After posting on a new French fry franchise concept coming to Buffalo last week (see here), I received an email from another competitor that will soon be entering the market. Garrett Green, founder of One Roq Vodka (Buffalo Consumer Venture Firm, Green & Co. Holdings – based in Buffalo), and a business partner, have been working on introducing another French fry concept to the market, starting with the Galleria Mall – #getfried®. After the mall launch, Green and his partner anticipate on opening two additional sites in the Buffalo area. The partners are currently in the process of closing on a second site and securing a third. The battle of the Buffalo French fry franchises has officially begun.
According the Green, “The goal is to incubate the #getfried® brand in Buffalo, making it a real Buffalo born concept.”
I asked Green what he thought about a second French fry franchise being launched in the Buffalo market close to the same time that he was moving forward with his venture. “Weird… but competition is good!” was his answer. “We plan on opening our location first in the market.”
As for the style of fries, Green tells me that his version is “French-Canadian style topped fries”. He plans on hitting the malls, college campuses, sports arenas, airports and city entertainment districts. Menu items will include straight cut fries, waffle fries, sweet potato fries and thin-cut potato chips. There will be a build-your-own menu, and ready-to-order house specials such as poutine, Buffalo chicken, BBQ pulled pork, loaded nacho, truffle parmesan, chili cheese, fish ‘n chips and pepperoni pizza.
At this point, Green is now focusing on the race to the starting line, and is preparing to announce that #getfried® will be “The Nation’s First Gourmet, French-Fry Café Chain”.
According to Green, “Americans eat an average of 29 pounds of French fries each year. That’s a lot of fries… enough to be considered a staple of the American diet. The fast food industry helped to make the fry accessible to each and every American, by putting the menu item on just about every commercial block in the country. Now Green plans on taking that concept to a ‘Fast Casual’ level, by serving up the fries in a way similar to how Chipotle serves its burritos (#getsauced – made in front of the customer).
The #getfried® restaurants will have a modern edge to them, featuring stainless steel and neon accents, along with a mix of ambient and energetic lounge music. Customers will be able to place their fry cone and basket orders via an interactive #gf app, making the entire process fun, fast and efficient.
The opening date for the first #getfried® is February 1st, 2015. At that point, Green will be offing franchising opportunities to entrepreneurs with qualifying credentials.
Buffalo is suddenly becoming a serious French fry city. We’ve held the record for the longest French fry in the world, and now the race is on between two French fry franchises to become the world’s first French fry café. It will be quite interesting to see how this all pans out. May the best French fry franchise win.
