Innovation and Unit Economics Continue Driving East Coast Wings + Grill

Innovation and unit economics have always been driving forces behind East Coast Wings + Grill’s success. As a proven and successful brand, East Coast Wings + Grill has always been committed to its customers and its franchise owners – all while serving up its signature award-winning wings and flavors, burgers, sandwiches, and more in a family-friendly environment.

Focusing on innovation has made the brand quick to respond to market trends, like more and more families turning to takeout versus dining in. That trend shows no sign of slowing down and no brand has been ahead of the curve better than East Coast Wings + Grill. The full-service, casual-dining restaurant brand is now doing nearly half (45%) of its sales through carryout (up from pre-pandemic figures of 28% brand unit level averages), while the pre-pandemic dine-in revenue is aggressively returning- it’s a formula for ongoing sales growth.

“We have always relied on innovation,” said Sam Ballas, East Coast Wings + Grill founder and CEO. “In everything from our great menu offerings to our smaller footprint, lower real estate costs and lower unit development costs, especially, our laser focus on unit economics.” The world has taken notice and East Coast Wings + Grill is on the grow.

Innovation led the brand to introduce its smaller “2.0 Model” restaurants. Not only does this reduce operators’ real estate investment costs but reduces the square footage of these restaurants by up to 38%, which enables owners to lower operating costs by another 28%. A smaller space also requires fewer staff and reduces labor cost. However, the 2.0 Model locations still remain large enough to offer a full bar and full service for dine-in customers. So franchisees can give their customers the same full-service restaurant experience while reducing their overall costs.

Operations at East Coast Wings + Grill is also driven by innovation and unit economics. The brand leverages state-of-the-art technology so operators can take orders and receive payments quickly on tablets that seamlessly synch with third-party delivery services. The technology even allows operators to view their sales in real-time, which leads to better purchasing and staffing decisions.

Every East Coast Wings + Grill operator submits monthly P&Ls for each of their locations. This benefits the entire brand because analytics calculate expenses on everything in the middle of the P&L from revenue collected, general and administrative (G&A), cost of sales, and cleaning supplies. In addition, the brand has a fully staffed Unit Level Economics Department where the analytic team measures additional benchmarks and KPI’s daily. This provides faster unit level support for inflected areas on the P&L.

The unique use of analytics is paying off for the brand and its franchisees. In 2021, East Coast Wings + Grill locations enjoyed a blended Net Operating Income (NOI) of 12.94% a decrease from the prior year due to supply chain encumbrances. The organization’s ECW 2.0 average unit volume is more than $2 million, with many locations breaching the $3 million mark for the first time in 2021.

"The culture of our brand is driving unit level numbers while coaching franchisees on the importance of every dime and nickel and offering best practice and new technologies for employment culture which not only retains employees but has driven our franchised locations to be ‘the employer of choice’ in respective markets,” said Ballas. “Accepting the approximate 340-basis point NOI reduction in 2021 due to supply chain inflection and inflation is an easy thing to do, when your franchise system uses data and franchisees embrace the brand initiatives, data, and guidance - together we know these points are coming back."

Driven by innovation and unit economics, East Coast Wings + Grill is experiencing growth and is looking to partner with franchise operators passionate about food, hospitality, customer service, and community involvement. The brand’s consistent high franchisee satisfaction scores make it a great investment opportunity.

For more information about franchise opportunities with East Coast Wings + Grill, visit www.eastcoastwingsfranchise.com or call 336-760-4985.

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