Apple Houston Restaurants, Inc. this week finalized the acquisition of 21 Applebee’s restaurants across East and South Texas, with exclusive rights to build in the territory. The acquisition comes on the heels of the grand opening of the parent company’s newest location in Saginaw, Texas, in December and brings the number of Applebee’s restaurants owned by the franchise to 63.
The new franchise territory is contiguous with the territory owned and managed by Apple Texas Restaurants, Inc. in North Texas, which extends from Sherman, near the Oklahoma border, to Waco. Apple Houston Restaurants and Apple Texas Restaurants are both divisions of SSCP Management, Inc., a privately held firm based in Dallas. The parent company plans to keep in place the general managers and area directors over the 21 newly acquired locations, including restaurants in Tyler, Austin, College Station, and Houston. In addition, the company plans to retrain existing employees to ensure each location delivers the highest standards of food quality and customer service to its patrons.
Apple Texas Restaurants launched in November 2008 with the acquisition of 37 Applebee’s franchise locations in North Texas. Since then, the company has built five new Applebee’s restaurants and plans to build five additional locations in the North Texas territory in 2012. A company representative noted that each new location provides jobs for 100 employees, from managers to servers, line cooks and cleaning crew, in support of the local economy.
Apple Texas Restaurants will break ground on a location in Rowlett, Texas, in early summer. The new restaurant will follow a similar model as the Saginaw Applebee’s, which opened in December and was built from the ground up with a new décor and design concept for the Applebee’s brand.
Apple Houston Restaurants, Inc. is a division of SSCP Management, Inc., a privately held Dallas-based firm that currently owns and operates 63 Applebee’s restaurants throughout Texas, as well as several shopping centers, office buildings, and other commercial real estate properties.