Golden Corral – Franchise Review
You would be hard pressed to find a person who does not know anything about Golden Corral restaurants. It is an American family-style restaurant chain offering large buffets and grilled as well as fresh baked goods.
It is a private company headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, with restaurants in some 40 states. Mr. James Maynard and Mr. William F. Carl founded their concept in 1971. Their simple idea took off after a number of failed attempts to franchise with other companies.
Golden Corral was introduced in 1972 and they opened their first Golden Corral Family Steak House in January 3, 1973, in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
It took only a matter of months to open the second restaurant in Raleigh, North Carolina and the a third built on June 18, 1974 in Fayetteville. The company owned 100 restaurants by 1979 and it took only a year to acquire 152 restaurants. The company developed 193 restaurants by 1982 and by the end of the decade would see 430 restaurants, each exceeding $1 million in sales year over year.
Today the company has expanded its restaurants to over 486 locations across the United States. The company owns 103 of them and the others are franchised stores boasting gross sales above 1.530 billion dollars.
Focusing on freshness they separated themselves from other budget steakhouses. Most of their restaurants target small-town America, far away from their regular competitors and with a footprint of almost 5000 square feet.
They opened their first seven Metro Market type restaurants in 1991. These restaurants were much larger at 10,000 square feet accommodating almost 400 people at a time.
Brass Bell bakery was an addition. It was famous for its brass bell which rang every 15 minutes signaling fresh bread, pastries and rolls coming out from the steamy oven.
Investing in a Golden Corral franchise one could expect a total investment range from 2 to 6 million dollars, an initial franchise fee of $50,000.00, royalty fees of 4% a 15 year term of agreement and a $13,000.00 renewal fee.
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