Famous Dave's of America Inc. announced Jan. 7 that it has signed an agreement with Utah BBQ, Inc. to bring Famous Dave's Legendary Pit Bar-b-que to Alaska.
The opening date of the first Alaska location, however, has not been determined.
Pat Courtemanche of Golden & Associates, a Minneapolis public relations firm for the company, said the first Alaska restaurant will be located in the Anchorage area, although the timeline for construction is still up in the air. A site for the store is now being sought.
"That will start to determine the timing of things," Courtemache said.
| [an error occurred while processing this directive] |
The addition of more outlets in Alaska will depend on business at the first store.
"We'll see how the first restaurant goes and plan from there," Courtemanche said.
Lane Schmiesing, vice president of marketing in Eden Prairie, Minn., outlined the possibility for more stores in Alaska.
"There's certainly the potential for more growth, and it will be determined by how well the market embraces us," Schmiesing said.
"I think the likelihood of additional restaurants is pretty high. It's an underserved market and there's an opportunity for our brand of casual dining. There are synergies that come with size and number of outlets."
Utah BBQ operates three Famous Dave's in Salt Lake City and is developing five more in Seattle.
Famous Dave's (Nasdaq: DAVE) was founded by Dave Anderson in1994 with a single restaurant in Hayward, Wis. The company went public in October 1996 and has grown to 92 restaurants in 23 states. It has signed agreements for an additional 137 franchised locations. It has about 2,471 employees.
The company had revenue of $91 million in 2002 and $75 million through the third quarter of 2003.
"Business has been good," Schmiesing said. "We continue to grow. A lot of growth is coming from new restaurant development."
The store menu features barbecued and grilled meats, salads, side items, sandwiches and desserts.
The majority of the stores offer full-table service served in one of three casual formats: a Northwoods style lodge, a nostalgic roadhouse shack or a Blues Club featuring nightly musical entertainment. A fourth store concept recently started is a smokehouse format.
The initial Alaska store could be any format except the Blues Club, Schmiesing said.
