Calling all master franchisees or area developers – Wayback Burgers is seeking investors!
The Connecticut-based fast-casual franchise, Wayback Burgers, serves a meal that’s very American, but many of its most passionate fans and supporters dine around the world. Whether it’s the thick, hand dipped milkshakes, burgers or onion rings, customers will keep coming back to the favorite hometown burger joint.
The burger concept has 166 locations around the world, primarily in the United States of America, but in recent years, the company has been particularly excited about its international growth. Wayback Burgers represents one of the most attractive burger franchises available.
“We didn’t go seeking to locate Wayback Burgers in other countries. They came to us,” says Bill Chemero, chief development officer of Wayback Burgers. “We started getting calls, and people would ask, ‘Are you looking for a master franchisee? Are you international?’ That’s how it all started.” But things have come full circle, since now Chemero is actively looking for master franchisees and area developers.
What kind of franchisee is Wayback Burgers looking for?
Wayback’s mission is to create a culture of belonging by uniting people through the love of comfort food.
- Fast-casual, premium burger concept offering burgers, chicken, and plant-based options and hand-dipped milkshakes
- Over 30 years of proven success, Wayback Burgers offers the opportunity for anyone to start or diversify their portfolio as a master franchisee
- Flexible and creative restaurant location opportunities around the world to fit all investment commitments including traditional and non-traditional like convenience stores, food courts, and truck stops.
What do you offer to franchisees?
The brand understands the level of commitment required to start and build a successful restaurant. It also recognizes the challenge of doing so while trying to implement an effective local marketing strategy:
- Construction and real estate support
- In-restaurant training
- Wayback University training
- HR & team member relations training
- Management certification
- Grand opening planning and execution
- Dedicated regional director of operations.
Partnership and community involvement
Community involvement is one of the brand’s core values and its franchisees play an important role in helping foster and build partnerships with local charities and organizations. The brand has a national partnership with the Boys & Girls Club of America.
Why is now the time to open a Wayback Burgers franchise?
Menu diversity
Wayback Burgers takes pride in the top-quality products it serves and is always looking for new ways to improve. It pays close attention to what items and flavor profiles are trending at its restaurants, and within the industry as a whole.
Proven success
Wayback Burgers started as a hamburger stand in Delaware in 1991 and began offering burger franchise opportunities in 2008. The brand has since achieved international success, growing to over 170-plus locations in more than 34 states in the U.S. and 40-plus countries around the globe. By simply following the operational blueprint and recipe for success, Wayback’s franchise owners have proven that whether they are serving guests in a big city or small town, the Wayback Burgers model works.
Wayback’s international expansion
Franchising since 2008 and currently operating in over states, Wayback Burgers’ unlimited potential has been demonstrated by our loyal following. With 170-plus restaurants open worldwide and 500+ more under development, we are rapidly expanding our brand.
We’re also continuing our international expansion into 40 countries at Wayback Burgers with restaurants currently operating in the Middle East, North Africa, Brunei, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Morocco, Japan, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Canada. We are currently developing in South Africa and Germany.
With new locations available all over the world – the time is now to set your course for success with Wayback Burgers.
Wayback: then and now
The restaurant’s name, Wayback Burgers, refers to a bygone era, way back in time, when people cared deeply about the taste of the quality food that they made. When customer service meant something and everyone felt the warmth of the community.
Wayback Burgers was founded in 1991. It started – and has continued – with the premise that the business should specialize in one thing – the burger experience. They serve other items, such as chicken sandwiches, and while being unapologetically old-fashioned (the burgers are thick and juicy; the milkshakes are hand-dipped), the brand is also very much looking toward the future. It has enthusiastically climbed onto the plant-based burger trend, offering its Impossible Melt, a burger melt.
The company also has a history of embracing technology, quickly offering online orders when it became apparent that that was becoming a thing. It has for some time now had a Wayback Burgers app. Its food trucks are environmentally friendly: electric. Wayback also produces a veggie burger to serve the growing vegetarian and vegan demographic.
The company has been renovating its look lately, too, changing its color scheme, replacing the red on the walls with a “Sealskin” grey color, while the upper are tinted with a “Mindful Grey” tone. The ceiling tiles are also being replaced, going from an off-white to black tiles and a black ceiling grid.
Other new design elements include graphic items and framed wall posters, such as a Wayback Clock and a decorative American flag made from Delaware license plates, the state where the brand was founded.
“I’m sure it’s hard to visualize, but I promise you, the new look is fantastic,” Chemero says. “We’ve had a lot of compliments from our guests and the franchisees. And the older franchises that have retrofitted their restaurants to the new look have seen an increase in sales.” While Wayback Burgers has been around for almost 30 years, it has only been franchising since 2008 when John Eucalitto, CEO, and Chemero joined the company. Back then, there were 10 Wayback Burgers in the United States.
In the United States, the initial franchise fee for the first franchise is $35,000. The estimated initial investment for a typical Wayback Burgers restaurant in the United States will be between $350,000 and $450,000.
Internationally, the initial investment for a master franchisee or area developer can vary, depending on a variety of factors, including the size of the country.
Calling all master franchisees or area developers
Chemero is looking to sign master franchise agreements and area developer deals with experienced franchise owners who know what they’re doing, but at the same, he says that Wayback Burgers will work closely with them. Chemero says that once Wayback partners with master franchisees or area developers, the burger brand provides a comprehensive training process, support and backup.
“We help them find vendors for the products and the equipment, for the POS systems. We train them on where the good locations are for a Wayback restaurant. That’s harder than it sounds, as anyone who has had a franchise knows. Real estate can be overwhelming if you don’t have that support,” Chemero says.
He says that they have a dedicated international staff at Wayback’s corporate headquarters in Connecticut, and they’re there to support the growth of master franchisees and area developers grow in the restaurant industry.
Wayback Burgers will also help master franchisees and area developers design an initial marketing plan, creating an attractive business opportunity.
In other words, Wayback Burgers strikes that delicate balance of not micromanaging – but also not letting business owners fend for themselves and having to guess at everything and hope for the best.
Chemero seems to have world domination on his mind when asked about where he wants to see Wayback Burgers located, he wants to see a Wayback business owner on every corner of the globe. He says that he is keenly interested in seeing growth in Europe, Asia, Australia, Central America and South America, particularly Argentina. He also is, of course, working on getting Wayback Burgers in all 50 states. So, yes, if it sounds like Wayback Burgers is interested in being, well, everywhere, that would be right.
And if its chief development officer has anything to say about it, franchisees will go a long way with Wayback.
Potential franchisees: Read Wayback Burgers’ franchise watch article!