Taco Cabana could finally be expanding outside of major Texas metros, with the company seeking franchise owners in five mid-size cities from the Panhandle to the Gulf Coast.
Most Taco Cabana locations can only be found near major metro areas, like its home-base in San Antonio. Their initial Texas cities of Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio are saturated, so next on the list for expansion are the mid-size markets.
John Ramsay, director of franchise sales and development, helped build the framework for the new franchising program and identified several potential cities. Those markets, pending franchisees, will include Abilene, Amarillo, Corpus Christi, Lubbock, Midland and Odessa.
“One of the first things we did was to put together a complete strategic plan defining who we’re looking for, where we want to go, (and) how is it going to work,” Ramsay said. "When we think of these markets, one of the beauties of the markets that we just talked about is that they're a perfect fit for a franchisee."
The markets have populations of more than 100,000 residents, so they could support multiple restaurants. Another factor is there is a community desire for Mexican food.
“We believe that our menu, and we know this from our years of experience, appeals very much to people across the state - from El Paso to Houston and up to Dallas,” Ramsay said. “We’re a brand that’s excited about growth, and at the same time is not standing still with innovation on the food side.”
Taco Cabana is already gaining interest from potential franchisees in several cities, including Abilene. For Lubbock, a franchisee deal could sustain three restaurants.
“There’s a lot of people who lived in San Antonio or Houston, who grew up with the brand,” Ramsay said. “(Taco Cabana) has spoken to somebody recently who went to Abilene Christian University, but grew up in San Antonio. We’re getting quite a few responses from that type of franchisee, which we’re very excited about.”
Taco Cabana has a support system in place for franchisees, including operating and marketing systems. The company assists with “everything” from training to technologies and real estate. On top of being an established brand, Taco Cabana has teams for purchasing and supply chains.
“It's truly a team effort, but we're there the whole time, kind of guiding and assisting the process,” Ramsay said. “Another thing that we offer that's unique is that we understand Texas. We're based here.”
Another unique factor is that the franchisee will have exclusive development rights for their market.