Restaurants

ment money.

Looking for sure bets and better returns than stocks and bonds can deliver, investors have backed national chains, acquired franchises or offered expansion money to entrepreneurs.

In Memphis, the chains Cook Out and Hopdoddy recently opened locations in the city. Domino’s rolled out a pizza theater-style restaurant in Midtown. And entrepreneurs such as Michael Black are buying franchises offering healthy fare. He plans to open Rising Roll this fall in Poplar Towers in East Memphis.

Behind the chains are a long line of investment firms. Sentinel Partner Capital, for example, backs Checkers and Taco Bell. Argonne Capital is the largest franchisee in International House of Pancakes. Axum Capital bought Back Yard Burgers. Roark Capital invested in Arby’s and Jimmy John’s.

In Memphis, a pair of well-known investment firms bought notable local barbecue chains — Kemmons Wilson Companies invested in Central Barbecue, Dobbs Equity Partners in Corky’s. Meanwhile, Memphis’ Gus’ Fried Chicken expanded outside the region. And Carlisle Corp. bought the Lyfe Kitchen chain and a string of Wendy’s on the Gulf coast.

“It’s never been this hot,” said Chance Carlisle of Memphis-based Carlisle Corp. “I probably get four calls a week from private equity firms.”

When big chains like Burger King and Wendy’s began selling off hundreds of corporate-owned locations, entrepreneurs used money from the investors to snap up eateries and begin building more.

Carlisle, which announced plans last week to move ahead with the $115 million One Beale apartment and hotel project Downtown, operates 155 Wendy’s restaurants as a franchisee.

The firm recently bought 45 Wendy’s near Pensacola, Florida, and has embarked on its biggest construction program in years, building five new restaurants and remodeling a dozen more.

Restaurant jobs

In Memphis, the dining-out boom provided jobs coming out of the deep 2008 recession. As more people went back to work, they spent more eating out.

Between 2010 and 2016, restaurants added 6,400 employees, a gain of 13.8 percent, while employment throughout all industries in the nine counties of metro Memphis grew 6.3 percent during those years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

From expensive chef-led bistros to modest diners and food trucks, restaurants provided 52,570 payroll jobs in 2016 at average annual pay of $21,230. The single largest sector was 12,630 food preparation and counter clerks earning $19,840 per year on average. This sector includes most fast food employees.

Over the past two years, a tight labor market has emerged. Back Yard Burgers came out of bankruptcy with no plans to replace workers wholesale by using new technology.

“We have to be careful, as all brands do, about losing your soul,” Back Yard chief executive Scott Schotter said, noting he’s focused on retaining workers using better training.

“You have to make work life better for people,” Schotter said. “They have to have the time to be friendly or get out in the dining room more often, not have to be back there all the time listening through the head phones.”

Emphasis on convenience

In Collierville, Aman didn’t set out to own fast food restaurants. He started