Pret A Manger accelerates US expansion with new joint venture
Pret A Manger has signed a new joint venture partnership with its current franchisee, Dallas International, as part of plans to accelerate growth in the US.
The joint venture will enable Dallas to operate around 50 Pret coffee shops in New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington DC, and give it exclusive rights to open new shops in the markets. As part of this, Dallas will be refurbishing a number of shops, and working with Pret to develop and introduce new shop formats, including drive-thrus. It will also open more than 10 new Pret shops on the East Coast by 2026.
Pret’s expansion plans include growing its presence in the country through a combination of new equity shops and additional franchise agreements. Its existing relationship with Dallas includes separate franchise partnership agreements for Dallas to build and operate a range of Pret shops, including in the UK and more than 40 in southern California.
Pano Christou, chief executive of Pret A Manger said: “We have huge ambitions for Pret to become a more globally recognized brand that is working in partnership with our franchisees to unlock significant growth in new markets. This approach has driven significant growth in Europe and Asia and enabled Pret to track ahead of its mid-term global growth target to double the size of the business by 2026. We look forward to replicating these results in the United States, building upon our already successful partnership with Dallas as we jointly pursue our next phase of growth.”
The company said its remaining shops in the US and Canada will continue to be a mix of equity-owned and other franchise agreed shops. it may also expand into new states under separate operated franchise partnerships, with Pret A Manger USA retaining ownership of the Pret brand, marketing, food and logistics.
Pret will also be reopening its Chicago market in the coming days and is looking into further growth and franchise opportunities in Texas, Florida and Washington state.
