Since 1984, elevated sports restaurant and bar franchise Buffalo Wings & Rings has been bringing a casual, family-friendly atmosphere, a chef-driven menu and high-quality service to customers all over the country. Now the brand has a footprint of 85 locations across the globe. Over the years, Buffalo Wings & Rings has worked hard to perfect its business model and franchise opportunity. Today, the wing franchise is ideal for multi-brand owners who are looking to expand their portfolio with an exciting and well-positioned restaurant concept. 

“Buffalo Wings & Rings is looking to attract franchisees who have experience with other brands,” said chief development officer, Thomas Flaherty. “The long-term vision of the company is to continue to grow and bring new and exciting things to the table in the spirit of continuous improvement. Having people with experience helps, and we want to continue to learn from them too.”

Frances Zwick is one of those highly experienced franchisees. Zwick’s career in the restaurant industry began with the 66-unit pizza franchise LaRosa’s, where she worked her way up to director of operations at a restaurant in Greendale, Indiana. It was around that time she met her business partners and learned about the ins and outs of restaurant franchising. 

“I’ve been in the restaurant industry for about 15 years now,” said Zwick. “I was fortunate enough to be able to buy into an ownership group that I had worked with at LaRosa’s and one of the primary owners also worked with Buffalo Wings & Rings. We had a very specific site we were interested in filling next to the LaRosa’s, and we were looking for a complementary brand that would fit there. I attended the Buffalo Wings & Rings discovery day and was blown away by the support and really believed in the concept.”

In terms of fitting in with her existing portfolio, Zwick said, “Buffalo Wings & Rings offers a distinct consumer offering, which makes it great for multi-brand owners. LaRosa’s serves Italian food and pizza, so we wanted something that would compliment that and allow us to serve a different daypart.”

Once she settled on joining the Buffalo Wings & Rings system, the corporate team was incredibly supportive throughout the onboarding process, Zwick notes. “We went through the traditional training with the corporate team, and they helped us with everything from building design to our new store opening and operations,” she said. “They’ve also offered a lot of ongoing support. The team works hard to find the best-in-class systems to help support the different needs of franchisees. That was one of the main things that sold us on the concept — we knew they’d support our specific needs as multi-brand owners.” 

Buffalo Wings & Rings has continued to appeal to qualified entrepreneurs like Zwick - who also participate in BW&R’s franchise advisory council - due to its proven business model, robust franchisee support infrastructure, low financing interest rates and an expert leadership team that collaborates heavily with franchisees through weekly calls, quarterly webcasts and annual conventions.

Now, Buffalo Wings & Rings is extremely well-positioned for the future thanks to an entirely revamped restaurant design with an updated logo, a developmental incentive program that waives the initial $40,000 franchise fee and royalty fees for the first six months, and a new POS system with cutting-edge technological improvements. 

In addition to diversifying her portfolio, Zwick says the brand’s winning model has allowed her to scale to multi-unit ownership as well. After opening her first Buffalo Wings & Rings location in Greendale, Indiana, almost six years ago, she opened a second location in Greensburg, Indiana in 2018 and a third one in Union, Kentucky in 2020. 

When it comes to advice she has for other operators who are considering becoming multi-brand franchise owners, Zwick says to take it slow. 

“Make sure that you don’t jump in too quickly,” Zwick said. “It is important to have a great management staff in place so that when you focus on opening another location or the next brand, you aren’t neglecting your existing location. Every store in your portfolio needs to perform well to make the investment worthwhile, which means each store really needs that infrastructure in place. Buffalo Wings & Rings offers that proven and scalable model to its franchisees, which is why we continue to invest in the brand.”

Looking ahead, the wing franchise is looking for qualified partners to help grow the brand in multiple new territories across the country, including Florida, Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and throughout the Midwest.

For more information on Buffalo Wings & Rings, the investment and financial qualifications, please visit: ownabuffalo.com.