Greg Flynn is diving head first into the Australian restaurant market, with 200 Wendy’s stores planned for the next decade. This follows Flynn Restaurant Group’s acquisition of 260 Pizza Hut stores in the country earlier this year.
“It was serendipity, more than anything,” said Flynn, the group’s namesake and CEO. “We had already identified Australia as a top-tier target for international development” and then Wendy’s announced its interest in re-entering Australia earlier this year.
Wendy’s awarded Flynn a master franchise agreement for Australia. The group plans to open 200 stores nationwide by 2034.
“It was just natural for us to work with a partner we already knew and loved, using the team we already had on the ground to become the franchise developer for Australia for Wendy’s,” Flynn said.
Flynn’s acquisition of Pizza Hut Australia in June was the company’s first international investment since its inception 25 years ago.
“It was an existing successful business with a very high performing team in place,” Flynn said of the Pizza Hut acquisition. “And that really greatly ameliorates the demands on our time and our resources. It’s totally different than building a business from scratch.”
Adding Wendy’s to the roster requires more resources and time, Flynn said, but the group also has over a decade to develop these stores. “The first openings won’t be until, at the earliest late ’24, but probably 2025,” he said. “We need to identify sites, build a pipeline, get the restaurants constructed and open. So, we’ve got time to do it.”
Australian burger concept Hungry Jack’s Founder Jack Cowin apparently commented about Wendy’s re-entering the Australian market. “He made some pretty colorful comments around, ‘Well, they tried before and they failed, but I wish you well this time,’” Flynn recalls. “Jack, thank you for the challenge and especially for the free publicity.”
Flynn and the Wendy’s team offered Cowin free burgers from Wendy’s for a year once the stores are open.
Flynn’s 2,600-plus restaurants generate about $4.5 billion in sales each year. The group, which is the largest franchise operator in the United States, operates Applebee’s, Wendy’s, Pizza Hut, Panera, Taco Bell and Arby’s stores in the United States and Australia. Flynn already owns and operates 200 Wendy’s stores in the United States.
Flynn bought NPC International in 2021 after the large Pizza Hut and Wendy’s franchisee filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The deal, which earned a Franchise Times Dealmakers award in 2022, cost $522.5 million for 937 Pizza Hut and 194 Wendy’s restaurants.
Domino’s has 800 stores in Australia, and Flynn said his group could get Pizza Hut to 500 in a handful of years.
Flynn has said he’s open to further overseas expansion. Many large-scale franchisees like Flynn Restaurant Group operate on a global scale, he said. “What I love about the international market as a growth channel is it’s essentially unlimited,” he said in June.