From the moment Julie Krupa joined Eggs Up Grill in 2023 as director of development, she has been a driving force—nearly doubling the brand’s footprint and bringing it within reach of its 100th location, set to open this fall.
Even during her years leading franchise and real estate development at Taco Bell and Torchy’s Tacos, Krupa was already a fan of the “better breakfast” chain, often stopping by the Raleigh, North Carolina, location.
“I have always loved the food and the homey environment of Eggs Up Grill. It feels like a Sunday breakfast with your family,” Krupa says. “When I stepped into the executive office and met the team living out this brand’s purpose, I was sold—even though I wasn’t looking for a new opportunity at the time.”
She also carried with her important lessons from a mentor at Taco Bell, who encouraged her not to become siloed in one perspective, especially in real estate.
“My mentors taught me that this level of leadership experience and success relies on being fully integrated with your peers and understanding what they’re working on,” Krupa says. “At the end of the day, real estate is the foundation. It leads into operations, which leads into marketing, which touches every aspect of your business.”
Krupa was appointed Eggs Up Grill’s vice president of real estate and development in late July, fueling the brand’s nationwide growth by guiding franchise partners through site selection and build-out, enhancing restaurant design and functionality, and elevating the guest experience.
She calls this next chapter “progress with purpose,” moving the brand forward with franchisees’ and customers’ best interests at heart. From site selection to negotiations, vendor selection to construction management and operations, Krupa’s role touches nearly every aspect of a new restaurant’s development to ensure brand standards are met. Even during the first six months of full operation, her team works from a facilities management standpoint to ensure all runs smoothly—because their success is her success.
Every day is different—some days she’s educating franchisees on the days-to-dollars ratio during construction; other days she’s sitting in her car at 7 a.m., watching the flow of traffic to a prospective location. Krupa has learned how to blend data with intuition, or what she defines as the “art in science.”
“We need to know the data surrounding population, traffic counts, and how our competitors are doing in a market. But even if a spot has great retail numbers, I’m still going to that shopping center and sitting on the corner to get a feel for what our daytime customer will experience,” Krupa says.
Krupa says the most crucial aspect of scaling smart in this atmosphere is learning to say no—even when franchisees are passionate about a site. The economics might not work, the space might be too small, or it may not fit the brand’s expectations. A location might cost $50,000 less but take 100 days to complete construction, compared with a slightly more expensive site that can be open and making money in 70 days. Although it can be tempting to grab a location right away, she warns against jumping the gun and putting a franchisee in a poor position.
“People underestimate that [real estate development roles] are the face of the business,” Krupa says. “We have to set the tone for how customers and franchise partners interact with Eggs Up Grill. We walk beside them through this process … it’s a lot of relationship building.”
Aside from developing new locations, Krupa is leading initiatives such as rolling out Kitchen 3.0 and Proto 2.0, which increase the efficiency of back-of-house operations and elevate the customer experience through new seating options, community meeting rooms, grab-and-go coffee counters, and upgraded tech. The brand is also being refreshed through logo changes and brighter color palettes.
“We didn’t reinvent the restaurant by any means. We kept our traditional welcoming feeling but elevated and energized it with new colors and interior conversions,” Krupa says. “We don’t want to confuse our consumers; they come here for a reason. So our changes are impactful and meaningful, and they’ve been well-received so far.”
Franchisees also appreciate the added support. Krupa recently helped implement a new project management tool, lovingly dubbed “The Eggcelerator.” It guides franchisees through every step of the way, from site selection to grand opening and post-opening.
“It has alleviated the fearfulness that comes with franchisees entering the business,” Krupa says. “Many of them have never run a restaurant before, so this helps set the precedent of what the expectations are, helps us guide them, and it’s also serving as a check and balance on our end.”
As Eggs Up Grill continues to expand across both new and existing markets, Krupa says one of its strengths is being able to move into secondary and tertiary markets, where costs are lower than in metropolitan areas with low vacancy rates and little development. The brand has expanded the definition of Southeast, stretching into states such as Pennsylvania and Texas, with plenty of room for growth and demand for a daytime café experience.
“We’re able to go into scalable growth markets and have untouched territory,” Krupa says. “The numbers speak for themselves. We’ve doubled in size and maintained a 40 percent increase in our AUVs. This is a brand that is perpetually growing without decline, and I don’t think we are going to see that in the foreseeable future.”
Krupa’s journey with Eggs Up Grill is just beginning, but she thinks back to those days during on-site rides with her boss and franchisee, sitting in the back seat.
Her advice to others growing in the real estate development industry? Speak up. “Don’t diminish the strength you have in the room. When people ask for your opinion, bring your voice to the table, even if you think it’s going to be disliked,” Krupa says. “Not being afraid to speak up has gotten me to where I am today.”
