Real Mex Restaurants Inc., operator of El Torito, Acapulco and Chevys Fresh Mex chains, is unpacking some expansion plans with its move to Cypress.
The company moved from Long Beach to bigger offices in Orange County earlier this month.
Real Mex’s plans call for opening up to 15 restaurants by next year and another 50 in the next five years. The company now has 200 restaurants.
Another effort: restructure the recently acquired Chevys chain, said Fred Wolfe, Real Mex chief executive. The company bought Chevys and Fuzio Universal Pasta Restaurants from Emeryville-based Chevys Inc., which is undergoing bankruptcy reorganization.
Chevys has 69 restaurants with more planned, Wolfe said.
“We acquired Chevys because it complimented our existing restaurants,” Wolfe said. “Additionally, we felt there was an opportunity for a turnaround of the well-known brand that would allow us to grow revenues there.”
Initial plans for Chevys call for restructuring administration and purchasing and some operations, he said.
Real Mex also has 70 El Toritos, 37 Acapulco restaurants and six El Torito Grills. And it owns the more upscale Las Brisas in Laguna Beach.
Real Mex had been “cramped for some time” in Long Beach, Wolfe said.
The Cypress headquarters gives the company an extra 6,000 square feet with options to add on, he said.
Plus, he said Real Mex will be closer to its other operations in Buena Park.
The company recently leased a 67,000-square-foot distribution center there.
“Orange County is centrally located for our business,” Wolfe said. “The majority of our corporate staff live in Orange County.”
Real Mex has 125 workers in Cypress. Wolfe said he expects that “number to grow responsibly with the growth of restaurant operations.”
“We have been hiring steadily since January,” Wolfe said. “We have added positions at all levels of the company including accounting, marketing, construction, design, product development and human resources.”
The company opened one restaurant this year and has plans for four more. Three are under construction in San Diego, Los Angeles and Ventura counties. One is slated for Northern California.
Real Mex plans to open another 10 restaurants next year, and is “currently in negotiations for sites in Orange, Riverside and Los Angeles counties, Wolfe said.
“Our growth will be centered on the El Torito, El Torito Grill and the Chevys brands,” he said. “The growth will be largely in California, though we anticipate opening restaurants out of state as well.”
Real Mex now has some 23 restaurants in OC and employs 1,600 workers here, Wolfe said. Companywide, Real Mex employs more than 13,000 people.
Urban Renewal
I recently wrote a story about d.e.m.o., the hip-hop, urban clothing chain of Anaheim-based Pacific Sunwear of California Inc.
The unit recently got a new president, Lou Ann Bett, who’s trying to crunk up growth amid some challenges, such as more competition and fast fashion changes.
Since the piece ran I heard from Liz Pierce, analyst at Sanders Morris Harris in Los Angeles, about Bett and her plans for d.e.m.o.
“Lou Ann has her work cut out for her but she seems very focused,” Pierce said.
D.e.m.o.’s girls’ business “has momentum” and “continues to be the main sales driver,” Pierce wrote in an Aug. 12 report.
Sales of clothes for guys “remains a work in progress,” she said.
Bett recently made some changes, including swapping pastel clothing colors for more subtle colors, such as navy and white. Plus, d.e.m.o. mixed up its T-shirt offering and added more graphics.
Other key changes on the girls’ side: D.e.m.o. is introducing a fragrance called Goddess from Baby Phat and launching a lingerie line.
Bett “is extremely focused on global fashion trends and determining how they can transcend into d.e.m.o., which, in our opinion, is important to successfully grow the girls’ business,” Pierce wrote. “Although much of her influence over the merchandise will not be felt until the holidays, we believe she is already making some positive changes to the format of the stores.”
Meanwhile, Pacific Sunwear recently unveiled its awaited shoe and accessory store chain, One Thousand Steps. The unit is designed to help boost the company’s growth, which has slowed a bit.
Initial plans call for opening eight to 10 stores in the first half of 2006. PacSun plans to target 18- to 24-year-olds with the stores.
“We believe that a shoe and accessories concept makes sense for the company,” Pierce wrote. “Pacific Sunwear has experienced tremendous success in both of these categories at both of its concepts.”
Rocky Mountain Push
Lake Forest-based Del Taco Inc. continues to eye Colorado.
The Mexican fast-food chain recently signed a franchise deal for five restaurants in the Colorado Springs and Pueblo areas.
Del Taco started opening restaurants in Colorado in 2002. It now has seven there.
