LEXINGTON, Ky. - A company known for its hamburgers, hot dogs, and root beer is back in central Kentucky. A & W Restaurants cut the ribbon Wednesday at its new headquarters in Lexington.
The company was sold by Louisville based YUM! Brands last year to A Great American Brand, LLC. Kevin Bazner, CEO of A & W, says not being in the shadow of Taco Bell and KFC will allow the restaurant chain to grow.
“A & W is a much smaller organization and probably didn’t get the focus and the attention from YUM as their other brands did.”
A & W was once based in Lexington before it was acquired by YUM. Its headquarters are now located a UK’s Coldstream Research Park. There are about 1,100 A & W restaurants worldwide, many of which are still co-branded with Long John Silver’s, which was also sold by YUM to another company last year.
Bazner says a search for more locations is underway.
“We will be developing probably four or five A & Ws here in the marketplace, one hopefully within the next six to nine months, as prototype for our future national development.”
State tax incentives helped A & W settle on Lexington for its headquarters. Bazner says Ohio, Florida, and Michigan were also possible locations.
