Fast-casual seafood restaurant Captain D’s has plans to enter the Baton Rouge market, with hopes of establishing its first location here over the next year or so.
Michael Arrowsmith, chief development officer for the Nashville-based chain, says the company is currently searching “for some good quality sites” for the first Captain D’s restaurant in Baton Rouge, but declines to elaborate on specific areas being scouted.
“We hope to have the first site under contract in the next three to four months, and we would hope to be building the first restaurant in the next six to nine months,” he says, “and then we’ll go from there.”
The restaurant’s long-term goal is open as many as 10 to 15 restaurants in the greater Baton Rouge area, Arrowsmith says.
“And I think that’s a conservative number, actually,” he adds.
While the company plans to open corporate-owned restaurants here initially, Arrowsmith says, it’s also recruiting local franchisees to meet its growth goals. The interest in the Baton Rouge market comes as the company has experienced several years of steady growth. There are currently seven Captain D’s restaurants in Louisiana; the closest one to Baton Rouge is in Covington. Other restaurants are located in Alexandria, Leesville, Monroe, Ruston and Shreveport.
“We’re in a tremendous growth phase right now,” he says. “I would say that from a corporate perspective, Baton Rouge is the focus right now, but we think Louisiana is a fantastic state for our brand. We look at it as being a big area for Captain D’s down the road, so we’re looking in all areas of Louisiana.”
As reported earlier this year by QSR magazine, a trade publication for the quick service restaurant industry, Captain D’s reached a record-breaking average unit volume and a fourth-quarter same-store sales increase of 5.7% at the end of 2014. Continuing a three-year momentum, Captain D’s closed 2014 by reporting a 4.1% system-wide same-store sales increase for the year.
Arrowsmith says customers in the Baton Rouge area, which at one time was home to Captain D’s restaurants in Baker and Denham Springs, have also been asking for the chain to return to the area.
“One thing we do is listen to our customers, and when we hear from a lot of customers in a geographic area asking for the brand—as we have in the Baton Rouge area—we know that’s a good sign,” he says.
Captain D’s isn’t the only fast casual chain planning re-enter the Baton Rouge market. As Daily Report first reported last month, the Checkers burger chain also is considering launching a number of restaurants here after being out of the market for about two decades.
—Steve Sanoski
