Hot bods, cool drinks and good eats, that’s what Shooters Waterfront Cafe USA wants to offer the global marketplace.
The Fort Lauderdale-based restaurant chain has been eyeing the Caribbean with a growth scheme calling for nine franchise restaurants for Mexico and Puerto Rico during the next five years.
“We felt franchising was the way to go,” said Michael F. Hoffer, Shooters International Inc.’s vice president. “Certainly we’ve had some less than successful ventures up north and we didn’t want to duplicate that in the ’90s.”
Shooters, founded in Fort Lauderdale 10 years ago, decided to expand its restaurant concept internationally because it found the right partners in locations that fit its corporate image, Hoffer said. Franchising also offered the most attractive way to enter foreign markets, he said.
“This is a restaurant concept that does well in warm weather with on-the- water locations in tourism areas,” Hoffer said.
Both nationally and internationally, franchising has become one of the best ways to grow, according to International Franchise Association. Through 1992, the association projects a 14.2 percent growth in establishments for franchisee-owned restaurants, and a 19.7 percent increase in sales during the 1990-1991 period. The same measures for company-owned restaurants are 6.3 percent and 4.4 percent, respectively.
The first international Shooters restaurant, based in San Juan, Mexico, is under construction and expected to open in January. Franchisee Eduardo Ferrer Bolivar has plans to open three Shooters in Puerto Rico in the next five years, Hoffer said.
The Cancun restaurant will open sometime next spring. Franchisee Pedro Larranaga Devauz has plans to open six new Shooters restaurants in Mexico during the next five years, Hoffer said.
Shooters doesn’t have plans to open any company-owned restaurants abroad, Hoffer said. Traditionally, the company has done well operating in the South Florida market and plans to expand in this area, Hoffer said.
In expanding its franchise to the north, Shooters has had some difficulty. In the past few years, four restaurants have closed: two in Ohio, one in New York and one in South Carolina. The failures resulted from a variety of factors, including the recession and undercapitalized expansion, Hoffer said.
Shooters still has licensees in Cleveland; Providence, Rhode Island; and Orlando and Melbourne in Florida. Two profitable company-owned restaurants still operate in Florida, including the original Shooters at 3033 NE 32nd Ave. and another in North Miami Beach.
The Fort Lauderdale Shooters recently underwent a renovation costing more than $500,000 to give the restaurant a lighter, fresher look, said Jan Idelman, Shooters’ vice president of public relations.
Although the restaurant still serves up a hot-bod contest every weekend, the emphasis has been placed on the menu offerings and family-dining atmosphere, Idelman said. The 10,000-sqaure-foot restaurant generates 60 percent of its sales from food, she said. Shooters specializes in seafood.
Hoffer also is heading development of another franchise entity for Shooters called Bootlegger. It will cater to a more casual eating and drinking crowd, Hoffer said. A prototype restaurant is in the works. Bootlegger will compete with restaurants such as Atlanta-based Hooters, Hoffer said.
“The Shooters crowd has grown up,” Hoffer said. “The Bootlegger concept will be for the people who don’t want to grow up.”
