History

The Briad Group has come a long way since October 1987, when Brad Honigfeld opened his first franchise – a Steve’s Ice Cream/Carnegie Deli in Princeton, N.J.

Today, Briad consists of three major divisions.  There’s quick-service, which operates Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers restaurants; casual-dining, which oversees T.G.I. Friday’s restaurants; and lodging, which develops and operates hotels under the Marriott and Hilton brands.

Here’s a look at how we got to our current position.

Within a year of that first franchise opening, Briad opened a Roy Rogers restaurant in North Brunswick.  In 1994 Briad discontinued the Roy Rogers brand and became a franchisee of Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers, converting many of the Roy Rogers restaurants to the Wendy’s brand.  Quick-service has been a growing division and has proven extremely successful.  We now operate 50 Wendy’s throughout New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, and plan to open more.

In 1993, we opened our first T.G.I. Friday’s restaurant in central New Jersey, leading to the establishment of our casual-dining division.  Over the next few years, we acquired additional development rights for central and northern New Jersey, as well as exclusive rights in Connecticut.  In 1999 – for the third consecutive year – Briad was named the Domestic Franchise Group of the Year by Carlson Restaurants Worldwide, the franchisor of T.G.I. Friday’s.  In June 2006 Briad acquired Main Street Restaurant Group, the largest franchisee of T.G.I. Friday’s in the country. This acquisition brings the total number of Briad-owned T.G.I. Friday’s stores to 68 locations in seven U.S. states (Arizona, California, Connecticut, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico and New York).

Briad turned its attention to hotels in 1997, becoming a Marriott franchisee; five years later we also became a Hilton franchisee.  Since obtaining those franchise rights, we have developed more than $100 million in real estate, focusing on limited-service hotels under the Courtyard, Residence Inn, Springhill Suites, Hilton Garden Inn and Homewood Suites brands.  During the past six years, we have developed, operated and managed more than a dozen properties and are exploring 12 to 15 projects as future sites.

In order to lower construction costs, reduce construction time and provide greater oversight, Briad established a construction division in 1993.  The division successfully constructs and/or remodels our restaurants on time and within budget. The division has recently expanded to include construction of new hotels.  A maintenance division works with construction to assist in keeping the buildings in top condition, while simultaneously controlling costs.

Moving forward, The Briad Group continues to seek opportunities for growth and strategic alliances.  We have built a foundation for that by selecting quality franchise systems, employing experienced and talented managers and providing the infrastructure to support them.