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Sandwich chain to open next month - First of several quick-casual restaurants to come to Kern aims at Starbucks regulars |
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Release date: October 05, 2005
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By MATT PHILLIPS, Californian staff writer A Southern California-based sandwich wrap chain is moving into Kern County, with plans to open at least three new stores over the next few years. Tacone Flavor Grill will be opening a location in November or early December at Valley Plaza mall, next to Starbucks. Tacone sells a line of soups, salads and desserts as well as wrapped sandwiches such as its Malibu Melt (grilled or breaded chicken breast), the Thai Cone (chicken and jasmine rice) and Perfect Ten (black beans with sautéed peppers and onions). The average bill for an individual is around $8, owners said. The store will be one of three planned for Kern County over the next three to four years, said Harjit Randhawa, president of the franchisee group for Kern County. Plans could include an additional two restaurants, he said. There are some 31 Tacones up and running, said Craig Albert, president of the company. About 25 new outlets will open over the next year. There are a total of 135 Tacones in development, he said. The company likes to open in close proximity to Starbucks stores because Tacone tries to reach the same patrons, Albert said. "That's our customer," said Albert of Starbucks regulars. Executives say Tacone is more of a "quick-casual" chain than a fast-food restaurant. Quick-casual outfits -- such as Baja Fresh, Chipotle Mexican Grill and Boston Market -- try to blend fast-food-style speed with the service, decor and food quality of sit-down restaurants. The segment is one of the fastest growing parts of the restaurant business. Time-pressed consumers think the concept hits the spot. In 2003, quick-casual restaurants generated $7 billion in sales, an 11 percent jump from the previous year, according to information from Chicago-based restaurant researcher Technomic Inc. in a previous interview. Over the last three years, the quick-casual segment grew an average of 15 percent per year, said Joe Pawlak, a senior principal at Technomic. That's four times as fast as the restaurant industry as a whole, he said. For more information about Tacone®, call 213 236 0950. email: info@tacone.com
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