The Greene Turtle Sports Bar & Grille announced that it has opened its first location in New Jersey, an 8,181-square-foot franchise restaurant with a 1,456-square-foot patio, at 211 Main Street in North Brunswick. Located in front of Target and Costco in the Main Street Center in North Brunswick, the new restaurant is the first to open under a multi-unit development agreement for South and Central New Jersey signed by Imperial Restaurant Group LLC.
“We see this as a rich opportunity,” says Raj Rana, a former multi-unit quick-service restaurant owner now serving as operating partner of Imperial Restaurant Group. “More families are moving here to combine suburban life with proximity to Philadelphia and New York. The highways provide great access to sites surrounded by malls, office buildings, industrial parks, neighborhoods, universities, sports arenas and other densely populated venues. The abundance of professional, college and high school sports programs will offer endless marketing opportunities for our sports-themed brand. And the tight network of cities and towns will facilitate carrying out The Greene Turtle’s tradition of community involvement.”
Now with a foothold in New Jersey, The Greene Turtle’s first Pennsylvania unit opening in April and a third signed lease in Long Island, New York, The Greene Turtle is focused on finding strategic partners to develop exclusive territories in the balance of New Jersey and in the Northeast.
“We enjoy a strong presence in the Baltimore/Washington, D.C., area, and have secured what we need to replicate that concentration up the East Coast,” says Vice President of Franchise Development Tom Finn. “We now have 45 open restaurants, and multi-unit development agreements in place for the Philadelphia area, for South and Central Jersey and for Long Island. We want to secure a similar agreement with the right partner in North Jersey, then continue into New York State, Connecticut and into New England. At the same time, with restaurants now serving Morgantown, W. Va., and Maryland’s Deep Creek resort area, plus a six-unit agreement signed for Central Pennsylvania, we’re seeking a strategic partner for Pittsburgh to continue expanding to the west. Over the next decade we expect to cover a large portion of the Eastern Seaboard with our much-loved brand.”
The Greene Turtle’s popular menu combines crab-based dishes and other food reflective of the chain’s Maryland roots combined with burgers, salads, sandwiches, wings and other comfort food favorites, creating broad demographic appeal. Its beverage program, empowered by proprietary, craft and high-profile alcoholic and non-alcoholic brands, promotes a category-topping percentage of high-margin beverage sales as a portion of overall sales. Greene Turtle fans are fiercely loyal, spurred by their love of the welcoming, family-friendly atmosphere and by frequency drivers like the Turtle Rewards program and mobile app and the exclusive Greene Turtle Mug Club. And a fervent commitment to community outreach, ongoing support of all levels of sports programs and high-traffic beach resort, airport and sports and entertainment facilities have earned The Greene Turtle strong brand awareness. Opportunities to capitalize on this popularity exist throughout the Northeast, and franchisees can leverage the brand’s flexible format to secure the best available real estate and shorten the time to open a restaurant.
