AES Passes Flynn to Become Largest Arby’s Franchisee

AES Restaurant Group CEO John Wade, left, celebrates his Arby’s employees.

When it comes to Arby’s, John Wade has seen it all.

The CEO of AES Restaurant Group, a 362-unit Arby’s franchisee, has weathered his fair share of economic challenges in his three decades in the sandwich chain’s system. So last year’s slight system sales decrease of 2.8 percent doesn’t worry him.

“What I’ve learned is when there’s one of those speed bumps, I lean in. In AES, we lean in, because we know that Arby’s is going to come right back, and it’s done it every time,” Wade said. “We were down in sales last year. … We were up in comp sales for 13 straight years, and that’s kind of unheard of in the restaurant brands.”

AES has leaned into the brand so much that it’s made its way to the top of the system, passing Flynn Group as the largest Arby’s operator by unit count. (Flynn has 358 stores, according to Franchise Times Restaurant 200 data.) The franchisee group bought 23 restaurants in Knoxville, Tennessee, from Arby’s parent company, Inspire Brands, bringing it to 362 locations in 20 states.

“We are always looking for great opportunities, and for us, grabbing Knoxville when we were already kind of bookended on the state … putting Knoxville right in the middle made a lot of sense for us,” Wade said. “So, geographically it was perfect for us.”

In 2025, the group passed Sun Holdings to take the No. 2 spot in the Arby’s system.

AES does a mix of new builds and acquisitions to increase its portfolio. Wade looks five to 10 years ahead to build out the AES team to ensure there’s enough people to support unit growth.

“When we see opportunities, we look at our bench and say, ‘Is it an opportunity that we have the horsepower on the bench to do?’” Wade said. “And we usually have already hired those people, and they’re ready to go. … We like to be able to take the horses that are there and just make them run faster, and they usually do just great.”

Earlier this year, Inspire Brands—which also owns Buffalo Wild Wings, Sonic, Baskin-Robbins, Dunkin’ and Jimmy Johns—confidentially filed for an initial public offering. The franchisor announced the confidential submission for a proposed initial public offering May 8. (The number of shares or the share price haven’t been disclosed, and the filing doesn’t guarantee an IPO.)

The cost to open an Arby’s franchise ranges from $651,550 to $2.46 million, depending on the type of restaurant, according to its franchise disclosure document. The brand’s average unit volume last year was $1.27 million.

Inspire, according to the announcement in May, would use proceeds from an IPO to repay outstanding debts and pay offering expenses and fees. Roark Capital, which owns Subway and Dave’s Hot Chicken, backs Inspire.

Jersey Mike’s, another top sandwich franchise, went public in July and raised $1 billion. Other multi-brand franchisors like Yum Brands and Restaurant Brands International are publicly traded as well.

An IPO, Wade said, would benefit the franchisor and, in response, could help franchisees.

“It would be a good thing for Inspire to be public,” he said. “They have done a great job building a behemoth restaurant group, and the way for them to make their money is to go public. I think it will be a great IPO, and I hope they all make a lot of money and do well with it.”