Dog Haus signs four area directors who plan a total of 400 units

This week, Dog Haus announced the latest phase in its strategy to push across the country with four new area directors signed on to open a total of 400 restaurants in the South and Mid-Atlantic.

The moves are all part of the Pasadena, California-based fast-casual chain’s plan to speed development across the country with seasoned franchise operators.

Dog Haus announced a revamp of its franchising strategy last year, creating a network of 15 territories nationwide, each led by an area director who commits to at least 100 units, which would result in 1,500 restaurants nationwide.

Area director roles

The area directors will also serve as master franchisees to recruit new operators. They also join the system as equity partners, and, as a group, will have representation on the board.

Chris Rigassio, who joined the more than 50-unit brand earlier this year as president and chief development officer, said in a statement, “Upon joining Dog Haus, the first thing we set out to build was the structure, not the pipeline. Most brands sell master agreements to salespeople. We are awarding markets to proven, large-scale, multi-brand, multi-state operators.

“They live in their markets and will provide support in site selection, new store openings, maintaining brand standards and driving unit profitability,” he added. “Their success will derive from the success of their franchisees, and from building restaurants that will perform for years to come.”

New hires and leadership

Here are the new area directors:

• Nick Crouch will lead development of Dog Haus in Florida. He is a 16-year franchise veteran whose portfolio includes 135 Tropical Smoothie locations.
• PG1 Restaurants LLC will develop the Dog Haus brand in North Carolina, Tennessee, southern Virginia, and West Virginia. The group owns and operates more than 60 restaurants, including Dave’s Hot Chicken units.
• Kyle Yancey will take the territory covering Delaware, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Norther Virginia. Yancey owns Opportunities Restaurant Group, which operates Jersey Mike’s across Maryland and the D.C. area.
• Jesse Allen will develop Dog Haus across Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi. Allen recently exited Jersey Mike’s as a franchisee but operates Dave’s Hot Chicken in multiple states across the southeast.

In addition, Dog Haus has added the following leaders to the brand’s development team: Lauren Bellingham is the new vice president of store development, Jerry Kallman is now vice president of franchise sales, and RJ Cancilla is now director of real estate.