Captain D's Seafood Debuts Lower-investment Prototype To Support Aggressive Franchise Expansion Efforts

Strong Sales-to-Investment Ratio Rates With Performance of Industry's Top Concepts

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE (Tuesday, December 04, 2001) - Captain D's Seafood has opened its first location featuring a more compact restaurant prototype designed to enhance the company's franchising efforts and facilitate its expansion in new and existing markets. In its first several weeks of operation, the new unit is also outperforming the fast-casual chain's initial sales projections by a wide margin.

The 1,800 square-foot location seats 33 to 42 diners, compared with the 128-seat, 3,250 square-foot traditional Captain D's unit. This reduced square footage will allow the Nashville, Tenn., company to take advantage of in-line shopping center locations, smaller free-standing retail sites and other properties that cannot accommodate full-size restaurants. With a shorter construction cycle and lower cost, the smaller unit will also aid the seafood chain's franchising efforts, says company Vice President of Franchise Development, Darin Harris.

"With a significant savings in building and equipment costs, the new Captain D's prototype offers franchisees a lower-cost investment option," he says. "The more compact design also enables us to build units more quickly than ever before."

The first Captain D's featuring the new prototype, a corporately owned restaurant that opened in October at 115 West Grand Ave. in Rainbow City, Ala., is located in an in-line shopping center end-cap property that allows for drive-thru service. According Harris, the new unit is already far exceeding the company's sales expectations.

"We invested approximately $400,000 in the Rainbow City location and projected it to do $700,000 in annual sales. In the first six weeks of operation, without an official grand opening, the unit is outpacing our projections and will generate sales of more than $800,000," he says. "We believe these units can consistently deliver a sales-to-investment ratio of 1.5 to 1, which rates among the performance of the top concepts in the industry. This level of return, coupled with the prototype's ability to fit into less expensive in-line units or smaller half-acre prime real estate locations, makes it an attractive option for potential franchisees and a key component of our future growth strategy."

Unique to the new location are features such as self-service drinks and condiments, and an open kitchen that showcases meal preparation. The décor incorporates the recently redesigned fast-casual look that Captain D's has been implementing throughout its system during the past two years, which recreates the allure of a dock-side seafood shack with naturally aged woods, hanging steel lights and a galvanized steel awning hanging over a portion of the dining room. The new prototype also features a more efficient kitchen layout that requires less labor, yet is still able to serve the same number of meals as traditional Captain D's units.

The company is currently looking for real estate to build a second location, and is now offering the prototype to franchisees.

Captain D's current expansion efforts, the most aggressive in its 32-year history, are being fueled in part by its success over the past several years. The company has posted record sales increases in seven out of the last eight years, and two of its locations now boast more than $2 million in annual sales, a company milestone.

At present, Captain D's has 344 company-owned and 220 franchise units. The company is aggressively seeking expansion opportunities in the Midwest and Southeast, and is exploring markets in other parts of the country, as well.

A pioneer and leader in the fast-casual dining segment, Captain D's restaurants provide premium-quality seafood at reasonable prices available quickly in a comfortable casual environment.

The varied menu in the company's restaurants exudes Southern hospitality. It features made-to-order fried, baked and broiled fish, shrimp and chicken offerings, along with home-style side dishes such as okra and green beans. Captain D's fish is hand-cut, hand-battered and made-to-order to ensure freshness. In addition, the company's recently introduced Coastal Classics menu, with upscale offerings such as broiled salmon, shrimp scampi and fried catfish, has helped it achieve even greater consumer acceptance.

Headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., Captain D's owns, operates and franchises more than 560 restaurants in 22 states. The first store was opened in Donelson, Tenn., in 1969 as Mr. D's. The company later changed its name to Captain D's and became Captain D's, Inc. in August of 2000.

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