Dickey’s Barbecue Pit

About Dickey’s Barbecue Pit

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit is a fast casual barbecue restaurant that serves slow-smoked barbecue food.

The menu was originally limited to beef brisket, pit hams, barbecue beans, potato chips, beer, bottled milk and sodas, but subsequently grew into Dickey’s Barbecue Pit’s current offering which includes beef brisket, pulled pork, St. Louis-style ribs, polish sausage, spicy cheddar sausage, smoked turkey and marinated chicken.

The company has added an array of side dishes, including macaroni & cheese, jalapeño beans, complementary rolls and ice cream.

Every Dickey’s Barbecue Pit location has one essential, recurring theme: the barbecue pit.

The meats offered by Dickey’s Barbecue Pit are cooked low and slow every night over hickory wood to give it that smokey favour that is the signature component of Texas barbecue.

The hickory-smoked barbecue process—cooking meat at 225°C for 14 hours, with this time, care and consideration making Dickey’s Barbecue Pit unique among American restaurants.

Its smoked meats found a ready market in locations throughout the Dallas Fort Worth area and beyond.

Franchising was launched in 1994 and Dickey’s Barbecue Pit spread beyond Texas, and now has more than 500 locations in 44 states.

A tradition retained even today is that children under 12 years old are offered a free barbecue kids meal every Sunday.

When was the Dickey’s Barbecue Pit franchise founded?

The history of the company dates back to 1941 when, in Dallas, Texas, World War II veteran and lover of barbecued food, Travis Dickey opened his first family-run barbecue stand on Henderson Avenue (now U.S. Highway 75) with his wife, Ollie Dickey.

Miss Dickey served sandwiches and is today celebrated by the company who introduced Miss Ollie’s sun tea — tea brewed in sunlight — in 2013.

Her two sons, Travis (“TD”) and Roland, took over the running of the business in 1967 and began franchising in the 1990s while retaining the same basic premise of slow-smoking all meats on-site, just as they did in the 1940s.

Roland Dickey Jr. became the company’s CEO in 2006 and continued the expansion of the group; he was succeeded to the position by his wife, Laura Rea Dickey in 2017. Roland transitioning to become CEO of the parent company of the Dickey’s Barbecue Pit brand, Dickey’s Capital Group.

How does the Dickey’s Barbecue Pit franchise model work?

A normal Dickey’s Barbecue Pit franchise will involve revenue streams from, six sources: dine-in, take-out, online ordering, catered events, delivery, holiday meals and retail items.

A site is located in a residential area of at least 30,000 people with a daytime/business population of at least 15,000 and traffic figures of 12,000 cars daily. The ideal location has easy access and high visibility from main thoroughfares.

Generally, this area has a one-mile radius, in which no other Dickey’s Barbecue Pit restaurants will be offered, although this protected territory may vary depending on the area.

Permits, design and construction can mean a premises can take up to 20 weeks to prepare, but Dickey’s Barbecue Pit’s construction department will help you secure a contractor. While the location is being prepared, their training department will begin teaching you all the skills you will need to run a great restaurant.

Master opportunities are currently available across the UK, Ireland and Europen, with investment starting at £310,000.

How much does a Dickey’s Barbecue Pit restaurant cost?

Initial investment can rise to between $289,939 and $421,244. The franchise fee is $20,000, with a royalty of 5 per cent, a marketing fund of 4 per cent and a technology fee of $99 per month, in the U.S.

Regions are available in all 50 states of North America in both traditional locations, such as stand- alone buildings and restaurants in shopping centres, and non-traditional locations, such as convenience stores, food courts, airports, golf courses and zoos.

What training does Dickey’s Barbecue Pit offer franchisees?

Following your application, you will be introduced to a Director of Franchise Development who has experience working in your area of interest. They will be able to answer any questions you have at any stage of the process.

You will also be interviewed by the company’s VP of Sales and visit the company’s head office in Dallas where you can meet with Dickey’s Barbecue Pit’s finance, legal and real estate teams.

