It’s the country’s biggest billboard.
And restaurant chains, especially as the world fully reopens for the first time in more than two years, are clamoring for a space on it.
It is Times Square in New York City, an expensive real estate play to be sure, but one that offers exposure to potential customers from all over the country—and all over the world.
“A lot of folks wrote off New York or wrote off Times Square a few years ago,” said Barry Wolfe, senior managing director for Marcus & Millichap’s National Retail Division. “But it’s an opportunity to be in one location and be exposed to the nation.”
Despite largely shutting down during the pandemic, Times Square is once again becoming a major tourist destination as people return to Broadway shows, hotels inch closer to pre-pandemic occupancy levels and tourists look for places to eat.
During a recent Times Square visit, we saw crowded sidewalks, full restaurants and, late one evening, a half dozen pre-teen girls shrieking with excitement as they ordered hot, fresh Krispy Kreme doughnuts from the pickup window of the neon-festooned, flagship location.
Krispy Kreme Times Square / All photos by Jonathan Maze
Krispy Kreme opened its Times Square flagship in September 2020, a move the doughnut chain said is central to its overall growth strategy and one that will lead to further expansion in New York City. The store features the brand’s signature “doughnut theater,” as well as many shelves of Krispy Kreme merchandise.
“New York City is a fantastic example of white space opportunity in a densely populated and premium market,” Krispy Kreme CEO Michael Tattersfield said during a call with analysts last November, according to a transcript from financial services site Sentieo. “This market specifically is the epitome of what we’re trying to do as we build our hub-and-spoke transformation in the U.S. and Canada and is an excellent example of omnichannel execution. We actually view this market similar to opening an entirely new country. We see that much potential.”
And when Italian beef chain Portillo’s went public last fall, it parked its Beef Bus in Times Square, giving out samples of the sandwiches, as well as Chicago-style hot dogs and the chain’s signature chocolate cake—all in a bid to broaden the regional brand’s exposure to the rest of the country.
Portillo's Beef Bus / Photo courtesy Portillo's
Just this month, Popeyes said it intends to open a Times Square flagship restaurant at 1530 Broadway in June, part of a broader strategy to speed unit growth at the quick-service chicken chain. That store will feature self-order kiosks, a two-story food transporter to enable diners to eat upstairs, digital order status boards and a merchandise store.
The franchisee who runs the Times Square location, Ali Butt, also plans to open several other locations in the city, the chain said.
Taco Bell Times Square
Wingstop is taking a different approach to Manhattan, opening a mix of ghost kitchens and traditional units rather than a massive flagship location.
The wing chain currently has one ghost kitchen and four corporate-owned restaurants in the heart of the city, with plans to open a total of more than 20 Manhattan locations over the next few years.
Wingstop’s restaurant on 8th Avenue features a mural painted by a group of local artists.
“Manhattan presents a great opportunity to expand our reach and build upon our strong development pipeline with a similar playbook to how we entered the U.K., which has been an incredibly successful market for us,” a Wingstop spokeswoman said this week.
Raising Cane's Time Square, coming soon
Fast-growing chicken finger chain Raising Cane’s is currently at work on four flagship locations—Miami, Nashville, Las Vegas and, the largest one, Times Square, co-CEO AJ Kumaran told Restaurant Business last month.
The Times Square restaurant, on the corner of Broadway and 44th, won’t open until next year. But the chain already has digital billboards up to build excitement. The 8,000-square-foot location will be the Times Square’s largest quick-service restaurant, according to Kumaran.
“Our strategy has been pretty straightforward for the last 25 years,” he said. “Grow restaurants all over the world and be the brand for craveable chicken finger meals. We cannot miss any city … These flagship locations are going to be very experiential, with a retail component.”
Dave & Buster's/Applebee's Times Square
For regional brands, opening in Times Square makes a major statement, Wolfe said.
“It’s a way to just grow brand appeal,” he said. “You plant a flag in central Manhattan, in Times Square, and you say, ‘We’re going to the major leagues. We’re not a small brand anymore. Dude, we’re national.’”