Philly-born franchisees along with transplanted customers desirous of taste of home have been seen as a helping hand for city-born cheesesteak, water ice and pretzel chains in their successful establishment into the new markets.

Philly Pretzel Factory currently runs 150 stores and is mulling over adding 350 store chains in an attempt to make its international bid successful by 2020.

On the other hand, Rita’s Italian Ice is already running nearly 600 stores in the United States and has planned an expansion into the markets of Canada and Middle East.

Cheesesteak-making company Tony Luke’s is currently working with 22 stores, including in Bahrain.
Seven more stores are presently in the development stage. According to the reports, the Cheesesteak-maker has planned to carry extensive expansion plan across 360 locations within a decade.

In a recent interview, Tony Luke’s sales director Albie Misci said, “The cheesesteak has grown from a Philadelphia sandwich, regional meals, to a national sandwich. Everyone’s familiar with it. When we’re in Las Vegas or in L.A., they will come up to us and say, ‘Hey, Tony Luke’s, you are from Philly!.”

Misci is well aware of the thought and therefore, he is assisting in taking Philly’s well-known culinary treat to California, Florida and the Middle Eastern region of Bahrain.

Skipping its footprint in five mid-Atlantic states, convenience-store chain Wawa moved to Florida to run its over 60 stores in Florida. The company has planned to open 25 more stores by the end of this year.