Wing Zone featured in The New York Times

Wing Zone was recently featured in the New York Times in an article titled, "Midlevel U.S. Chains Move Into Fast-Food Hungry Gulf." The article focused on US franchises opening in the Middle East featuring the success of Wing Zone in Saudi Arabia. The article details Wing Zone as one of the first midlevel brands to enter the Middle East and how the company was approached by a Saudi businessman when it was looking to expand globally. Matt Friedman details that Wing Zone plans to open 25 stores in Saudi alone and a total of 50 in the region in the next 5 years. For the entire article click here or begin below.

Midlevel U.S. Chains Move Into Fast-Food Hungry Gulf
By: Sara Hamdan

DUBAI — After twelve years of running two small, organic tea shops in the New York borough of Brooklyn, Jonathan Spiel had to close one down when his landlord increased the rent in 2009. Facing that setback, Mr. Spiel decided to look into selling Tea Lounge franchises to expand into new markets and keep his business going.

The Tea Lounge’s first franchise opened this year, in Kuwait.

“When I and my family and friends first heard ‘Kuwait,’ it seemed a little out of the blue,” Mr. Spiel, the Tea Lounge’s founder, said.

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