In a corner booth this week at a Corner Bakery Cafe in Dallas, the chief executive tasted some of the newest menu offerings: buttermilk pancakes and a roasted pork sandwich with cucumbers and pickled jalapeños.
Across the room he spotted a new manager who was handing out samples from the chain’s staple of sweets.
She and a new franchisee, who were in Dallas for training this week, will open the first of 10 franchised Corner Bakery Cafes in northeast Florida later this year.
The additions – new food and new franchisees – form the twin planks of Corner Bakery’s growth platform.
Eight years after it was sold by Brinker International, Corner Bakery is looking to double its number of restaurants within four years. It also hopes to push the annual sales per location beyond the current $2.3 million, which already is one of the highest in its market segment.