Great Steak Franchise Looks Forward to a Bright New Year

The premier cheesesteak franchise is poised for another banner year of rapid growth, exciting new products and keeping the cheesesteaks great

Great Steak™, the nation’s premier cheesesteak franchise, has a lot to celebrate as 2016 draws to a close and even more to look forward to in the New Year. In 2016, Great Steak refocused its efforts on franchise expansion, creating a new franchise development website for entrepreneurs who are passionate about cheesesteaks and want to get a detailed overview of the Great Steak franchise opportunity.

The result has generated significant interest in the brand from entrepreneurs who are ready to bring the classic American cheesesteak experience to their communities, as well as created enthusiasm from the brand’s growing network of franchise owners. Before the year’s end, an existing Great Steak franchise owner will open a new location in the Chicago market. The new Great Steak will be the fourth restaurant placed in the non-traditional setting of a gas station.

“It’s very validating for us to see existing franchise owners reinvesting in Great Steak,” says Walter Mejia, Vice President of Operations for Great Steak. “For us, it proves that our concept is easy to own and easy to scale. The wave of enthusiasm that Great Steak is experiencing now is fueling our expansion plans for 2017, when we hope to open 10 new locations. We’re focusing on expanding our foothold in California, Texas and Virginia, as well as potentially opening multiple locations in Indiana. We expect 2017 to be extremely busy as far as growth is concerned.”

The American cheesesteak experience is on the rise. 2016 saw the cheesesteak enter the broader mainstream in ways that lovers of the once regional sandwich always knew it would. National Cheesesteak Day, celebrated on March 24, became a nationally trending topic on social media platforms and was covered on several national television and print news outlets. Google searches for the sandwich have skyrocketed, and approximations of the cheesesteak have become mainstays on the menus of several national brands. A major pizza chain is even offering a cheesesteak pizza.

“The cheesesteak is here to stay,” Walter says. “We’ve always believed that the cheesesteak was the quintessential American sandwich, and now it’s really getting its due in popular culture. Great Steak is likewise poised to explode, because when you come to us, you’re getting the classic American cheesesteak experience that millions of people used to travel across the country to get. With us, you can have the authentic experience right in your own community.”

Great Steak will continue to innovate. Founded by two Ohio brothers who fell in love with the sandwich on a trip to Philadelphia in 1982, Great Steak has since grown to more than 100 locations across the nation. Our simple menu focuses on cheesesteaks, both classic and innovative, and our commitment to the cheesesteak has won a rapidly growing customer base that is composed of both hardcore cheesesteak purists and the more casual enjoyers of the sandwich.

“The difference between us and our competitors is that we don’t cook our food and then wait for the customers to show up. Our customers show up and then we cook our food,” Walter says. “We use the highest quality ingredients, which you can see and smell as your food is cooked right before your eyes. Another difference between us and our competitors is that while we offer the authentic cheesesteak experience, we also have a world class research and development team in our headquarters office who is constantly thinking of ways to innovate our menu while using the same ingredients. This year, our Fresh Grilled Burger became a mainstay on the menu, and we have several more products we’re excited to try in 2017.”

Great Steak is also going to roll out a new menu design to all of its franchise locations throughout the country in 2017. The new design will be sleek, modern and welcoming to those who have already fallen in love with Great Steak and cheesesteak novices alike.

“The new menu design is the result of a really exciting collaboration between the executive team and our franchise owners,” Walter says. “Many of our franchise owners have been in the system for a long time and are enthusiastic about the new look and feel of our menus. In 2017, we’re also going to begin rolling out a new POS system, in order to get feedback from our franchise owners. Everything that Great Steak does is in unison with our franchise owners. This is a partnership, and we couldn’t be more excited about the future.”

Ready to open a Great Steak franchise in your community?

Great Steak is a low-cost investment opportunity; the startup costs for traditional stores range from $146,600 to $511,050. Having sold millions of cheesesteaks since our founding in 1982, Great Steak has an experienced business model for entrepreneurs who are passionate about bringing the classic American cheesesteak experience to their communities. The franchise fee for your first traditional Great Steak franchise is $30,000, and the franchise fee for multiple units may be discounted if certain conditions and criteria are met.

Learn more about the Great Steak franchise

For in-depth details about the Great Steak franchise opportunities, download our free franchise report. You can also learn more by visiting our research pages.

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