Bibibop buys ShopHouse sites as it expands

Bibibop’s cheery orange signs and purple rice bowls are going to Hollywood — and elsewhere.

The Columbus-based chain, whose parent company also owns Charleys Philly Steaks, is buying the locations of ShopHouse, a 15-unit Asian chain that was an offshoot of Chipotle.

A week ago, the burrito giant decided to close all of the ShopHouse stores and announced that it had found a buyer for the properties.

“We’re very excited about this,” said Jon Quinn, vice president of marketing for Gosh Enterprises, Bibibop and Charleys parent corporation, in an interview Friday afternoon. “Now, almost overnight, we get to go in and start taking this brand national.”

The deal, whose terms have not been disclosed, would more than double the 4-year-old Bibibop and give it locations in Washington, D.C., southern California, Maryland and Illinois. The stores are in high-end locations, spots that are hard to come by, said John

retailers and get your passport stamped.

Redeem the stamped passport at one of the visitor centers and receive a Made in Cbus T-shirt.

“These programs really help get people out to explore the neighborhoods,” said Experience Columbus spokeswoman Megumi Robinson.

“We’ve had nearly 5,000 people (since October 2014) go through the coffee trail and visit at least four coffee shops. The Ale Trail (launched last year) has had about 2,500.”

Experience Columbus is involved with all three of the trails, which each require four stops to receive a reward (T-shirts for the retail and coffee trails, a pint glass for the ale trail).

“Passports” are available at Experience Columbus visitor centers and at the participating retailers; Experience Columbus also markets the trails to meeting planners and includes information about them in Downtown hotels when large meetings and events are taking place.

The idea is that the four visits required to get a reward are achievable in a weekend, the typical amount of time a visitor spends in Columbus, Robinson said.

But there is no time limit. Visits could be spread out over weeks or even months.

The structure of the program has also appealed to central Ohioans looking for a fun way to learn more about their own hometown attractions, Robinson said. In turn, this can prompt locals to become evangelists for these neighborhood businesses, introducing them to friends and family when they’re in town.

Phil Metzler, who coowns trail participant the Glenn Avenue Soap Co. with his wife, Sandra, said taking part in the marketing effort is an extension of his Grandview-area business’