Gold Star Chili Picks Up Momentum in Regional Franchise Expansion

Newest restaurant in Alexandria, Kentucky, features modern restaurant design and new burger, comfort food menu

Gold Star Chili, the iconic Cincinnati chili franchise, is ramping up for a rapid franchise expansion across the Midwest. The brand recently celebrated the first of many slated openings for 2019, with a new Gold Star Chili restaurant in Alexandria, Kentucky

The newest Gold Star Chili franchise location features the brand’s updated restaurant design and its expanded menu, which features its nostalgic fresh, grilled-to-order burgers in addition to its classic lineup of Cincinnati-style chili favorites that has epitomized the brand for more than 50 years.

“Now is a great time to franchise with Gold Star because we have an impact process to guide franchisees all the way from initiation to market analysis, preconstruction, and construction over to training,” says Tom Licalzi, Development Director. “We have created a strong atmosphere and we marry that with a great menu offering and fantastic service.”

Franchise investors are looking for innovative brands that stand out in crowded markets and have substantial brand equity. Gold Star has been a regional favorite for decades and franchise owners can tap into existing brand affinity when they open new markets.

Gold Star went all the way back to its origins of Hamburger Heaven and brought back with them the nostalgic hamburgers to the menu. The results have been stellar – the customer base expanded as a result and people who want burgers but don’t like counter or fast food service are finding Gold Star a friendly and familiar option. Adding burgers – along with chicken sandwiches and healthy salads – gives franchisees a much better way to grab market share and appeal to young families.

Latest opening part of expansion strategy

Gold Star Alexandria’s opening is one of many store openings and remodels planned for 2019. In the coming months, the organization plans to remodel or complete new construction in the Ohio markets of Franklin, Wilmington, Ross and Georgetown, OH.

The upcoming store openings and remodels are the latest in a series of investments Gold Star has made in its restaurants in the past two years, including six remodels and three new restaurant builds in 2018. Updated branding and a new advertising campaign that differentiates the brand from other chili concepts in the region, in addition to Gold Star’s secret focus on hospitality and continued improvements in training technology, make us a worthy investment in the competitive QSR space.

Learn more about a Gold Star Chili franchise

Gold Star is a tremendous opportunity in the $256 billion QSR industry. For the past 50+ years, Gold Star has won an enormous following in the Cincinnati, Ohio, metropolitan area, where we excel at serving delicious comfort food with the kind of old-fashioned, family-style hospitality that is sorely lacking in the rest of the industry.

For in-depth details about the Gold Star franchise opportunity, request our free franchise report. You also can learn more by visiting our research pages.