JAI Restaurant Group in Pompano, Florida, operates 87 Wendy’s, including this one in Texas. The company’s portfolio of fast-food restaurants also include 20 Taco Bells acquired last year in Atlanta.
Jhonny Mercado applies what he considers a straightforward approach to running his restaurant enterprise.
“The magic for us is to continue to grow because in this business once you stop growing, you die,” said Mercado, whose Wendy’s and Taco Bell unit count is ever-expanding under JAI Restaurant Group.
With a Wendy’s opening in Aiken, South Carolina, this month following another new location in Texas, the chairman of Pompano, Florida-based JAI is the majority owner of 87 Wendy’s in Tennessee, Texas, New Mexico, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. His portfolio of fast-food restaurants also include 20 Taco Bells acquired last year in Atlanta.
Jhonny Mercado is the majority owner of JAI Restaurant Group
The past three years have been a whirlwind of activity for Mercado and his group, which until last year operated under the name Wenjai Restaurant Group. Since 2021, Mercado’s company bought 21 Wendy’s and those 20 Taco Bells. In the last two years, JAI also built 11 Wendy’s.
With all its new store openings, JAI increased its employee count to 4,000 at 107 restaurants in six states. The company is projecting sales of $230 million in 2024; it did $220 million in 2023.
Mercado and JAI show no signs of slowing down, with two new Wendy’s scheduled to open later this month in Texas and Tennessee and four remodels in the works in Tennessee, Georgia and South Carolina. His area development agreement with Taco Bell calls for six additional restaurants in the Atlanta market over the next three years.
Related story: Wendy’s Unveils Redesigned Restaurants in Oklahoma, Kansas
“Our plan as a company is to keep opening two new restaurants each year for the next 10 years,” said a confident Mercado of the development schedule. “We see plenty of opportunity to keep growing with these two fantastic brands we work with, Wendy’s and Taco Bell.”
Mercado immigrated from Venezuela in 2007. At one time he owned 77 Wendy’s before selling the majority of them and rebuilding his portfolio with new acquisitions and buildouts.
He said the average unit volume for his Wendy’s locations was $2.2 million in 2023, or about $200,000 above the systemwide average. He said his best performing Wendy’s restaurant did more than $4 million last year and that he’s projecting an average unit volume for his Taco Bells at $1.6 million in 2024, $100,000 more than last year.
“There are really two main reasons for our success. No. 1, we work with two amazing brands that provide delicious food and do a wonderful job of marketing and supporting the communities we are in,” Mercado said. “No. 2, we have an amazing team here at JAI that I call the dream team. They keep everyone updated and involved and give awards to our high-performing employees in corporate and in our stores with all kinds of prizes, like trips to Las Vegas.”
Mercado added a key player to his executive team in May when he named Rajeev Sabharwal as CEO of JAI. Sabharwal comes to JAI from Wendy’s International, where he was based in Dubai and was the company’s vice president and managing director for the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa region.
Mercado said he’s handed off most of the day-to-day operations responsibilities to Sabharwal and that the two of them will collaborate on future acquisitions.
“I’m not ready to retire just yet,” said Mercado, who’s featured in the recently published book, “From Start to Success: 40 Stories of Successful C-Suite Executives.” “I have four children and my plan is to pass on the business to them eventually. Until then, I’m very involved and excited to keep growing our business. Even with what we have been able to do, we still see a lot of room for growth.”