This local chain to open more than 50 restaurants next year, including in Wichita

After opening 50 new restaurants this year, Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers expects to open slightly more than that next year, including its first one in south Wichita.

Construction on the company’s seventh Wichita restaurant is expected to begin next spring near Meridian and Interstate 235, with a late summer or early fall 2018 opening, a spokeswoman for the fast-food chain said.

The privately held Wichita-based chain said Tuesday it also expects to finish 2017 with “record-setting systemwide sales,” though it didn’t disclose an exact figure.

“Growing our unit count by more than 21% this year is notable, that obviously becomes harder to do as the base grows,” Randy Simon, Freddy’s CEO and co-founder, said in a news release. “The ongoing investments of our franchisees and their commitment to the concept is what drives us.”

Freddy’s also said charitable giving by it and its franchisees has increased in step with its sales, though it didn’t provide an exact figure.

“Across the system, we collected donations for hurricane relief this summer and our Veteran’s Donation Boxes in each restaurant also returned more than $100,000 to local non-profits that support veterans and military families,” Simon said in the release.

Founded in 2002, Freddy’s has 280 restaurants in 31 states.

This story was originally published November 28, 2017 at 11:30 AM with the headline "This local chain to open more than 50 restaurants next year, including in Wichita."