News
GENTLEMEN, START YOUR ENGINES!
April 24, 2012
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| We spoke with Druzak Merchant Development's Ralston Merchant(right, with business partner Jeff Druzak), who just signed a franchise agreement with Quaker Steak & Lube, the motorsports-themed chain restaurant. (Though no one is condoning eating and racing at the same time.) Now the company is site-shopping for three Philly locations. Ralston assures us that "we're in final negotiations on two locations, and we're in somewhat serious talks on another site." Deals could very well be signed on two of those three sites in as early as two weeks, he says. And while Ralston declined to name the locations, he did offer something of a site selection riddle: "The counties we're looking in right now," he says, "are Philadelphia, Montgomery, Chester, Delaware, Berks, and Lancaster. The sites I'm talking about are in two of those six counties." |
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| Also still in the decision phase, Ralston tell us, is whether Druzak will be developing new structures (like the one above) or taking over existing buildings. "But if we're going to build a new structure," he says, "we wouldn't do one that had less than a footprint of 6,700 SF and up to maybe 8k SF." Should one of the group's three sites end up in the city, or as an end-cap location in a shopping center, "we'd probably go as low as 5,500 SF." Ralston adds that he and Jeff are looking at a seven-figure investment per store, the first of which is expected to open by April 2013. We'll be sure to have our disposable bibs and NASCAR trucker caps at the ready. |
