--- title: "⛫ Fireside with Greg Flynn" url: https://burnaze.com/article/8221587a-f822-4531-858d-e92aa251eeea source: "Empires Weekly" original_url: https://empirespod.substack.com/p/fireside-with-greg-flynn author: "Patrick Buckley" category: "Restaurants" industry: "Restaurants" topics: ["Development & multi-unit"] published: 2026-03-29T18:03:41.000Z modified: 2026-10-31T13:17:49.695Z image: https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TBnf!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8a2cc136-aefc-466b-98e1-82ce272c5efc_1216x697.png --- # ⛫ Fireside with Greg Flynn **TL;DR:** Greg Flynn, the world's largest franchisee, shared insights on building his restaurant operating group, which includes over 3,000 units and $5 billion in revenue. He discussed his strategy of focusing on top-tier brands and going deep in a brand before expanding to others. *By Patrick Buckley, originally published in Empires Weekly on 2026-03-29. [Read the original](https://empirespod.substack.com/p/fireside-with-greg-flynn).* ## Key facts - Greg Flynn's portfolio does over $5 billion in revenue - He operates 3,000+ units across multiple brands - Flynn is the master franchisee of Wendy's in Australia ## Story Shoutout to everyone I met and hung out with - always great to meet in the real world! If you were there and I didn’t see you, hopefully I catch you at RFDC later this year. For today’s edition, I have some boots on the ground reporting on the fireside chat between IFA President Matt Haller, and the worlds biggest franchisee, Greg Flynn. ## Greg flynn interview > *“We’re the 3rd largest restaurant operator in the U.S, behind only Starbucks and Chipotle”* It’s always cool to hear a legend of the industry share some unfiltered thoughts. This chat started with Flynn giving a brief intro about himself and his business. After being a multi-unit franchisee of an upstart brand called World Wrapps in the mid 1990s, he’d leave that because he felt he was playing the game on hard mode. A top tier brand, in his words, is a “*much better risk adjusted bet*”. So in 1999, he acquired 8 Applebee’s in Washington, which was the true beginning of his current empire. Note: he was keen to remind people that at that time, Applebee’s was *the* hottest brand, of *the* hottest sector (casual dining). That’s why Flynn was solely an Applebee’s operator for more than a decade. By the time he expanded into a second brand in 2012, he had ~450 Applebee’s. ***Lesson for franchisees***: *go deep in a brand before you go wide 🔑* Today, the portfolio does over $5 billion in revenue via 3,000+ units, that still includes Applebee’s, but also Taco Bell, Panera, Arby’s, Pizza Hut, Wendy’s, Planet Fitness, and most recently 7 Brew. He also causally mentioned he’s the ~**17th largest Marriott franchisee**, but (I’m pretty sure) that’s part of a separate company he owns, that is more focused on owning real estate (whereas Flynn Group is distinctively a franchise operating company). I’ll give you the full rundown of everything he shared in bite-sized bullets. As an FYI, the conversation unfortunately didn’t yield much intel on why he bought into 7 Brew and started a growth fund (don’t fret however, as I am on a mission to get him on Empires where I will dive into it all!). - **Why he expanded from Applebee’s** “*The industry was telling us that quick service was the new thing".* AKA he knew the reign of casual dining was over, as quick service popularity was obvious - **Why he Bought Planet Fitness**He realized franchising is far bigger than just restaurants. He chose Planet Fitness because it’s a top tier brand that’s had enduring economics over decades. “*A boutique fitness concept may have great economics today, but what about in 5 years?*” - **How He Chooses Brands**He shared he wants to “*do things at scale with premium brands*”. Enduring economics are certainly part of his criteria as was already mentioned, but he also analyzes the sectors - and cited the next closest competitor to Planet Fitness (~3k locations) - is Crunch, who has just 500 locations - **His Company Structure***“The nature of Flynn Group is a state & federal model*”. He said his Market Presidents are his key employees. They own a territory for a single brand, which will have dozens of locations they’re responsible forMarket Presidents have lots of freedom, and are trusted to make many important decisions. “*They can’t build a restaurant without our approval, but they can do a lot*”He trusts and empowers them because they are far closer to those restaurants, the employees, etc. than Flynn and the C-Suite ever will be. - **7 Brew**As I said earlier, there wasn’t much said here other than he likes how the 7 Brew model incorporates employees who greet customers