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January 2, 2024

Franchise Times 2024 Fast & Serious Winners: Huckleberry’s Makes the List

View the article: https://www.franchisetimes.com/franchise_times_cover_stories/fast-and-serious/2024-fast-serious-winners-11-20/article_7278529c-a04f-11ee-8e65-db4c6f2ec752.html

#17 Huckleberry’s

Category: Breakfast Restaurants

While Greg Graber is happy to talk about new location growth at Huckleberry’s, one of three concepts under his Heritage Restaurant Brands, the CEO stressed food quality and the customer experience are what really matter most. “Don’t get me wrong, we love to grow, and we are very pleased with our growth success. But I would say that growth is the result of doing things right, not the definition of it,” Graber said. “Honestly, the results are the goal and I think that a result of the results are growth, if that makes sense.” Making its first Fast & Serious appearance, Huckleberry’s grew systemwide sales 245.6 percent for the three-year period from 2020 to 2022, reaching $50 million. It finished 2022 with 34 locations, more than doubling its footprint from 2020. Key to the growth is storytelling. “Instead of investing in a lot of advertising, we focused on doing a better job of telling our story through a variety of social media platforms. And it’s not just the story of Huckleberry’s, but also telling the stories of our franchisees and their successes. I think those stories are really resonating with our customers,” Graber said. “So, we try not to drive to see how many restaurants we can build or see how fast we can grow. We’re just really trying to execute at a high level inside of our restaurants. And, honestly, a well-run restaurant is our absolute best form of advertising when it comes to attracting new franchisees.”