Wichita-based Thrive company makes biggest acquisition yet with 69 new restaurants

Before now, the largest acquisition Thrive Restaurant Group ever made was 22 restaurants.

Now, with its purchase of 69 Applebee’s restaurants that California-based Dine Brands owned in North Carolina and South Carolina, that number has skyrocketed.

“This is the biggest acquisition we’ve ever done by a long way,” said Thrive president and CEO Jon Rolph.

He would not disclose the purchase price.

The deal comes with 3,000 new employees for a total of 8,000 at Thrive, which has five brands across 15 states now.

“It’s a lot of work for people in our home office,” Rolph said. “But, man, they make . . . it look as easy as you can.”

He called the acquisition exciting.

“You know, there’s a weight to it, but overall we wouldn’t be doing this if we weren’t optimistic.”

Rolph said Thrive has been the fastest-growing Applebee’s franchisee for the last four years.

In 2017, the company — then known as Sasnak Management — had 25 Applebee’s restaurants in Iowa and Illinois. That’s what Sasnak had since 1998 when Rolph’s father and uncle bought 16 of the restaurants and built nine.

Rolph took over as president in 2011, and he said he saw an opportunity in the brand.

In 2018, Thrive purchased 8 more Applebee’s restaurants in South Dakota. In 2019, it acquired 8 more in the greater Nashville area.

In 2020, it bought 22 from Wichitan Jim Stevens and another 20 from Neighborhood Hospitality.

The company had 79 Applebee’s restaurants in Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia and Virginia.

Rolph said he had a goal of getting to between 75 and 100 of the restaurants.

Now, at 148, “We’ve overshot that a little bit.”

‘A good run’

Dine Brands approached several groups within the Applebee’s system about selling its restaurants.

“They liked our structure the best,” Rolph said.

He’s worked closely with the company in the past.

“We’ve got a demonstrated track record,” Rolph said of improving operations and guest experiences.

“They trust us as operators, so we’re very grateful for the trust they’re placing in us.”

In an e-mailed statement, Applebee’s president John Cywinski called Rolph a “deeply respected second-generation franchise partner.”

“I view Jon as a role model leader, and I’m excited for what this opportunity represents for his team and the Applebee’s brand.”

Except for a bit of restructuring at the top, including bringing in a market president from Iowa to be present in the Carolinas, Rolph said the structure will largely stay the same.

“They’ve been on a good run,” he said. “We’re not taking over a distressed asset here.”

Thrive had been the fifth-largest Applebee’s franchisee. Now, it’s No. 2.

The largest is Flynn Restaurant Group with 425 restaurants, so Rolph doesn’t ever expect to take the top spot — and he said he’s fine with that.

He’s busy with other concepts as well.

In September, Thrive signed a deal for a fifth concept by becoming the first franchisee for Denver-based Modern Market Eatery.

Thrive purchased three existing Modern Markets in Austin and signed a development deal to do 41 more, some of which will overlap with the company’s existing restaurant territories.

It also has 13 Carlos O’Kelly’s restaurants, five HomeGrown restaurants with one more on the way in Des Moines, and there’s the new Bakesale Treat Parlor, which is Thrive’s retooled Peace, Love & Pie.

“We have a growth mindset, but you go through cycles where you get bigger and then you have to digest that,” Rolph said. “We need to make sure everything we’re doing we’re doing with excellence.”

He said he thinks the Applebee’s brand is so successful because it’s a part of Americana, which he said the company got away from for a while but now has returned to.

“It’s been resonating with America.”

Rolph said the “awesome talent” of his team members is what’s making all this growth possible.

“They’re just fueled by something deeper.”

This story was originally published November 2, 2022 at 2:49 PM.