When Atomic Wings CEO Zak Omar meets with potential franchisees, he lets them know he’s been in their shoes. Before he purchased Atomic Wings in 2016 from founder Adam Lippin, Omar was a multi-unit Dunkin’ franchisee. Omar still relies on learnings from that experience when working with new franchisees.
“There’s a lot more trust,” Omar said. “They know that I’ve been through it. That I’ve worked at every station, that I know what it takes to invest my own money in a location, and that I know what it takes to manage employees and food costs.”
His familiarity with the food industry goes back before his work as a franchisee, though. Omar began working in hospitality with his father in a fried chicken truck when he was 12.
Omar’s father, Mo, fled Afghanistan after the invasion by the Soviet Union and came to the United States as a refugee in 1980. In America, Omar said his father began opening restaurant businesses, and it was that background that inspired him to get into the industry.
Omar’s first step into franchising was with Dunkin’ in 2011, when he became a franchisee alongside his father and brother. Eventually, they grew their business to 12 Dunkin’ locations in Maryland.
While he found success with franchising, Omar experienced a plethora of challenges in the ensuing years. In 2013, he was diagnosed with cancer and his father died.
Describing himself as a fighter, Omar showed resiliency and in 2016, he bought Atomic Wings with Ray. According to Omar, it was a brand he had been interested in for quite some time.
Zak Omar, CEO of Atomic Wings.
“During my time on Wall Street, working in a corporate job, we’d always order from a brand called Atomic Wings,” Omar said. “We loved their product and the flavor profile.”
Omar contacted Lippin, who founded Atomic Wings in 1989, and after a series of discussions made the move to purchase the brand. Today, Atomic Wings has 21 units in New York and Maryland.
There were more hardships to overcome for Omar, though, in the years before and after Atomic Wings celebrated its 30th anniversary.
In 2018, Omar’s cancer relapsed, and he needed to get a bone marrow transplant. Fortunately, he was able to rely on his franchisees to help.
“My franchisees really stepped up; they understood I was in the hospital and knew they’d have to be on autopilot for a month or two,” Omar said. “They did a great job of navigating through it, making my time a lot easier and allowing me to recover.”
Beating cancer again reinvigorated Omar, he said, and prepared him to assist franchisees when the coronavirus pandemic started.
“We did a bunch of things,” Omar said. “When COVID hit, we cut our royalties to the franchisees. When the wing prices also raised through the roof, we cut our royalties in half.”
Atomic Wings is now expanding its number of franchisees, a process Omar said is being done carefully and thoughtfully.
“We’ve grown pretty aggressively and we’ve been cautious with who we partner up with on the franchisee side,” Omar said. “We’re bringing on franchisees that have experience in franchising. We’ve got a great network of people. We have folks who know the business and know what it takes to run a successful operation.”
The brand recently signed two 10-unit deals in Houston and in Indiana, plus a couple of three-unit deals in Dallas and in the California bay area.
The initial investment for Atomic Wings ranges from $155,900 to $338,500 for one unit and $197,900 to $381,000 for a minimum of three units.
On top of serving quality ingredients and food, Omar is working toward his goal to make Atomic Wings an iconic brand by using the customer service skills he learned from his dad.
“Some of my best memories with him was serving chicken out of the fried chicken truck and making customers smile,” Omar said. “He took pleasure and enjoyment in that and I’ve taken that same approach. When I enter stores, I’ll still jump on the cash registers and greet customers myself because it’s something I like to do.”