From liquor bottles to Carl's Jr., a group's shift to fast food
After three decades of running a successful independent liquor chain, the BKG group has acquired the rights to open the first Carl's Jr. restaurants in Australia.
The group was the first to offer off-license alcohol sales in New South Wales more than 30 years ago, and now ventures on to fast food, a far cry from their original business.
"[We] were looking for a venture to expand our business opportunity in the region," recounted Lindsay Brennan, General Manager, BKG Group. "Carl’s Jr. enabled us to see a gap in the market for a premium eating experience not currently seen in Australia. We believe that Carl’s Jr. provides an exciting prospect for us to expand our business in a new way."
"We have been successful by understanding our target market and acting as part of the communities that we operated in, and intend to build on this experience with Carl’s Jr."
BKG's decision to expand to fast food could not have come at a better time, he added.
"We believe there is a gap in the market for a premium, fast food eating experience -- it’s something that is not currently available in Australia. We offer big, juicy burgers and an iconic menu with sit down service and friendly atmosphere, and we think that our target market will love it."
CKE’s partnership with BKG Group follows the record-breaking 2011 launch of Carl’s Jr. in New Zealand. Fifteen Carl’s Jr. restaurants are successfully operating now in New Zealand with an average unit volume of USD$2.2 million. Another five sites are currently in development there.
"Certainly the response the brand has seen in New Zealand has exceeded expectations, as they’re about to open their 16th restaurant, and we believe this is a good benchmark for Australia," Brennan commented.
The group has been given the rights to develop, open and operate 10 Carl's Jr. restaurants in central, mid and northern New South Wales coasts. The first to be opened this year or early 2015 with the rest to follow in the coming years, however, no location yet for the first branch, he noted.
"We have a number of possible locations in mind, and want to ensure the first restaurant will meet the expectations of both CKE and the community. We’ll announce the location of the first store as soon as we can."
Aside from its iconic California-style burgers, the 70-year old burger chain is also popularly known for its raunchy ads, featuring the likes of Kim Kardashian to Paris Hilton to Heidi Klum, and most recently Kate Upton. There is a lot of interest in whether this marketing style will also be patterned in Australia.
According to Brennan, "we use our edgy advertising to cut through the clutter for our target market of hungry, young 18-30 year old men. We plan to bring our brand to Australia and as soon as we have the network distribution to support television ads this will be considered."
