Restaurant Rundown: Could These Concepts Come to Grapevine?
28 Dec 2021
News, Blog
From December 5-7,2021, Grapevine Economic Development staff attended the Innovating Commerce Serving Communities (I.C.S.C.) “Here, We Go” event in Las Vegas, NV. Of particular significance as an indicator of retail recovery across the United States, the conference was fairly well attended. Assistant Director Garin Giaccomarro took roughly 20 substantive meetings during the three-day event. Many of those initial contacts led to interest and follow-up conversations, with the following vendors being of particular note:
A fast-casual Hawaiian poke concept, Kasai & Koori ("fire" and "ice") serves fried sushi rolls, bowls, wraps, and Boba tea. Based in southern Florida, the franchise is actively pursuing expansion with a heavy interest in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Aesthetically, they'd be a great fit for this area, with the added benefit that Grapevine doesn't currently host a wealth of poke options. There's definitely a line out there, and we'll update you if and when the fish start biting.
Having shown interest in Grapevine before, the good folks at Zaxby's were more than happy to chat with our team. Their fried chicken concept has yet to find its wings here in the city, but a new reduced-footprint store design optimized for To-Go orders might fit better in a market that covets each and every square foot. A proof-of-concept store in Hoover, AL could make or break the idea, so don't count your chickens just yet; this one needs to incubate a while longer.
Designed to take customers from dough to pie in under five minutes, Blaze already operates a few stores in the Dallas area and hopes to expand further into the suburbs. Grapevine fits the basic criteria for a store and would fill a gap in coverage since the nearest Blaze kitchens in the metroplex sit in Irving and Arlington. There's nothing cooking here yet, but strong demographics and accessibility have certainly preheated the oven.
Note: the meetings summarized above were purely speculative. For breaking news on developments in Grapevine, follow Grapevine Economic Development on social media and subscribe to the 'Growing Grapevine' podcast and eNewsletter.
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