Chipotle nabs hot center city corner

On Sept. 4, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. started preparing the land for its second Springfield restaurant, at the northeast corner of North National Avenue and St. Louis Street. Center City Motors, a used-car dealership, previously occupied the half-acre parcel owned by Kim Bradley and has moved to 1058 W. Sunshine St. Its former office will be demolished to make way for the new restaurant.

Burrito battle

Chipotle and rival Qdoba Mexican Grill Inc. – both based in Denver – are duking it out in Springfield and other markets. Local Qdoba franchisee Burrito Concepts LLC has opened three restaurants in Springfield since August 2003, but Chipotle is catching up.

Chipotle opened its first Springfield store earlier this summer at South Campbell Avenue and West Walnut Lawn Street after renovating the former Fiesta Ranchera Mexican restaurant at the intersection’s northeast corner.

The city’s second Chipotle – set to open in early 2008 – will bring the “fast-casual” fare to center city, a frontier both chains have been working to enter for months.

Second offer

The new Chipotle landed a prime spot at National and St. Louis, an intersection already inhabited by commercial mainstays Walgreens, Steak ’n Shake and Dillons. Burrito Concepts managing member Randy Allen said Qdoba has long been interested in the site, and he was surprised to hear that rival Chipotle had secured a lease.

“We’ve tried to make some movement toward purchasing that location and to no avail,” Allen said, adding that he made an offer on the property about a year ago. “We’re desperate to be in that area.”

Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold declined to discuss the company’s strategy in the Springfield market, but he said the chain typically targets areas that can support several restaurants. Chipotle has 16 eateries in the Kansas City area, which includes several locations in eastern Kansas, and four in suburban St. Louis.

“We rarely go into any place with just one restaurant,” Arnold said, noting that the new Springfield space will be similar to its south-side counterpart in terms of size and appearance.

Arnold said company policy precludes him from discussing the financial performance of Springfield’s first Chipotle, but he said the chain has flourished in the Midwest.

Many of the restaurants are near corporate, medical or academic campuses, he said.

Chipotle, which doesn’t offer franchising opportunities, primarily grows its business by opening new stores in existing markets. About 90 percent of stores opened are in existing markets, Arnold told Springfield Business Journal in March. The company has more than 650 restaurants nationwide and is on schedule to open more than 100 locations this year, he said.

Center city search

Meanwhile, Burrito Concepts – a division of the Morelock-Ross Group of Cos. owned by Wayne Morelock and Kenny Ross – continues to scour center city for the location of its fourth Qdoba. Unable to make the numbers work for a restaurant at Kimbrough Avenue and East Walnut Street, the company is now exploring possibilities near the intersection of National and East Chestnut Expressway, Allen said.

Burrito Concepts also operates Qdoba restaurants in Fayetteville, Ark., Stillwater, Okla., and Tulsa, Okla., another market Chipotle is entering.

David Estes, director of operations for Burrito Concepts, said the Qdoba franchise welcomes competition from Chipotle. Having both restaurants in Springfield will only bring awareness to the “big burrito category,” he said.

“A burrito is a burrito whether you get it at Qdoba or Chipotle,” Estes said. “There’s probably more similarities than differences.”