On Thursday, Twin Peaks officially became its own public company after Fat Brands spun off Twin Hospitality Group. The sports bar chain has a lot to look forward to following its debut on Nasdaq — from a plan to open nearly a dozen stores annually to an effort to boost its average unit volumes by over $1 million.
“We’re on our way to a billion [dollars] in sales,” Joe Hummel, Twin Peaks CEO, told Restaurant Dive during the ICR Conference earlier this month. “Our goal over the next three to five years is hitting a billion in sales.”
Twin Peaks is targeting an average unit volume of $6.5 million, according to a January filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Last year, annualized average unit volume reached $5.1 million and systemwide sales exceeded $425 million. These results follow years of steady growth — the chain posted $342.7 million in systemwide sales in 2019 before growing to $583.4 million in 2023.
When Fat Brands bought Twin Peaks for $300 million in 2021, the brand only had about 80 units open. Fast forward three years, and it now has 115 restaurants and a 100-unit development pipeline that would nearly double its store count. The company also plans to convert half of Smokey Bones’ 60 locations into Twin Peaks restaurants in the near future.
Hummel attributed the chain’s high AUVs to its scratch kitchen, menu diversity and alcohol mix. Twin Peaks’ kitchen has several different types of equipment, such as a chargrill, flat top cooker, smokers, convection ovens and stove tops, allowing it to offer a wide range of menu items, Hummel said.
Twin Peaks also provides unique alcohol offerings, like 29-degree beer, which is so cold that it contains ice crystals when served.
“We sell so much beer — more than your average sports bar — because of that,” Hummel said.
Hummel also tied Twin Peaks’ streamlined service model to positive guest experiences. The chain’s all-woman waitstaff are focused on the guests and not on supporting work, like cutting fruit or rolling silverware, as is typical at other establishments. Twin Peaks has other staff to complete those tasks, he said.
Twin Peaks is outperforming the casual industry in customer intent-to-return, according to Black Box Intelligence data shared in the chain’s SEC filing. BBI noted that 95% of Twin Peaks patrons planned to come again, compared to 74% of diners for the overall casual segment in 2023. Twin Peaks’ guest demographics include millennials and Gen X, with a mix of 75% men and 25% women, Hummel said.
The chain relies on Black Box Intelligence to understand traffic and other data and to monitor the performance of each store. Every quarter, management reviews scorecards to see how the system is performing compared to the industry and targeted competitors. Twin Peaks will also review turnover numbers and competitive pay for each market to ensure that staff are receiving a competitive wage to help improve retention, Hummel said.
“We believe that Twin Peaks’ strong traffic trends and favorable customer perception are critical drivers of its sales growth and demonstrate the strength and potential of the Twin Peaks concept,” the company said in the SEC filing. “Furthermore, we believe that the Twin Peaks concept is uniquely resistant to economic headwinds given the breadth of its menu items and range of price points, combined with its focus on providing an immersive sports viewing experience.”
Creating an epic sports watching experience
Each Twin Speaks restaurant offers prime sports watching with 75 to 80 TVs, about a dozen satellite dishes and every major sports package. To prepare for big sporting events, Twin Peaks management studies the calendar to gauge what games are coming up and if they overlap, and to determine shift changes to avoid staffing challenges, Hummel said. Game days could also include specials on alcohol or certain game day favorites, he said.
Twin Peaks restaurants over-prepare for the expected volume in the kitchen and at the bar to ensure they don’t have to stop the line and redo prep work, he said.
Operators lean on kitchen display systems to monitor ticket times. Staff also make sure the door is properly monitored and to keep up a steady flow of guests into the dining room to avoid a rush that buries the back-of-house staff, Hummel said.
Waiting guests are offered beer tubs in a sectioned-off, quick service area so they don’t have to try and work their way to the bar, as well.
“[Sporting events] are like the open invitation to impress everybody to come back on a regular day,” Hummel said.
Building up its real estate pipeline
Twin Peaks has ambitious goals to bring its sports bar to 650 locations, and currently has a pipeline of 100 commitments. The brand has built up its franchise base to about 20 partners, and a majority of its future units are commitments from existing franchisees, Hummel said. For fiscal years 2024 to 2028, the company plans to open 10 to 12 units each year, per its SEC filing.
The chain prefers to work with experienced operators, and many of its existing franchisees have other restaurants. However, Twin Peaks prefers that franchisees have a leader on staff, like a director of operations, solely devoted to their Twin Peaks business, Hummel said.
Even with its current franchise pipeline, Twin Peaks is planning to open three to four company-owned stores each year. It plans to convert 30 out of 60 Smokey Bones restaurants, 10 of which will remain company-owned. These units are mainly in Florida, including a Lakeland, Florida location that opened last year. Twin Peaks currently has a franchise/company-owned mix of 70% to 30%, but is working toward a 75% to 25% split, Hummel said.
The company is also very involved in the real estate and development process for its franchisees.
Twin Peaks uses eSite as its real estate platform, which it feeds customer demographic information to gauge where future restaurants could do well. The chain prefers residential communities with good daytime populations, heavy traffic and sites with good parking and entrances. Desirable locations see 35,000 to 50,000 cars passing by daily, Hummel said.
Twin Peaks also prefers to be alongside retail neighbors like Costco, Academy Sports and hotels. Hotels are particularly beneficial because they come with an additional built-in population outside of normal demographics, Hummel said.
The brand has undergone a mix of second-generation conversions and ground-up development. Out of its 115 stores, 90 so far have been conversions, including former Macaroni Grills, TGI Fridays, Golden Corrals and Ryan Steakhouses. Second generation spaces take about nine months to build compared to 18 months for ground-up restaurants, Hummel said.
To support franchisees during this development process, Twin Peaks engages in monthly calls with its operator partners to discuss real estate planning. The company runs all franchisee models through eSite, visits and approves the sites and helps with floor plans and vetting general contractors and architects in addition to its Twin Peaks’ existing architect partners.
The design teams are onsite every six weeks to review the process, and franchisees send weekly status reports with pictures and dates so that management is able to analyze if a franchisee is on schedule.
“Our number one criteria is to find the best site,” Hummel said. “If there’s something on that site, how do we either tear it down and do a prototype or take what we have and retrofit it? It’s kind of cool because every lodge is a little different, but they have all the same elements.”
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly listed Joe Hummel’s job title. He is the CEO of Twin Peaks.
