Dive Brief:
- Mahmoud Ziadeh, founder and CEO of Louisiana-based convenience retailer Fast Stop, has acquired nine former QSR sites and plans to bring his c-store chain’s food offerings to a restaurant-only format, he confirmed to C-Store Dive.
- Seven of the locations are in Texas, with one each in Louisiana and North Carolina, said Jeff Knapp, president of real estate investment firm Knapp Group, which assisted with the transaction. While Ziadeh doesn’t have a name for the new QSR concept yet, he said he plans to open the restaurants in the next four to six months.
- Ziadeh’s latest venture continues the trend of convenience retailers stretching their reach to bring on new food and restaurant concepts that appeal to a broader set of customers.
Dive Insight:
Since launching Fast Stop in 2015, Ziadeh has grown the c-store chain to more than 40 locations across Louisiana and New Mexico. A main draw of the stores is Fast Stop’s made-to-order menu, which features Cajun-inspired dishes such as fried chicken,seafood, po boys and southern sides.
As he continues to grow his retail business, Ziadeh is attempting to make a QSR chain from Fast Stop’s menu in a move to diversify his business, he said. Although it’s his first foray into QSRs, this isn’t Ziadeh’s first stab at restaurants — he has ownership stakes in Louisiana sit-down establishments Tap 65 and Bianka, he said.
The nine locations Ziadeh recently acquired include former Jack in the Box, Dairy Queen and Hwy 55 sites, he said. The acquisition marks Ziadeh’s first business ventures in Texas and North Carolina.
“Getting into the QSR business is kind of a little tough and scary, but I’m making that decision and moving forward,” he said.
Ziadeh’s shift into QSRs underscores the convenience retailing industry’s appetite to reach restaurant consumers. Retailers such as Wawa and QuikTrip have built reputations for their made-to-order food programs for years, while last week Atlanta-based RaceTrac revealed plans to acquire sandwich chain Potbelly for $566 million.
