---
title: "A&W Celebrates 100th Birthday By Revamping Restaurants and Pursuing Growth"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/0ae17025-8e1d-4fd3-826f-7b472cb4bf95
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/aw-celebrates-100th-birthday-by-revamping-restaurants-and-pursuing-growth-2709763
category: "Burger"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Burger"
published: 2019-04-24T03:22:49.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:28:40.953Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/43bde01269eecee211d723706d9254868493.jpg
---

# A&W Celebrates 100th Birthday By Revamping Restaurants and Pursuing Growth

**TL;DR:** A&W is celebrating its 100th birthday by revamping restaurants and pursuing growth, including single-brand outlets and revisiting its roots. The brand plans to resume growth after pressing pause on development in 2017.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2019-04-24. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/aw-celebrates-100th-birthday-by-revamping-restaurants-and-pursuing-growth-2709763).*

## Story

At its peak in the mid-1960s, A&W has 2,400 restaurants. As of December 31, there were 49 freestanding locations and 59 convenience-gas station hybrid locations in its system. For the brand’s 100th birthday, QSR Magazine did a deep dive of A&W’s emergence, flatline and resurgence—and what’s ahead.

After pressing pause on development after 2017—a move eight years in the making, the article notes—the iconic American brand is planning resume growth. Other strategic changes being implemented in Year 100 include a system-wide restaurant revamp that is focused on single-brand outlets instead of co-branded units with KFC and Long John Silvers. Also of note, A&W is further revisiting its roots by picking up the old practice of making its signature root beer in-house once more.

According to the article, CEO Kevin Bazner said the company is getting back to single-brand outlets on purpose due to their positive effect on branding and better sales numbers. Expansion plans for the brand this year have 17 restaurants about to open or in various stages of development and two new franchise deals in Nevada, as well.

Maddie has spent her career in the media industry, serving in various editorial roles before migrating into a hybrid content strategy and PR role with No Limit Agency. Her passion for storytelling and love of writing help her create meaningful content on behalf of her clients and fulfill No Limit Agency’s mission to tell people-driven stories. Maddie is a graduate of Saint Louis University, where she studied Communications with a focus in journalism and media studies as well as Sports Business.

In her spare time, Maddie can be found exploring Chicago’s food scene, watching an NBA game or lamenting over her middling fantasy baseball team.

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- growth strategy (topic)
- KFC (company)
- Nevada (location)
- brand revitalization (topic)
- Long John Silver's (company)
- Kevin Bazner (person)
- restaurant revamp (topic)
- single-brand outlets (topic)

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Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/aw-celebrates-100th-birthday-by-revamping-restaurants-and-pursuing-growth-2709763). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/0ae17025-8e1d-4fd3-826f-7b472cb4bf95).