Matthew Walls has been a fan of Rōti for a long time.
“It was one of those concepts where every time I’d go in there I think, ‘Man, this is a brand I should go franchise,’” he says.
It’s part of what attracted him to Edible, which bought the Mediterranean concept out of bankruptcy earlier this year. Now that he’s officially president and chief stores officer, he’s learned that the brand has untapped potential in the U.S. and worldwide.
Rōti has 17 locations across Chicagoland, Washington, D.C., and Minnesota. All are corporately owned, but franchising could come in the future. If an operator-led growth strategy were to happen, it’s because the concept has “really strong fundamentals,” according to Walls. Although the brand hasn’t officially announced a franchising strategy, it does have a “franchising” tab on its website for those wanting to learn more.
“As we’re all becoming more health conscious, it’s really important I think for us to make sure that we don’t forget flavor. It’s a flavor-forward type concept,” Walls says. “It’s what today’s consumers really want to eat. That really gets me excited about it, again, not just in the U.S. but potentially internationally as well. I think if we can bring in a renewed operational discipline to a brand that already has all the raw ingredients really for success, I think we’ll really have something special here. The cool thing is I’m not starting from scratch. They’ve got a good foundation. They just need the right support and we need to have a broader strategy to really take this brand out to the people because I think this is a brand people deserve.”
Rōti was founded in 2006. Seven years ago, it received a $23 million equity investment, led by Chicago-based Valor Equity Partners. It rose to 42 locations until April 2021 when it was forced to close 14 of them. The fast casual entered bankruptcy three years later because of higher costs, inconsistent location performance, and tough macroeconomic conditions.
Walls describes it as a “new Rōti,” and the first order of business is being clear with guests what the value proposition is and what the menu entails. He adds that Mediterranean food is still a relatively new concept in the U.S. in a lot of geographic areas, so the challenge is helping customers understand how the cuisine can fit into their daily lives.
“I also believe it’s just about us reintroducing the brand with intention,” Walls says. “We refresh the brand, and we talk about it from a brand loyalty perspective. The people that know Rōti, love Rōti. I want to make sure that their voice is being heard as well so that we can get everyone excited about it.”
The executive brings plenty of franchising experience. Before becoming Edible president, he worked at Caribou Coffee, first as chief franchise officer and then as chief development officer and head of international. Walls also spent 15 years with Domino’s in development roles and a stint at CKE Restaurants (parent of Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr.) as chief global development officer.
The current objective is ensuring Edible builds “world-class operations, optimized unit-level economics, and the right teams and tools in place.” To Walls, the end result should be a strong platform for disciplined expansion, whether that’s corporate or franchise growth. He believes the brand travels well and can work in suburban and urban markets.
“Right now we’re in Minneapolis, Chicago, and D.C., so we’ll certainly focus in on those areas and grow those markets out,” Walls says. “We’re headquartered here in Atlanta, so I think you’ll see some growth in the Atlanta area as well, but let’s get the fundamentals right. Let’s make sure it’s really strong so that we have good, disciplined growth going forward.”
While Rōti is the turnaround project, Walls is also tasked with helping lead Edible Arrangements and edibles.com, a new e-commerce marketplace covering the cannabis industry. The industry veteran calls it a “unique challenge to be able to walk into a brand that’s so beloved and has great awareness, but at the same time have opportunity to modernize the experience without losing that emotional connection.” Walls thinks Edible Arrangements can accomplish this through well thought-out product innovation, like the partnership with Tajín earlier this year.
He’s already talked to several franchisees and is attending the national convention this week. Afterward, he plans to go on a five-week listening tour throughout August and early September to gather even more feedback. From what he’s already heard, the operators continue to push leadership on menu innovation and staying on the leading edge of consumer trends. They’re also adamant about staying on top of technology and using it to become more accurate with orders and deploy more efficient delivery patterns. Walls says corporate will show a renewed commitment to getting into all stores and making sure franchisees are contemporary on their training and that they have the right alignment with leadership so changes can move faster.
The ultimate goal, however, is to show that Edible is capable of forging a Rōti comeback without taking attention away from Edible Arrangement’s family of franchisees.
“As you can probably imagine that consumes most of my thoughts. I want to make sure that myself as well as my team and the tools that we use, the processes that we use, allow us to be multi-threaded,” Walls says. “That’s really the true power of a multi-brand organization. And so it all starts with our shared services—the services that can easily be applied across Edible Arrangements, Rōti, and edibles.com. So if those shared services are strong, then that allows us to specialize each of the brands, and I would tell you, our shared services are actually very strong here … I think it starts with that strong foundation and making sure everybody has the shared services they need. And then building very functional and purpose-driven teams to focus on each of the three brands. If we get that going at a really high rate, this company is really going to take off, and I’m pretty confident we’re going to get there.”