Newk’s plans to open new Memphis restaurants: Here’s what’s planned

Newk’s Eatery is looking to expand in the Memphis area and regain its pre-pandemic market presence.

The casual café chain plans to add three locations to the area in the near future, and an additional three to five across Tennessee in the next five years. Ultimately, Newk’s hopes to have 25 total locations across the state.

That’s according to CEO Frank Paci, who said now is finally the right time to start growing the Jackson, Mississippi-based business again.

“One of the other challenges that the restaurant industry had coming out of COVID was just a lack of employees,” Paci said. “And one of the issues we had specifically in Memphis is they couldn’t get enough employees to keep the stores operating 100% of the time.”

Employee retention was a major contributing factor in local locations closing during the pandemic, including the Germantown and Cordova restaurants. But that’s turned around, in part thanks to the market’s current franchise owner Spencer Mooney, who has been in the role since 2022. 70% of Newk’s locations are franchised.

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“The (previous) franchisee ended up not being able to invest in the business (like) he wanted to, and we’re fortunate to have this existing franchisee come along and really improve the operation,” Paci said. “We’ve seen sales grow significantly since he took the business over. And then once you get confidence again on the way, the business is performing, with the sales growing, that’s when it’s great to develop.”

Paci said Mooney’s previous Newk’s franchise location in Shreveport, Louisiana, churns out $4 million in sales per year, while the average store does $2.4 million. That success is being translated over to the remaining three area locations left in Southaven, Collierville and East Memphis, and has given Paci the confidence to support an expansion.

The restaurant industry has undergone irreversible changes during the pandemic, and that holds true for Newk’s. Pre-pandemic, 60% of Newk’s business was done in the dining room — now that’s down to 45%. Adjustments were made, and now Paci said most money is made from to-go, delivery or catering.

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“We’re doing a lot of things in the business as well,” he said. “We’re testing kiosks in store. We’ve got tableside ordering. So if you come in and you don’t want to wait in line, you can… just sit at your table and pull up the Newk’s app and order, and we’ll bring it to your table for you.”

Currently there’s no timeline for opening the new stores — real estate availability is the biggest factor as the company waits for the right properties to open up. Paci said it would be ideal to buy and convert an existing restaurant space that’s already equipped with kitchen equipment, bathrooms and a dining room layout, but new construction is also being considered. Anywhere from Memphis proper to the Shelby County suburbs to DeSoto County is on the table.

Regardless of the timetable, Paci is certain of the expansion’s success.

“…We’ve seen the sales grow,” he said. “I think they’ll continue to grow. He’s (Mooney’s) very excited about the market.”

Jacob Wilt is a reporter for The Commercial Appeal. You can reach him at [email protected].

Newk’s plans to open new Memphis restaurants: Here’s what’s planned

By meerna

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