Monett-based Mexican food restaurant Taco Palace has announced a franchising agreement with the Simple Simon Pizza chain that will enable co-branding of the two company's food lines in select stores. The deal will enable Taco Palace to expand its services into more states, and offers Simple Simon an additional line of food to enhance its competitive potential. Larry Faria, Founder and chief executive officer of Taco Palace, said, "This is truly a win-win relationship." The combination of Taco Palace with Simple Simon has already proven highly successful since the recent opening of two new Taco Palace/Simple Simon Pizza stores in Oklahoma, and one in Texas. Taco Palace opened its first restaurant in 1985 in Lamar, and added its Monett and Mt. Vernon facilities in 1986. The franchise had recently added single unit store openings in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Florida, Pennsylvania, Kansas, and Windsor, Canada. A new store is due to open in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in September. A Taco Palace recently opened in Ladysmith, Wisconsin, the first Mexican restaurant in that town. Owners Mark and Joan Carrara said they liked the franchise for its specialization in small towns, and "they have the small town values we liked." Taco Palace Vice President Matt Deves noted Taco Palace's best stores are in towns with populations between 4,000 and 10,000. Faria has called Taco Palace "the affordable franchise," with fees much lower than competitors in the Mexican food market. His method includes sending two trainers to the new facility to teach how the food is made and how to do the bookwork. Throughout the life of the franchise, the new restaurants can send staff to Monett to receive training. What works particularly well in the Simple Simon deal is the Taco Palace food making operation takes up a relatively small portion of the kitchen, and can be utilized while longer processes like cooking pizzas is underway. "One of our major strategies is to drive national growth by leading the way in multi-branding innovations of offering the consumer two brands, and more choices under one roof," Faria said, making the alliance with Simple Simon a particularly strong arrangement. "Customers simply love the choices available and the convenience these combination restaurants offer. This kind of co-branding works will with the consumer, because it does not compromise either brands core product or service image. Co-branding is already accelerating our national expansion plans in all market areas." Another plus with Simple Simon Pizza has been its complement to the family dining experience, which has been a main focus for Taco Palace over the years. Faria commented, "We're appealing to a customer base that targets families that expect quality food at reasonable family prices. Our low price kid meals include a wide selection of free toys to choose from. This unique family concept allows children to select the toy of their liking instead of having to take whatever toy happens to be available. We also give the children free toys with a kids meal as a birthday gift--the children love it." Faria also emphasizes the variety offered in Taco Palace franchises provides unique Tex-Mex flavors not found in other such restaurants. Information on franchising with Taco Palace is available on the Internet at www.tacopalace.com. Simple Simon presently has approximately 250 locations in 10 states.
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