A&W restaurant coming to Addison
It should be easier to order an A&W root beer float, a burger and side of cheese curds in the foreseeable future.
Lee Fry Companies Inc. plans to operate up to five A&W restaurants around suburban Chicago. The Westmont-based firm, which acquired an A&W at 113 S. Lincolnway in North Aurora last November from a retiring franchisee, will open an A&W in Addison in a former Burger King at 1012 N. Rohlwing Road by the year's end.
“It's a fun product. We make our own root beer on site every day,” said CEO Lee Fry, highlighting the restaurant chain's “All-American Food” tagline.
“It's an easy place for a family to go and everybody gets something that they like.”
Running fast food restaurants is something new for Lee Fry Companies. For more than 30 years, the real estate developer mainly focused on building locations or remodeling existing sites for other restaurant brands like Chipotle, Panera and Panda Express.
Now, Fry and his wife, Karin, are placing their bets on A&W. Without divulging the locations, the Frys mentioned plans to open a third A&W in 2022, while also considering two other suburban Chicago sites.
A&W CEO Kevin Bazner personally worked with the Frys to scope potential locations, citing the Midwest as a “sweet spot” to tap into past nostalgia for a restaurant brand that was previously more prevalent.
“Whenever we return to a community there's tremendous excitement, which translates into sales,” Bazner said in a statement.
A&W used to be part of the global portfolio of restaurant chains owned by Louisville-based Yum! Brands. That's why A&W would often share restaurant buildings with another brand like Long John Silver's — that's still the case with the A&W location in Matteson operated by a different franchisee.
Yum! Brands sold A&W in 2011 to a group of restaurant franchise owners, which led to some A&Ws being decoupled from combined KFC or Taco Bell locations. The current ownership of A&W is now focused on creating free-standing locations with drive-thrus (the Schaumburg location within Woodfield Mall is an exception, and also operated by a different franchisee).
“A&W's concentration is obviously on the franchisees, because it's owned by the franchisees,” Fry said.
“The company as a whole is extremely well-organized, has great promotional capabilities, great buying power and will help us with marketing.”
Fry also cited the name-brand recognition for A&W root beer as a plus (Kurig Dr Pepper owns the A&W bottle and can business).
There's also more than a century's worth of A&W history, with the restaurant chain originating back to California in 1919.
“It is a very respected brand,” Fry said. “We're happy to be a part of it.”