Differentiators including robust revenue, lower-than-industry-average food costs, a community-nourishing mindset and impressive team member retention help make Eggs Up Grill a compelling franchise opportunity.
Eggs Up Grill isn’t just your average community breakfast nook—although it’s certainly just as cozy as Saturday morning pancakes with grandma and grandpa. The everyone-is-welcome breakfast, brunch and lunch brand serves up smiles from sunup to lunch, with accommodating hours from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. From signature omelets to a compelling business opportunity, Eggs Up Grill has something to satisfy every kind of appetite.
With strong AUVs and comparative sales, the hospitality-for-all brand is primed for impressive growth. Eggs Up Grill opened 10 locations in the last 12 months and is on track to have more than 55 restaurants open by the end of 2020. Eggs Up Grill is rapidly expanding throughout the southeastern United States, with a focus on Atlanta, Georgia North Carolina’s Triangle Region and central and northern Florida.
Eggs Up Grill franchisees also report strong AUVs. According to Item 19 of the brand’s 2019 Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD), the average annual gross sales among the 10 restaurants that had operated at least 4 years as of April 1, 2019 was $980,871.
“The key takeaway for prospective franchisees is an understanding of the beneficial financial business model,” Eggs Up Grill CEO Ricky Richardson said. “The brand’s median cost of goods sold is 24%**, which is 3 to 5% lower than what you would typically see in full-service restaurants.”
Since Eggs Up Grill restaurants are only open until 2 p.m., there is also comparatively lower operational costs when stacked up against other full-service restaurant concepts. Not only that, but the hours of operation offer an appealing work-life balance, an attractive lifestyle for both franchisees and team members. According to Richardson, that translates to fulfilled franchisees and happy team members.
“Our franchisees experience a low employee-turnover percentage,” Richardson said. “When you have lower turnover, you’ll have higher quality team members due to their longer experience levels as well as lower training costs in the business.”
Multi-unit franchisee Marc Cotone owns three Eggs Up Grill franchises in the Charleston, S.C. market and has two more in development. Two of his franchises are located in Summerville, and his third is located in Ladson, which recently opened in August.
Cotone, a CPA, first learned about Eggs Up Grill in the Spring of 2014 while vacationing with his family in South Carolina’s Myrtle Beach. Cotone and his family ended up eating at that location “every single day” during their trip. Cotone lived in Boston at the time. When his family relocated to Charleston in October of 2014, he found the Eggs Up Grill location in nearby Mount Pleasant and visited nearly every weekend with his family.
Cotone knew that Eggs Up Grill was a fulfilling franchise opportunity. He opened his first Summerville location in 2016. After seeing its success, he opened a second location in 2018, followed by a third in 2019. Cotone signed a Development Agreement for several more locations in the market, citing franchisee training and brand support as pivotal to his success.
“The brand leadership team teaches us how to run the business and that’s essential to anyone’s success,” Cotone said. “They support us on a daily basis. When we open a restaurant, the brand team comes out and extensively helps train new team members. They also provide ongoing support to ensure we are following the system, using best practices and running our restaurants the best that we possibly can.”
Richardson echoed this, noting that brand news spreads by word-of-mouth thanks to enthusiastic franchisees who love the concept and are highly engaged in their local communities. He also attributes the brand’s success so far to the tools the Eggs Up Grill leadership team has been developing, such as local store marketing programs that enable the franchisees to connect with their community through events and promotions.
Unsurprisingly, Eggs Up Grill is the kind of brand whose franchisees are passionate about being involved in their communities. Cotone, for example, lives behind one of his restaurants and is a member of four local boards in his community. He is also happily involved with local schools.
“Community engagement is really important,” Richardson said. “When it comes to prospective Eggs Up Grill franchisees, it’s about finding the right cultural fit who understands our brand’s values. The franchisee should also have a passion for results and an eagerness to drive growth.”
Editor’s Notes: *These numbers pertain only to the group of restaurants that have operated for at least 4 years and are not necessarily representative of the entire system. The data used to calculate these results was taken from franchisees’ financial statements, was provided by our predecessor, and is unaudited and unverified. Consult our franchise disclosure document for more detailed information.
** In Item 19 of our FDD, we disclose certain key cost data reported to us by our franchisees during calendar year 2018. The results reported in this section of Item 19 of our franchise disclosure document are for the 23 restaurants who were in operation for the entirety of 2018.
The total investment necessary to begin operation of an Eggs Up Grill Restaurant is estimated to be between $462,330 to $653,680. This includes a $39,500 franchise fee that must be paid to the franchisor or its affiliates. To learn more about franchising with Eggs Up Grill, visithttps://www.eggsupgrill.com/franchise/.
About Eggs Up Grill:
Eggs Up Grill is home to the whole neighborhood, serving smiles from sunup through lunch. The aromas of freshly brewed coffee, savory bacon and hand-cracked, farm-fresh eggs on the griddle, and warm, attentive team members will make you feel right at home. We are “neighbors serving neighbors” daily from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Recently ranked as the no. 1 breakfast franchise by Entrepreneur magazine’s Franchise 500® for its outstanding performance in areas including unit growth, financial strength and stability, and brand power, Eggs Up Grill is experiencing record growth across the Southeast. Originally founded in Pawleys Island, S.C., by restaurateur Chris Skodras, Eggs Up Grill now has 47 locations and is headquartered in Spartanburg, S.C. In 2018, private equity firm WJ Partners acquired Eggs Up Grill, building the team and priming the brand to rapidly grow in more communities across the U.S. with plans underway to reach the 100 restaurant mark by 2023. For more information, visit eggsupgrill.com.
