March 13, 2006

Chain Expansion Report

Darden Restaurants, McCormick & Schmick’s and Papa John’s, among other companies, release expansion information.

• Chipotle Mexican Grill opened a store in Fairview Park, Ohio, which is the Denver-based burrito restaurant’s 500th location in the country. 
• Darden Restaurants plans to build a new $100 million headquarters building in Orange County, Fla., according to the Orlando Business Journal. The company currently employees 1,100 people, housed in 14 buildings totaling 350,000-square-feet in a two-mile area. 
• Hudson’s Grill International Inc. announced the opening of a Hudson’s Classic Grill location in Escanaba, Mich.
• McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurants Inc. announced the opening of McCormick & Schmick’s Grill in Minneapolis, their second location in that city. The chain plans to open an additional six grill restaurants in Minneapolis by the end of 2006. 
• Papa John’s sold its Perfect Pizza brand in the United Kingdom to Smartfirst Ltd. The transaction includes the sale of all 110 franchised Perfect Pizza units as well as a distribution facility. 
• Rubio’s Fresh Mexican Grillw opened two locations at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim as part of a multi-year partnership with Arrowhead Pond and the Mighty Ducks Hockey Club.
• Sbarro announced plans to open 30 locations in Mexico and 20 locations in Egypt during the next five years as part of agreements with the Italian Restaurant Developers de Mexico and Egypt’s Sewedy Foods. 
• Tim Hortons plans to ship a trailer to the Kandahar airfield in Afghanistan to distribute its baked products and beverages to the Canadian military stationed there. The Canadian Forces will be responsible for staffing and operating the location, which will open within the next few months.

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