April 26, 2006

Chain Expansion Report

Benihana, CPK and Morton’s, among other chains, report expansion information.

• Benihana Inc. announced plans to open a restaurant in Maple Grove, Minn. The company also announced an agreement to sell the Sushi Doraku restaurant, located in Miami Beach, Fla.,?? to Kevin Aoki, Benihana’s director of marketing, for $536,000. Aoki will resign from his current position but remain a member of Benihana’s Board of Directors.
• California Pizza Kitchen opened a restaurant in Hong Kong, China, its third location in that city. 
• Captain D’s announced plans to open three restaurants in Detroit, the first of which will open this week. 
• Chick-fil-A plans to open 65 to 70 restaurants this year, including three to four locations in Central Florida, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
• IHOP Corp. signed a multi-store development agreement with Junior Foods to open six restaurants throughout Nuevo Leon, Mexico, during the next four years. The chain also signed agreements to open 23 locations during the next 11 years throughout Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.  
• Main Street Restaurant Group Inc. opened a T.G.I. Friday’s at the Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, the first systemwide location within a casino.
• Morton’s Steakhouse announced it signed leases to open restaurants in the California cities of Anaheim and San Jose by 2007. Morton’s operates eight units in California. 
• Ole Times Country Buffet plans to open a location in Macon, Ga., by May, bringing the total number in that state to six, according to The Macon Telegraph.
• Red Robin Gourmet Burgers will open a restaurant in Cary, N.C., on May 1., its fifth location in the state. The chain will also open a location in Plymouth, Mass., the second in that state. 
• Ruby Tuesday’s plans to open a restaurant in Las Cruces, N.M., its first in the state, according to Las Cruces Sun-News.
• Ruth’s Chris Steak House announced it signed an agreement to acquire seven franchised restaurants in Chicago; Northbrook, Ill.; Troy, Mich.; Memphis, Tenn.; Nashville, Tenn.; Ponte Vedra, Fla.; and Jacksonville, Fla., with an option to acquire an eighth unit in Baton Rouge, La.

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