After Unveiling a Fresh Modern Look, MOOYAH Burgers, Fries & Shakes Franchise Owners See a Dramatic Year-Over-Year Sales Jump

Despite seating restrictions, quarantines and other pandemic issues, Franchise Owners in the 86-unit “better-burger” franchise MOOYAH Burgers, Fries & Shakes are celebrating a big benefit that a recent store “facelift” has provided: higher year-over-year sales.

Just ask Josh Bergeson. He and his family own four units in the Madison, Wisconsin area. They opened their first store in April 2015 in nearby Fitchburg. When the opportunity to bring a more modern look to their restaurant presented itself in 2019, they liked the idea and signed up.

The MOOYAH brand collaborated with Livit, a Madrid-based company and acclaimed leader in developing contemporary restaurant experiences, to create a more sophisticated look for the spaces that aligned with the elevated quality of the food. They also incorporated accommodations for off-premise and digital orders.

The refreshed stores include:

• New dining areas and seating arrangements: Offering community-minded seating areas with high-top tables and flexible seating area
• Purposeful third-party and to-go pick-up areas: In keeping up with consumer demand, MOOYAH now provides a designated area for shelving that holds pick-up and to-go orders.
• Closing off the kitchen: A secluded kitchen that provides an improved Guest experience, focusing on dining room elements
• Going digital: All locations feature digital menu boards as well as back-of-house Kitchen Display Systems to enhance throughput and accuracy.
• Logo refresh: MOOYAH updated its logo to a more streamlined, modern application, which rolled out systemwide in January of 2020 along with the remodeled locations.

But one of the biggest selling points for Bergeson: More seating increases indoor capacity from about 54 seats to 78.

After closing for a week-long remodel, the store debuted the revamped interior at the end of February 2020. Two weeks later, COVID-19 happened. Bergeson’s bigger, better dining room was now empty.

Things looked bleak for a while. But then, little by little, sales perked up.

“We saw overall growth, year over year. Even with closing for a few weeks,” said Bergeson. He said the stores were up 21.3% over 2019 sales. “That includes the months that the entire dining room was closed because of state orders.”

Even as Wisconsin is mandating restaurants keep seating at 50% capacity, Bergeson is happy with his year-over-year numbers.

He’s not the only Franchise Owner who beat last year’s numbers after remodeling with the new MOOYAH look — even with COVID-19 disruptions.

Patrick Guay, who owns four locations in Massachusetts and Connecticut, also had a positive sales story in his Mansfield, Conn. location when all was said and done with 2020. But his location, near the University of Connecticut campus, was severely affected by COVID-19. The campus closed down, and Guay saw restaurants in the area close along with it.

“We thought long and hard about whether we were going to invest in the remodel,” he said. “We’re getting this PPP money. We’re getting help from the SBA. We decided to invest it back into the business.”

His business closed for a week in August to remodel and was able to achieve sales 10% higher than the previous year.

He said that the new remodel has been a big part of it. After years of relying on college kids for the bulk of his business, a new audience has discovered MOOYAH in Mansfield.

“I think the most interesting thing that we've seen is that we're getting more of the non-student population of the area coming in,” he said.  “The only thing I can point to is the fact that we've done this renovation.”

MOOYAH is on track to have 95% of its U.S. franchise locations reimaged by the end of 2024.

ABOUT MOOYAH

MOOYAH Burgers, Fries & Shakes is a fast-casual, “better burger” concept offering mouthwatering made-to-order burgers, French fries hand cut from Idaho potatoes, and real ice cream shakes. Founded in 2007, the Plano, Texas-based company serves fresh, 100% Certified Angus Beef® brand burgers, all-natural Jennie-O® turkey burgers and Dr. Praeger’s black bean vegan burgers. MOOYAH's non-GMO potato and multigrain buns are baked in-house daily, and Guests can choose from five real cheeses, bacon, avocado and 20 free sauces and toppings made from garden-fresh veggies. MOOYAH Guests can choose from seven flavors of 100% real ice cream shakes, including vanilla, Hershey’s chocolate, Reese’s, Oreo and more. While many Guests dine in-restaurant, MOOYAH also offers online ordering, delivery and carry-out for Guests on the go as well as a loyalty app. In 2019, MOOYAH ranked on Fast Casual’s Movers and Shakers and on Franchise Dictionary’s Top 100 Game Changers. In 2018, MOOYAH was ranked among Entrepreneur Magazine's Top 200 Food and Restaurant Franchises of 2018 and landed at #7 in the Top 10 Fast Casual Restaurant Franchises by FranchiseRankings.com. In 2017, MOOYAH was named to Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500 list, Franchise Times' Fast & Serious list of the smartest growing franchise brands, and was ranked #11 on Fast Casual Magazine’s annual Top 100 Movers & Shakers, a list the brand has been included on every year in the last ten years of rankings. For more information on MOOYAH, its menu or franchising opportunities, please visit www.MOOYAH.com. Connect with MOOYAH on Facebook.com/MOOYAH, follow MOOYAH on LinkedIn, Twitter @MOOYAHburgers and Instagram @MOOYAHburgers.