Big Whiskey’s plans KC restaurants

Big Whiskey’s American Bar & Grill has plans in the works to enter the Kansas City market with two restaurants.

The Springfield-based company is targeting an early 2017 opening for the restaurants, one of which would be corporate owned and the other a franchise store, according to a news release.

Big Whiskey’s Franchising LLC’s second franchise deal is with H2B Restaurants LLC, an entity owned by local businessmen Ed House and Ryan Bohl of Bohl, House, & Samek CPAs, as well as JD House, a consultant for Mosaic Life Care in St. Joseph.

“We’ve followed the growth of Big Whiskey’s for years and we’re excited to now be part of that expansion,” said Ed House, H2B’s managing partner, in the release. “When we learned the Kansas City franchise was available, we knew it would be the perfect market for our first Big Whiskey’s.”

H2B and Big Whiskey’s are working together to find complementary locations for the restaurants.

Big Whiskey’s wants to open up to eight restaurants in the market.

“We’re aggressively looking for more opportunities in Kansas City,” said Austin Herschend, CEO of the franchising division, in the release.

Earlier this year, Big Whiskey’s signed its first franchisee, real estate broker Shane Miller, in Bentonville, Ark. The store is targeted to open by September.

The projected initial investment range for a single startup restaurant is between $551,000 and $1.5 million, including a franchise fee of $50,000, according to BigWhiskeysFranchise.com. Franchisees agree to pay annual royalties of 5 percent of gross revenue. They also are required to spend at least 2 percent of gross revenue on local marketing and contribute up to 1 percent of gross revenue into a marketing fund, which serves all locations, according to the franchising website.

Big Whiskey’s currently operates three Springfield restaurants and one each in Ozark and Branson. A separate owner also operates a Little Rock, Ark., restaurant through a licensing agreement.