JAI Restaurant Group, which currently operates 82 Wendy’s in Tennessee, Texas, New Mexico, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, recently acquired 20 existing Taco Bells in Atlanta.
The American Dream in franchising is alive and well, and Jhonny Mercado and his business partner Andres Garcia are proof positive. Since immigrating from Venezuela in 2007, they have steadily and aggressively grown their franchise operations in the United States as co-owners of JAI Restaurant Group, which currently operates 82 Wendy’s in Tennessee, Texas, New Mexico, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, with three more sites under construction and seven other projects in the pipeline.
Pompano, Florida-headquartered JAI increased its franchise portfolio by 24 percent recently after signing a multi-unit deal with Taco Bell to acquire 20 existing stores in Atlanta and developing six additional restaurants in that market in the next four years.
“For me, it feels like a dream,” Mercado, JAI’s majority owner, said about the Taco Bell acquisition that was finalized on May 31 after nearly six months of negotiations. “I followed this brand for a few years, and now my dream of diversifying our portfolio has come true by entering a partnership with a second great brand.”
Jhonny Mercado, majority owner of JAI Restaurant Group
The Taco Bell deal is just the latest in a long line of acquisitions made over the last 15 years by Mercado’s company, which now employs over 3,300 and reports annual sales exceeding $200 million. JAI, which operated under the name Wenjai Restaurant Group until recently, acquired 18 Wendy’s in Charleston, South Carolina, and Augusta, Georgia, in 2022 and built four new restaurants in Texas and Tennessee.
The biggest acquisition years for the company were between 2015 and 2017 when, after merging with another franchisee to become JAE Restaurant Group, it purchased over 100 Wendy’s. At the end of 2021, JAE split with its former franchising partner, with Mercado retaining 60 Wendy’s.
JAI Restaurant Group has had a longstanding relationship with Wendy’s, dating back to 1998 when Mercado and Garcia acquired their first restaurants in Venezuela. At that time, the two businessmen from Caracas also operated Benihana, Chili’s and Pizza Hut restaurants in their native country, but eventually sold all those units to focus on growing their Wendy’s operations in the U.S.
This year, JAI is actively remodeling its entire portfolio of Wendy’s restaurants to add more-inviting seating options, ADA-accessible facilities, Wi-Fi, flat screen TVs as well as new equipment and technology. Equipment upgrades include new grills and dish washing systems. Additionally, kiosks will be installed in the restaurants to reduce customer wait times for orders. The goal is to have all restaurants updated by 2024.
“It’s all part of the magic of this business to keep growing and keep getting better every day,” said Mercado, whose company won “Best Operator of the Year” in 2021 from Wendy’s corporate and currently serves on the board of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.
“And now with our Taco Bell acquisition, we feel we can achieve our goals,” said Mercado, who projects growing his company to 3,500 employees and his franchise portfolio to 106 restaurants by the end of the year with six new Wendy’s set to open this year. “We are proud to say this is our country now, and it’s been a great adventure in franchising.”
Related: Taco Bell Franchisee Adds 39 Stores to Portfolio
At the end of 2022, Taco Bell had 7,513 units open in the United States, according to its Item 20, with a total of over 55,000 locations worldwide.
The initial cost to open a new traditional Taco Bell store ranges from $1.4 million to $3.4 million. An inline or endcap store ranges from $575,600 to $1.4 million, and to begin operating an existing unit, the range is $175,000 to $1.8 million, according to the brand’s most recent franchise disclosure document.