Skip Johnson, right and his son Kyle Johnson outside their Newk’s Eatery in Magee, Mississippi.
Skip Johnson jokes that his retirement from franchising and restaurant ownership “lasted all of 20 minutes.”
In actuality, though, his retirement lasted about a month after selling 13 Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen restaurants in Mississippi to High Noon Restaurant Group. The multi-unit franchisee and his 23-year-old son Kyle opened their first Newk’s Eatery in Magee, Mississippi, December 16. It is the first of six Newk’s locations Russell Restaurants Group plans to open in six years, all of them within a two-hour drive from the family’s hometown of Magee, which sits about 43 miles south of Jackson.
“At the time I was thinking that’s what I wanted to do, to get away from the stress of running 13 high-volume, high-performing restaurants,” said Johnson, “but then we got excited about opening some Newk’s nearby and it just made sense to set up my son on his own in the restaurant business with another proven brand.”
A seasoned restauranteur with over three decades of franchising experience, Johnson said he’s excited to team with another well-established brand like Newk’s that has strong roots in the deep south. Landing at No. 242 on Franchise Times Top 400 rankings, Newk’s had systemwide sales of $215 million in 2022 with more than 100 units nationwide, primarily in the South.
FSC Franchise Company, the parent company of Beef ‘O’ Brady’s and The Brass Tap casual-dining chains, bought Newk’s last month, right around the time the Johnsons bought into the system, for an undisclosed amount. Beef ‘O’ Brady’s is a sports pub concept with 143 locations in 21 states. Brass Tap, which features an extensive array of beers and what FSC has described as “a food-truck-inspired menu,” has 40 units in 16 states.
Newk’s, a fast casual restaurant chain, specializes in made-from-scratch sandwiches, soups, salads and California-style pizzas. It’s the creation of Debra Bryson and Don and Chris Newcomb, the same team that was behind McAlister’s Deli. The first Newk’s opened in 2004 and soon became a successful franchised chain.
“Newk’s is a bit of a household name here in Mississippi,” said Johnson, 50, who started his restaurant career at 15 as a car hop at local Sonic Drive-thru before eventually becoming a partner and a franchisee. “They were founded in Oxford, Mississippi, and now have corporate offices in Jackson, Mississippi, which is not very far from us here in Magee. I know the CEO of the company personally and I’m not concerned at all with the company being sold, considering the executive team they have there.
Johnson said the biggest challenge he anticipates with opening a Newk’s each year for six years is finding “top quality real estate locations.” He said their Magee restaurant, which is smaller than the older Newk’s prototypes, is about 3,500 square feet and has seating inside for about 90. He said they are particularly excited about the business they’ll get with a drive-thru lane at all their new locations.
“We see our drive-thru lanes playing a pivotal role in future development,” said Johnson, who since becoming a Popeye’s franchisee in 2011, and opening on average one new store every six to eight months in Mississippi and Louisiana, has always owned the land his restaurants are located on. One of the stipulations he said he made upon selling his 13 Popeye’s was that he remains the property owner and leases the restaurant land.
Johnson, whose company hired Unbridled Capital to provide the sell-side advisory services for their sale of Popeye’s to High Noon, said his plans are to help his son oversee the company’s growing Newk’s business before stepping back before thinking about retirement again.
“My son, who has worked with me in the restaurant business since he was young kid, just graduated from college in May with a degree in restaurant and business management,” Johnson said. “My plan was to help him get started and then step back when I feel he’s ready to take the reins, so to speak. The more he gets to know about the business, the more he can start handling things himself.”