CINCINNATI (AP) – The new leader of the Frisch’s Restaurants chain wants to flex Big Boy’s brand muscle with franchise expansion, new restaurant shapes and sizes, menu and beverage additions, and doing more to court younger customers.
Atlanta-based NRD Capital has taken over after shareholder approval last week of its $175 million acquisition that ended family operation of the Cincinnati-based regional business dating to a 1939 drive-thru. NRD head and interim Frisch’s CEO Aziz Hashim calls Frisch’s “a perfect fit” for the new investment fund built around franchising.
He calls it an iconic American brand that has been profitable and has “a wonderful business infrastructure,” but can benefit from new approaches.
“It was doing just fine, but we felt ‘Wow! There’s tremendous growth potential here,'” Hashim told The Associated Press.
Hashim grew up in the Los Angeles area where the original Bob’s Big Boy began, eating the double-decker burger sandwich as a Sunday family treat. He’s very conscious of the fondness for Frisch’s through generations in its home region and the attachment to its signature tartar sauce, onion rings, hot fudge sundaes and other favorites.