---
title: "America’s Oldest Chain Expanding"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/31aefd2a-183b-43f4-9d42-82c8a61a62c4
source: "Global Franchise"
original_url: https://www.global-franchise.com/news/americas-oldest-chain-expanding
author: "Global Franchise Team"
category: "Restaurants"
industry: "Restaurants"
published: 2018-06-19T11:27:00.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T22:32:58.651Z
image: https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1561758033-d89a9ad46330?w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop
---

# America’s Oldest Chain Expanding

**TL;DR:** A&W Restaurants, America's oldest chain, is expanding with 15 new franchised outlets opened in 2017 and 12 more locations to be opened in 2018. The chain has over 630 restaurants across the U.S. and has reported sales increases in 20 of the last 24 quarters.

*By Global Franchise Team, originally published in Global Franchise on 2018-06-19. [Read the original](https://www.global-franchise.com/news/americas-oldest-chain-expanding).*

## Story

Edging 100 years old, the A&W restaurant chain shows no signs of slowing up. The root beer and hamburger concept opened 15 franchised outlets in 2017 and will open another 12 locations this year. A&W currently has more than 630 restaurants across the U.S.

CEO Kevin Bazner noted that A&W has reported sales increases in 20 of the last 24 quarters. “That performance has benefited our existing operators, many of whom are adding units, but it’s also driven interest from new franchisees,” he said, adding, “We are seeing a lot of interest from operators looking to build new stand-alone restaurants, as well as gas and convenience units.”

A&W was founded in Lodi, California, in June 1919.

## Entities

- Restaurants (sector)
- unit expansion (topic)
- Global Franchise (publication)
- international expansion (topic)
- James Fell (person)
- qsr (topic)
- master franchise investment (topic)
- A&W Restaurants (company)
- Kevin Bazner (person)

---
Originally reported by Global Franchise Team, Global Franchise (https://www.global-franchise.com/news/americas-oldest-chain-expanding). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/31aefd2a-183b-43f4-9d42-82c8a61a62c4).