A discovery day will allow you to meet their executive team — VP of Development, VP of Sales, VP of Training, etc. — and visit the original Dickey’s Barbecue Pit store in what was once a one-room building in downtown Dallas.

Did you know?

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit has outlets available across the UK

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Dickey’s Barbecue Pit can assist you throughout the development process of your franchise, including everything from architectural building design and engineering support to hiring construction project management. Dickey’s Barbecue Pit also offer access to its approved list of contractors, and at a later stage, assist with vendor ordering from their preferred vendors list.

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit will provide franchisees with an intensive four weeks of training at Dickey’s Barbecue Pit’s Barbecue University. The course is split, with two weeks spent in the classroom, working through Dickey’s operations manual and learning from barbecue experts, and two weeks in Dickey’s training restaurants. The lectures, quizzes, homework assignments, group activities and demonstrations of this comprehensive programme will teach you all the skills needed to open and operate a Dickey’s Barbecue Pit restaurant.

What post-construction support does Dickey’s Barbecue Pit offer franchisees?

When construction has been completed at your location, Dickey’s Barbecue Pit’s marketing and operations departments will walk you through the process of running a great restaurant. With creative teams who can handle advertising, social media, public relations, community marketing and web content, it is like having your own in-house advertising agency.

Franchisees and HQ office staff are considered to be part of the extended Dickey’s Barbecue Pit family and the ompany ensures that there is constant communication between the Dallas home office and the field operations team.

A daily newsletter goes out to all franchisees and staff.

Smoke Stack is a system that offers real-time feedback on key performance indicators from data provided by point-of-sale systems, marketing promotions, loyalty programmes, customer surveys and inventory systems.

Does Dickey’s Barbecue Pit require its franchisees to have previous experience?

While experience is useful, an ability to develop, lead and inspire a management team is vital, along with strong entrepreneurial skills. Knowing the area and being active in the community in which you hope to open a franchise is also an important aspect of the business.

Are there currently any Dickey’s Barbecue Pit franchises for sale?

Some franchisees may prefer to take over an already established business rather than begin a new business, thus avoiding the problem of finding a location and the costs associated with setting up.

To find a Dickey’s Barbecue Pit franchise for resale in your area, you can contact the franchise team for up-to-the-minute details.

What support does Dickey’s Barbecue Pit offer veterans?

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit is a member of VetFran and supports the return of veterans who have served in the U.S. military. Committed to helping former soldiers grow a successful business, they offer special military incentives, including 25 per cent or $5,000, off the initial franchise fee for qualified applicants on their first franchise, and fast and easy start-up and support from Dickey’s Barbecue Pit franchise professionals.

What are Dickey’s Barbecue Pit’s terms of agreement and renewal?

The length of a Dickey’s Barbecue Pit franchise is 20 years, with a 10-year renewal option.

How popular are Dickey’s Barbecue Pit restaurants right now?

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit has grown enormously in recent years. In the financial year 2017-18 it had 526 stores in 44 U.S. states and experienced huge growth over the period 2010-17, expanding from 115 stores in 2010 to 300 in 2013 and over 500 in 2015.

The company was named ‘Best Franchise Deal’ by QSR magazine and ‘Top 5 Growth Brand’ by Nation’s Restaurant News in 2012, and ‘Fastest Growing Restaurant Chain’ by Technomic in 2013.

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit now supplies its smoked sausage, spicy cheddar sausage and hot links in more than 3,000 Walmart stores and select Kroger stories in North America.

How can I get started on setting up my own Dickey’s Barbecue Pit franchise?

To set you on the path to running a Dickey’s Barbecue Pit franchise, a discovery day allows you to not only meet the company’s executive team, but also to visit the original Dickey’s Barbecue Pit store in what was once a one-room building in down-town Dallas.

To find out more, or to request further information on franchising with Dickey’s Barbecue Pit and bringing the concept to the UK, click on the ‘Send Enquiry’ button now.