A franchise group whose principals have more than 50 years of combined experience in the hospitality industry signed a deal to grow Jack in the Box in several Southeast markets.
Cedar Tree Restaurant Group, led by Jeff Yablun and Frank Conley, agreed to purchase 46 Jack in the Box restaurants and develop 37 new units as part of an agreement covering Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Charlotte, North Carolina, Greenville, South Carolina, and Nashville, Tennessee.
Of the 267 franchise deals Jack in the Box signed since mid-2021, the agreement with Cedar Tree is the largest. Van Ingram, Jack in the Box vice president of franchise development, said the backgrounds of the leadership at Cedar Tree made the deal easy to move forward with.
“They’re an ideal partner,” Ingram said. “Jeff has an operational background at the highest level and Frank has years of financial experience. For us, we’re looking for experienced developers and operators of restaurants in most circumstances.”
Jack in the Box VP of Franchise Development Van Ingram
Yablun and Conley met at HMS Host, a foodservice company specializing in travel centers and airports. There, Yablun, who said he grew up in the restaurant business, was chief operating officer and Conley the senior director of finance. Yablun said they considered several brands, but were specifically looking for one that would have many repeat customers. That’s what attracted them to Jack in the Box.
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“It’s a challenging concept, it’s open 24/7 and it has a complex menu,” Yablun said. “But, that’s why I think our relationship works so well with Jack in the Box. We came from a background that had all of these different service platforms. It’s not an easy brand, but I think the potential for building a repeat customer base is fairly unique in the QSR space.”
In acquiring a sizable group of restaurants—a mix largely of franchise units and including some corporate stores—Yablun said the goal is to get a better understanding of the brand and its operations before opening new locations. As for choosing how many to develop, he said an intensive review process was conducted with the brand.
“We looked at the different markets available and what we thought the opportunities would be within those spaces,” Yablun said. “They do some really great research and after looking it over, we felt that 37 would be the right number to commit to.”
Cedar Tree Restaurant Group Partner Jeff Yablun
The new locations in the Southeast are part of an expansion plan for Jack in the Box. Based in San Diego, the brand is concentrating on markets east of the Mississippi River, with Louisville as one of the key areas.
“We announced Louisville and that’s a good opportunity to either go north into the upper Midwest, and from Louisville we’re also going southeast with this group,” Ingram said. “We know we can go in and expand those markets, we already have a small presence in Indianapolis and Cincinnati.”
Because the brand is newer on the eastern side of the country, Yablun anticipates a strong advertising push but noted the popularity of Jack in the Box is an advantage.
“There are a lot of transplants from all over the country so there will already be those people who seek out the brand,” he said. “Plus, the people who try it really like it, so it’s about getting the right marketing to get people to get in and try it. It’s also different from other brands because of the menu and it’s open 24 hours. Done correctly, it has great potential.”
In 2022, Jack in the Box opened 22 stores and now has more than 2,200 units in 21 states, as well as Guam. The investment range to open a restaurant is between $1.69 million and $2.69 million.