On the heels of last year's announcement that it had inked a deal to open 10 Another Broken Egg Cafés in the Atlanta area over the next five years, Lafayette-based Double R Restaurant Group confirms that it has signed a 40-store development agreement with ABEC's founder and top executive, Ron Green. The most recent deal is a South Florida expansion, covering the state from south of Orlando to Key West and along both coasts, bringing 1,200 jobs to the region.
As part of the transaction, Double R, headed by longtime business partners Rodney Savoy of Lafayette and Robert Gagnard of Las Vegas, also bought "Broken Egg" stores in Siesta Key and Lakewood Ranch and will reopen them as Another Broken Egg Cafés after renovations (confusion alert: Broken Egg is not affiliated with Another Broken Egg).
Double R's portfolio does not include the Lafayette location; it is owned by a group headed by local businessman John Dan Gielen.
Double R Restaurant Group's Rodney Savoy
Double R says six to eight restaurants are expected to open per year, with a strong focus from Tampa to Naples. This will take the concept from its current six restaurants throughout the Florida Panhandle to 30 restaurants in the state in just three years, including a 10-unit expansion announced by Gielen's group in August for Central and North Florida.
"This initiative is a part of ABEC's strategy to have over 100 restaurants in operation by the end of 2017," Vice President of Brand Development Nick Binnings says in a press release announcing the latest expansion. "ABEC has done extremely well in the Florida Panhandle and with the new development of Orlando and Jacksonville, this will tie the entire state together. We are currently negotiating leases in Tampa, Sarasota, Naples and the East Coast of Florida."
"ABEC is a phenomenal concept, and South Florida possesses a lot of opportunity for growth," Double R Chief Operating Officer Stuart Ottinger says in the release. "We are eager to get into this market and aggressively open stores to become the standard for quality breakfast, brunch and lunch."
Double R, which operates multiple concepts, including Romacelli, has 12 ABEC units operating in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Louisiana with six units under construction that will open in early 2014. Double R announced in mid-2012 that it would open 10 stores in the Atlanta area over a five-year period.
Savoy and Gagnard are the financial backers behind major local developments like River Ranch and Sugar Mill Pond. Their RR Company is a diversified group whose holdings have included businesses ranging from blood plasma collection centers to hotels. In addition to expanding Another Broken Egg, its primary focus is now residential developments, self-serve ice machines, and other commercial real estate developments across the country.
Founded by Green in 1996 on Girod Street in Old Mandeville, Another Broken Egg now has 28 stores that open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. seven days a week, closing only on Thanksgiving and Christmas. The restaurant offers 90 different menu choices.