Rib Crib Barbecue Makes Top 50

Marshfield, Missouri - Rib Crib, an emerging 32-unit barbecue chain with a full service format, a warm and inviting trade dress and a menu that offers variety beyond barbecue will test its concept in a co-branded unit with KFC for the first time. The Marshfield, Missouri unit will be built in a 6,000 square foot KFC 2n1 (YUM! Brands terminology) prototype building along Interstate Highway 44 in Marshfield, Missouri. The 2n1 combination will be the first ever pairing of Rib Crib the concept that claims to be Where Bold Began and KFC the Home of Kentucky Fried Chicken and Chicken Capital USA. The scheduled opening date is October 4, 2004.

The operator of the 2n1unit will be Bold Ribs Company, LLC a 6-unit Rib Crib franchisee and Restaurant Management Systems a 33-unit Yum! Brands operator. Mike Treadwell and Dick Pendleton of Springfield, Missouri own and operate both franchisee companies.

Franchisees, Treadwell and Pendleton , initially came up with the idea for a test pairing of the barbecue and chicken concepts. It is the perfect picnic pairing, Rib Crib's bold barbecue and the Colonel's fried chicken, said Dick Pendleton in his first ever meeting with the Rib Crib corporate team. At the time, Treadwell wanted to replace their existing 20 plus year old Marshfield KFC with the new KFC 2n1 prototype building and re-locate it to the superior location along Interstate 44 but there was not a YUM! Branded concept available for a co-branded unit in Marshfield.

Treadwell, a more than twenty-five year veteran of KFC , and the Bold Ribs team put together a three dimensional rendering of the proposed concept to give the YUM! co-branding personnel a vision of how the pairing would look. Then they wowed them with Rib Crib's bold flavors and inviting décor during a visit to the Bold Ribs Company units in Springfield. The strong impression Rib Crib made and the lack of a sister YUM! Brands concept eventually earned approval for the barbecue and fried chicken 2n1.

Rib Crib, traditionally a full service concept, will employ a fast casual style, counter service format for the first time in the 2n1 unit. Customers will place their orders at the counter by choosing from a back lit menu board that hangs above the order counter and then wait for servers to deliver it to them in the dining room. Almost all of Rib Crib's full service format menu items will be offered in the 2n1.

Both concepts will offer take out service . Rib Crib will feature a dedicated take out counter along with exterior and interior signage to guide customers to the take out counter and dedicated Take Out parking spaces immediately adjacent to the exterior portion of the building dressed out like a Rib Crib. KFC will also offer traditional drive through service. Rib Crib historically generates eighty-percent (80%) of sales from dine-in customers. The concept features a variety of appetizers, salads, wraps, sandwiches, desserts and signature hickory smoked entrees at moderate prices that generate a check average of $10 per person. The Bold Ribs Company and Rib Crib Corporate teams expect Rib Crib's casual dining trade dress with a contemporary western theme and menu variety to drive more dine-in traffic to the traditional QSR format.

Rib Crib's prototype is a 5,000 square foot building that seats 196 and employs a full service format. We remain committed to the continued development of our concept as a casual dining restaurant but we think there could be tremendous opportunities for us to grow our revenue base and brand awareness in smaller co-branded venues. Especially in markets like Marshfield that probably do not carry the demographic base to support our full size concept. We may also attract QSR operators looking for a way to boost sales through co-branding with our concept, said Marc Chastain, Vice President of Franchising for Rib Crib.

Rib Crib, a 22-unit casual dining chain headquartered in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, began franchising last year. Three Rib Cribs belong to franchisees, and three more franchise units are under development. The chain is on track to have 27 units by year-end in Oklahoma, Florida, Kansas, Missouri and Ohio. Rib Crib continues to celebrate its Tenth Anniversary as the “Ten Years Bolder” campaign moves right along.

 

Rib Crib. Where Bold Began.

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