Wienerschnitzel opens first Walmart location

Hot dog franchise Wienerschnitzel has opened its first restaurant location within a Walmart Supercenter.

Located at W Elliot Road in Tempe, Arizona, the location officially opened on Nov. 15. The full plan calls for six locations within Walmart stores. Wienerschnitzel said, “the opportunity with the retail giant represents a major step forward in bringing the legacy brand’s signature menu to high-traffic, convenience-driven environments.”

Other upcoming locations include Puyallup, Washington; Alamogordo, New Mexico; Reno, Nevada; Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Bakersfield, California. Each Wienerschnitzel located inside the Walmart store offers the brand’s full menu, including the Chili Cheese Dog, Junkyard Dog, Chili Cheese Fries, Jalapeño Peppers, and Tastee Freez soft-serve desserts.

New locations planned

“We know today’s guests value convenience without compromise,” said Doug Koegeboehn, chief marketing officer at Wienerschnitzel . “Opening inside Walmart allows us to serve up the same great Wienerschnitzel favorites in a setting that fits right into people’s daily routines, delivering our proven unit economics and operational simplicity in a format that meets guests where they already are. Tempe is setting the foundation for how Wienerschnitzel can perform and delight guests in new retail environments.”

Wienerschnitzel currently operates 340 franchised locations across 13 states, with more than 50 additional units in development nationwide. The Tempe opening also comes on the heels of Wienerschnitzel’s recent retail expansion, with its Original Corn Dogs now available in 500-plus grocery stores, including Save Mart, FoodMaxx, Lucky, Albertsons and Vons across California and Nevada.

Expansion efforts

Wienerschnitzel said that it continues to expand in non-traditional venues inclusive of landing a recent high profile military base. Additional plans are underway for expansion into airports, theme parks, food courts, travel plazas and convenience stores.

The brand also said that it continues to seek experienced multi-unit restaurant operators and aspiring entrepreneurs to be a part of its franchise family.

Based in Tustin, California, Wienerschnitzel was founded by John Galardi in 1961 as a single hot dog stand. The company says it now serves more than 120 million hot dogs annually.