Franchise Talk

KFC-Taco Bells planned in small U.S. communities

January 4th, 2007 | Author: Jack

If you’re looking for fast food in this town, most of your options are visible from the front steps of the courthouse on Main Street.

There’s a McDonald’s a few blocks to the north, a Dairy Queen to the south, and a couple of pizza places and a Subway in between. Yum! Brands Inc. of Louisville, Ky., wants to change that by building a combination KFC-Taco Bell restaurant here – and in nearly 500 small communities across the nation. Along with Brownstown, locations stretch from North Pole, Alaska, to Keystone, Fla.

It isn’t known whether the company’s expansion plans will result in additional outlets in the Lower Hudson Valley, Yum spokeswoman Laurie Schalow said. Yum has a combined KFC-Taco Bell in Elmsford.

Creating more multibrand stores – two restaurants under one roof – is one of Yum’s core strategies for boosting its U.S. business.

And although the company faces criticism over nutrition and animal-rights issues, many folks in the Brownstown area, about 40 miles northwest of Louisville, seem to want it to march into rural America.

“A Taco Bell up here would make a killing,” said Andrew Ault, a recent graduate of nearby Medora High School. “McDonald’s gets old after a while.”

Angie Lawburgh, head of the Brownstown Chamber of Commerce, said many residents drive 10 miles to Seymour for movies, shopping or dining out.

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