---
title: "FSR Magazine: How Buffalo Wings & Rings Responded Quickly to COVID-19"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/b14f1053-d9ec-4a37-935e-7148c2dc976d
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/wingsandrings/fsr-magazine-how-buffalo-wings-rings-responded-quickly-to-covid-19-2712990
category: "Chicken"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Chicken"
published: 2020-06-22T18:13:00.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:03:33.985Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/9b4acf4b4ab83d903e9e5a13141a70a44118.jpg
---

# FSR Magazine: How Buffalo Wings & Rings Responded Quickly to COVID-19

**TL;DR:** Buffalo Wings & Rings responded quickly to the COVID-19 crisis by drafting a global plan, allowing the brand to thrive despite challenges. The brand's CEO, Nader Masadeh, views the early warning of temporary closings as 'a blessing of sorts' that allowed for preparation.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2020-06-22. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/wingsandrings/fsr-magazine-how-buffalo-wings-rings-responded-quickly-to-covid-19-2712990).*

## Story

According to a recent article in FSR Magazine , Buffalo Wings & Rings ’ CEO Nader Masadeh views the early warning that all Ohio bars and restaurants received about temporary closings due to COVID-19 was “a blessing of sorts.”

This warning allowed the Cincinnati-based 80-unit franchise to prepare for the pandemic. “Immediately within that first 24-48 hours, we started thinking the magnitude of this is huge and it’s not going to be limited to Ohio. It’s not going to be just a week,” Masadeh explains in the article. “So we started reading between the lines to figure out quickly what we were going to do.”

As the COVID-19 crisis began, Buffalo Wings & Rings’ executive team drafted a global plan for franchisees designed to support them through these unprecedented times, especially during what is traditionally a busy season because of March Madness. Buffalo Wings & Rings also set up a fund for aid store-level employees that have been laid off or furloughed along with offering them free meals, no questions asked. Masadeh added that the brand has also reduced loyalty payments by 2 percent for franchisees while providing every operator with a franchise business consultant to get through the coming 30, 60 and 90 days.

As Buffalo Wings & Rings continues to prepare for the other side of the pandemic, locations are already seeing positive signs. Masadeh told FSR, “Early April appreciated a significant bump relative to March, as stimulus checks opened spending up and people simply started to get tired of the same routine”.

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- franchise support (topic)
- ohio (location)
- covid-19 response (topic)
- global plan (topic)

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Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/wingsandrings/fsr-magazine-how-buffalo-wings-rings-responded-quickly-to-covid-19-2712990). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/b14f1053-d9ec-4a37-935e-7148c2dc976d).