Dive Brief:
- BrakeTime Corner Market has signed a franchise agreement with Burger King, Rene Da Costa, the convenience retailer’s vice president of food, dispensed beverage and QSR, confirmed to C-Store Dive.
- The agreement includes both BrakeTime-adjacent and standalone Burger Kings, although there’s no set number of restaurants initially planned for, Da Costa said. The rollout will begin in Illinois and Texas — two of BrakeTime’s largest markets — “where we see strong opportunities to add value,” he added.
- The franchise agreement underscores BrakeTime’s goal to build out its foodservice offerings, which CEO Usman Bashir said was one of the retailer’s primary objectives heading into 2026.
Dive Insight:
Late last year, Bashir told C-Store Dive that although some BrakeTime stores offer Subway, Krispy Krunchy Chicken or Hunt Brothers Pizza, foodservice was not one of the company’s strengths. In addition to building universal kitchens inside its new stores, Bashir said BrakeTime wanted to increase the number of QSRs across its chain of roughly 300 convenience stores.
“We want to build new gas stations, but we also want to really focus on QSRs,” Bashir said in September.
BrakeTime’s franchisee agreement with Burger King shows that the Houston-based convenience retailer is progressing towards that goal. Da Costa said in a statement on Wednesday that he is spending the next eight weeks at Burger King’s headquarters in Miami completing the required franchisee certifications and training.
Da Costa emphasized that the Burger King rollout will be “disciplined,” allowing BrakeTime to focus on “acquiring and developing locations we can realistically and effectively manage.”
“We’re excited to be building a long-term relationship with Burger King and see this as the foundation for sustainable growth,” Da Costa said in a statement.
The minimum financial requirement to become a Burger King franchisee is $500,000 in liquid assets and a total net worth of at least $1 million, according to the burger chain’s website. Once they sign up, a franchisee pays an up-front flat fee of $50,000 for a 20-year agreement, and then pays a royalty fee of 4.5% of their sales per restaurant to Burger King. Franchisees are also required to contribute 4% of their sales per restaurant to the Burger King Advertising Fund.
