---
title: "CNBC: A&W Restaurants CEO on What’s Driving Americans to Fast-Casual Dining in Bigger Numbers"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/e9780148-3810-465a-8269-c186dc3b11c5
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/cnbc-aw-restaurants-ceo-on-whats-driving-americans-to-fast-casual-dining-in-bigger-numbers-2715952
category: "Burger"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Burger"
topics: ["People"]
published: 2021-06-08T18:13:00.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:25:05.566Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/045dfd09cbecfff5741faa9171e82ec48441.jpg
---

# CNBC: A&W Restaurants CEO on What’s Driving Americans to Fast-Casual Dining in Bigger Numbers

**TL;DR:** A&W Restaurants CEO Kevin Bazner discussed how the brand adapted to the pandemic by focusing on off-premise services and providing support to franchisees, resulting in a 9.7% average sales increase in 2020. A&W expanded delivery services and converted drive-in stalls into pickup locations, seeing growth for the ninth year.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2021-06-08. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/cnbc-aw-restaurants-ceo-on-whats-driving-americans-to-fast-casual-dining-in-bigger-numbers-2715952).*

## Story

In an interview with CNBC, A&W CEO Kevin Bazner discussed how the brand adapted when the pandemic hit by focusing on off-premise services such as drive-thru and curbside delivery. Bazner explained how A&W was able to convert its legacy restaurants’ drive-in stalls into pickup locations, which allowed the brand to see an increase in sales less than two months into the pandemic. In addition, A&W expanded delivery services. As a result, the brand saw its ninth year of growth with a 9.7% average sales increase across standalone models in 2020.

A&W also provided franchisees with exceptional support throughout the pandemic. It not only suspended franchising and advertising fees, but corporate also helped franchisees navigate the PPP process. A&W has 500-plus units, including 300 standalone restaurants.

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- franchisee support (topic)
- sales growth (topic)
- pandemic response (topic)
- A&W Restaurants (company)
- off-premise services (topic)

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Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/cnbc-aw-restaurants-ceo-on-whats-driving-americans-to-fast-casual-dining-in-bigger-numbers-2715952). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/e9780148-3810-465a-8269-c186dc3b11c5).