in the drive-thru line. 7 Brew will be launching an app for mobile ordering soon, but he believes the customer service provides an experience that keeps people coming back ## Australia operations This is getting it’s own section because what Flynn is doing in Australia is fascinating. For those who don’t know, Flynn is the **master franchisee** of Wendy’s in Australia. This means he gets to create their own advertising campaigns for the brand there (billboards, digital ads, TV commercials), amongst other responsibilities. There is surely some corporate approval required, but it’s still far more decision making power than being a regular franchisee in the United States, where corporate handles all of those decisions, creative processes, etc. He believes most fast food brands are advertising in a “sea of sameness”, and Australia was no different. But Wendy’s had no presence in Australia, so Flynn liked that he had a blank slate with the brand from a marketing perspective. > “*Every brand in Australia is red, we made Wendy’s electric blue*”. This just one of many changes to the brand identity down under. Another big one, is their mascot….Wendy. Ronald McDonald is the face of McDonald’s in Australia, while Jack Cowin is the face of Burger King (called Hungry Jack’s in Australia). In a male dominated space, they’re leaning in on an early 20s “Wendy” who is “good looking and taking on the man”. I knew Flynn was an operator, but the guy has marketing chops too! But the most important change Flynn has made is the ops of a standard Wendy’s… > *“The best brands do a narrow number of things, with high velocity*” He cited Raising Cane’s as an example in relation to that quote. As for Wendy’s in Australia, his restaurants will have just 3 areas of focus: 1. A burger line 2. A hand-breaded chicken line 3. Frosty’s Check out the Australia menu here and see for yourself - compared to the United States, this is a *much* more streamlined model. There are no fish sandwiches, breakfast options, or salads, and also far fewer sides (just fries & chili). And the options across burgers and chicken are much narrower too. They also don’t have chicken nuggets - just tenders. He jokingly said it may or may not taste like Raising Cane’s tenders. It will be fun to see how this goes long term, as the plan is to build 200+ units there. So far, they only opened two stores, but the 1st one generated a worldwide, single day sales record. Not a bad start to say the least! You gotta think Wendy’s franchisees in the U.S. might be paying attention to this… **Brian Niccol hasn’t repeated Chipotle Magic** When Niccol was hired at Starbucks, the star CEO triggered a 20% stock increase within a matter of minutes. 1.5 years later….the buzz has died **Chick-Fil-A is Building Distribution** A $50 million distribution facility will open in 2027, while the company builds at least four other distribution centers to serve hundreds of units **11 Unit Firehouse Sub Franchisee Files for Bankruptcy** According to court filings, CN Holdings’ challenges stem largely from an ambitious development agreement signed in late 2023 that called for opening three new restaurants within a two- to three-year window… **Domino’s Modernizes the Pizza Tracker** In addition to a new & improved UI, the pizza tracker now has more precise time estimates and additional details around each step in the ordering process. **53 Unit Applebee’s Franchisee Files for Bankruptcy** Sales began softening in 2015 for this operator, who will be selling their stores back to Corporate **SweatHouz Hits 100 Stores Open** The wellness brand - now led by a franchisee (who I interviewed on Empires) - is starting to hit their stride **Wealthy Consumers are Heading to….Dollar Stores** Inflation pushed dollar stores to expand their price points. Higher-income shoppers, pressured by the same headwind, are coming along for the ride…**US Hotels Aren’t Guaranteed a World Cup Boost**Early booking trends indicate that hotels are seeing lower-than-expected demand, with some hotels opening previously reserved booking blocks **Simon Property Group CEO Dead at 64** The real estate magnate’s son Eli Simon on Monday took over as CEO and president and will also continue as chief operating officer. ## Entities - brand expansion (topic) - Multi-Unit (sector) - Taco Bell (company) - Wendy's (company) - Starbucks (company) - Pizza Hut (company) - Chipotle (company) - Planet Fitness (company) - Arby's (company) - multi-unit franchisee (topic) - Applebee's (company) - Matt Haller (person) --- Originally reported by Patrick Buckley, Empires Weekly (https://empirespod.substack.com/p/fireside-with-greg-flynn). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/8221587a-f822-4531-858d-e92aa251eeea).