Listen to this articleA Long Island-based quick-service restaurant chain is rebranding as it launches a major expansion.
The newly rebranded Bango, which got its start as Bango Bowls in a 350-square-foot space on Park Boulevard in Massapequa Park in Jan. 2017, just opened its eighth location.
The newest Bango, a 1,500-square-foot store that opened last month at 812 Wheeler Road in Hauppauge, is the chain’s largest so far and the first owned and operated by franchisees. And there are several more Bango locations in the pipeline, as the company has signed three franchise groups to multi-store deals after it began franchising the concept last year.
Bango’s co-founder Ryan Thorman, who started the company with longtime friend and Upstream Hospitality CEO James Bonanno, was an advertising sales executive with LinkedIn when he hatched the idea for concept. Bonanno heads the group that owns and operates The Tap Room chain on Long Island, but Thorman had no previous food industry experience.
“I wanted to start an acai bowl store in Manhattan when I was working there,” Thorman told LIBN. “When the space became available next to The Tap Room in Massapequa Park, we decided to open our first Bango Bowls location there.”
The rebranding of the chain began last month, dropping bowls from the name because the eateries offer much more than that, Thorman said. Though it still offers a variety of poke, grain and fruit-based bowls, Bango’s menu includes salads, smoothies and handhelds called Flaninis, which is essentially a flat-bread panini.
“We have a diverse menu that appeals to the whole family,” Thorman said. “We put as much emphasis on the flavor as we do the health benefits.”
That focus spawned the chain’s new tagline: “Bold flavor, fresh taste.”
Besides its original store in Massapequa Park and its newest in Hauppauge, Bango has locations in Bay Shore, East Setauket, New Hyde Park, Westbury, Larchmont and Scarsdale. The company has eight franchise-owned stores under development, with signed leases for spaces in Centereach, which is under construction and expected to open later this year, and Plainview, which will open next year.
Jason Sobel and Juliana Chiarelli of RIPCO Real Estate represented Bango in the New Hyde Park, Hauppauge, Centereach and Plainview lease transactions and are working with the company on its further expansion.
All-in costs to open a Bango franchise ranges from about $200,000 to $500,000. The stores in the chain, which employ from 10 to 15 people, average $850,000 in annual sales with the highest location taking in about $1.2 million a year, according to Thorman.
The company is currently seeking additional franchisees to expand the brand on Long Island and throughout the New York metropolitan area.