Dan Leyva
After finding success with Dunkin,’ a father-and-son team have turned their attention to a chicken brand. Uri Back and his son Jonah will soon open a Wings Over restaurant in Long Island, New York, the first as part of a 10-unit agreement for the area with development planned over the next three years. Dan Leyva, the brand’s chief wing officer, said the move is part of the company’s methodical approach to growth.
Wings Over has 33 units, mostly in the Northeast and Midwest. The brand was founded in 1999 in Amherst, Massachusetts, and began franchising in the early 2000s. It changed ownership in 2017, when Leyva, along with his business partners and friends Kevin Mok, Raunak Nirmal and Mike Wang, acquired the concept.
“We wanted to reinvigorate, redevelop and reimagine the brand, so that it was one that thrived and existed in the future,” Leyva said. “Finding the right partners has been incredibly important to us. … The Backs are good people. They’re extremely passionate, smart and invested in their business. They’re not just looking to write a passive check and hope for the best. They genuinely try to understand the business.”
Jonah Back had his first lesson in understanding Wings Over while he was attending Syracuse University.
“I’ve tried many different chicken wing concepts before, but then I came across Wings Over and fell in love with the food,” Back said. “Once I started working for the family business, I was looking for other brands to go into.”
That family business today has 16 Dunkin’ locations, a portfolio that’s been built over the past two decades.
“We were in search of doing a new business back in the early ‘90s and had a good friend who was already with the brand,” Uri Back said. “They told us about the business, how it was young at the time and had a lot of good potential to grow. I have a sweet tooth and love to drink coffee, and since they were located in the Northeast, which is our neck of the woods, we took the recommendation to open stores.”
Wings Over, the chicken wing and tender concept with a presence in the Northeast and Midwest, is growing in its existing markets. New franchisee Jonah Back says he “fell in love with the food” and sees potential for more growth in Long Island, New York.
Jonah Back said he sees the same potential in Wings Over that his father did in Dunkin’.
“I thought about their new branding and image, and got really excited,” he said. “As I got to know the leadership, I recognized their passion for the concept and expertise in the space. As we went through the deal process, we learned about their systems, ingredients and partners they work with. Having that and the great brand value, especially in the Northeast, is something I saw as a huge opportunity to help grow the brand.”
The Long Island area already has a few locations open, but Leyva said the strategy for Wings Over is to keep growing more in the markets it’s in now, before branching out to new regions.
“We do intend to grow in states like California and Texas, but for us, it’s important now to continue growing the brand awareness, density and redundancy in the areas we’re in,” Leyva said. “We’re going to continue looking at regions we’re currently in, filling in those areas to take advantage of the reputation we have.”
As Wings Over expands, Leyva acknowledged it will face more competition in the chicken wing space. However, Leyva said he has confidence the quality of the product will win over customers.
“There are a couple areas where we do not negotiate on, one of them is the quality of the food,” Leyva said. “We may not be the biggest, have the largest marketing budget, or other things competitors may have, but if we focus on every single guest having the perfect order every time, then the growth and the love for the brand will come naturally.”
Leyva said that has remained true even with chicken wing costs fluctuating regularly over the last several years.
“The last few years have been a roller coaster in terms of pricing, with all-time lows and all-time highs,” Leyva said. “Right now, we’re kind of in the middle ground. But we will continue to focus on optimizing the quality of the chicken. It’s a challenge we work on with our partners every single day. It does factor in, but we work to find the right balance to still find value.”