Noodles launches franchise expansion push in South, Southwest

BROOMFIELD — Not content to rest on its laurels, hunkered down in the markets where Noodles & Co. (Nasdaq: NDLS) already has market saturation, the Broomfield-based fast-casual chain launched this week an initiative to recruit multi-unit franchise operators in the American South and Southwest. 

Of Noodles’ more than 450 restaurants, 85% are company-owned and operated and highly concentrated in the firm’s mature markets such as the Boulder Valley and Northern Colorado, Noodles’ new vice president of franchise sales John Ramsey told BizWest this month. 

“There are a whole bunch of markets where we have no presence whatsoever, so the opportunity for…