active right now, Daniel says. “They're keeping their powder dry.†|
