---
title: "Existing Cousins Maine Lobster New York City Franchisee Captures Multi-Unit Franchise Deal"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/6a8b6973-91a0-4478-84fa-b70baab06295
source: "Franchising.com"
original_url: https://www.franchising.com/news/20221209_existing_cousins_maine_lobster_new_york_city_franchisee_captures_multiunit_.html
category: "Retail"
industry: "Retail"
topics: ["Development & multi-unit"]
published: 2022-12-09T12:00:00.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T01:04:45.619Z
image: https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1450101499163-c8848c66ca85?w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop
---

# Existing Cousins Maine Lobster New York City Franchisee Captures Multi-Unit Franchise Deal

**TL;DR:** Cousins Maine Lobster is expanding into Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. with six food trucks over the next 18 months, led by an existing franchisee's multi-unit franchise deal. The expansion is led by Yunus Shahul, who is partnering with his brother Thameem.

*originally published in Franchising.com on 2022-12-09. [Read the original](https://www.franchising.com/news/20221209_existing_cousins_maine_lobster_new_york_city_franchisee_captures_multiunit_.html).*

## Story

Yunus Shahul joined the Cousins Maine Lobster Franchise Family when he launched his first food truck in Connecticut in September 2018. Six months later, Shahul added a second truck dedicated to New York City. For the DMV market, Yunus will partner with his brother, Thameem. The brothers have worked together for the last four years as Yunus grew his operations in New York and southern New England. Yunus currently owns and operates five trucks.

"We have been successful in New York. We are confident we will find the same success in the DMV," Yunus explained. "We are committed to investing in this market with the goal of building the same strong customer base that we have in our established markets."

"We are thrilled to move into Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. with the Shahul brothers at the helm," explained Jim Tselikis, Cousins Maine Lobster co-founder.

## Entities

- Franchising.com (publication)
- unit expansion (topic)
- Retail (sector)
- Virginia (location)
- Maryland (location)
- Washington, D.C. (location)
- multi-unit franchise (topic)
- Cousins Maine Lobster (company)
- food trucks (topic)
- Jim Tselikis (person)

---
Originally reported by Franchising.com (https://www.franchising.com/news/20221209_existing_cousins_maine_lobster_new_york_city_franchisee_captures_multiunit_.html). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/6a8b6973-91a0-4478-84fa-b70baab06295).