In just one month, two Foremark casual dining restaurant clients accomplished this. In the same week in July, a Florida-based concept opened in Nevada and a Texas-based concept opened in Alabama.

Miller’s Ale House, one of Florida’s most successful sports-themed restaurant chains, considered a “Regional Powerhouse” by Nations Restaurant News, opened in Las Vegas, and Chuy’s, a successful, Austin, Texas-based Tex-Mex concept, popular throughout the state of Texas, opened its newest location in Birmingham, Alabama.

For any restaurant company, expansion is the surest way to achieve growth objectives. But, without argument, each of these concepts could have selected new, less challenging locations closer to markets each knows best.

“It’s gutsy, none of us will deny that. We’re accustomed to opening in places closer to home where lots of people know us,” explains Michael Hatcher, vice president of real estate and development. “We felt like it was time to go outside of our comfort zone, both operationally and from a customer standpoint. Sooner or later it’s a step we had to take. We believe we were up to it, though. We know we have the real estate support to identify good markets and sites and we’re confident we can manage the store successfully.”

For Miller’s Ale House, the expansion was even more challenging. “Las Vegas is a lot different than Orlando, or any Florida market, for that matter. And, besides that, it’s 2,300 miles and two time zones away,” jokes Ray Holden, President and COO, Miller’s Ale House. “We know we can compete once we’re there. We can run our restaurants. We provide good value. We needed to make sure we made good decisions about where we put the restaurant, that’s something we can’t change,” Holden adds. “It’s a growth step for us. But that’s the way it goes, right? If you’re working hard and doing what you need to grow, it never gets easy. If you’re comfortable, something’s wrong. In this business, everyone knows that.”

For us at Foremark, this was a big week for our clients, Miller’s Ale House and Chuy’s and us. While each of the companies have built a successful business with the capability to expand on this level, we know our broad knowledge of markets and trade areas along with our ability to identity conducive sites has played a key role in each of these ambitious moves.

The conference is touted as the must attend event for growth-minded restaurant company owners and executives focused on the business side of the restaurant business. I’ve attended this event for nearly as long as it’s existed, missing it just once in twenty years. It’s always a productive time for me and our business.

For Foremark, the event is more than a special opportunity to meet industry people and learn. (Funny how when you attend an annual event for twenty years, you get a sense of what you look forward to.) For me the conference has come to represent an exciting preview of the next year, that is, an opportunity to learn the attitudes of industry players about growth in the upcoming year. I’ve come to find the tone of this meeting usually depicts what our business will be like, what we can expect, how ambitious we can be, expansion plans we’re likely to encounter from our clients, on and on.

Here are the highlights of what I took away this time. This is a list of what we’ll discuss in our planning meetings:

• Keynote speaker, economist, Paul Kasriel, said “the recession is over and we are in a recovery.” Not back to where we need to be, of course, but, according to Kasriel, the worst is over. Proceed cautiously and optimistically. (Imagine the cheer that received.) * The recovery will be very long and slow. Unemployment will remain high and peak at near 10.5%.
• Over-supply is still a problem. Anticipate more closings, 5,000-6,000 restaurants are likely to close in 2010. A lot of closings means a lot of opportunities.
• Restaurant sales will be flat to down. Operators will maintain profits by managing costs – labor, food, etc.  Commodity prices are in favor.
• For the first time in years, more meals are being eaten at home; grocery prices are down.
• Lenders are generally credit sensitive. Lenders will favor larger companies with respectable balance sheets. Smaller companies will find it difficult to obtain financing.
• Analysts claim the quick-service operating model is the most promising for the future.
• Because taxes and health insurance, companies are paying special attention to Obama’s healthcare plan.
• Restaurant companies must grow to survive; for restaurants choosing not to grow is not an option.

The message: smart growth. The economy is improving. Restaurants must grow, but growth will not come from over-flowing demand, cheap money and a robust economy. Instead, growth must be fueled by savvy and prudent management decisions.