In the quick-service restaurant (QSR) industry, growth can happen quickly, but sustainable success is almost always tied to one critical factor: location.
Rick Di Donato, Vice President of Real Estate at Redberry Restaurants, oversees expansion for major brands like Taco Bell, Jersey Mike’s, and Burger King. For Di Donato, site selection is far more than a checklist. It’s a strategic discipline that directly impacts the long-term performance of brands, impacting sales immensely.
“Location, location, location, it’s everything,” Rick explains. “We’ve seen firsthand that the difference between an ‘okay’ site and a great one can mean going from $2 million in sales to $4 million.”
That kind of variance underscores why thoughtful expansion is essential. While speed and scale are often priorities in QSR growth, choosing the right site requires patience, discipline, and a deep understanding of the customer.
A strong location starts with alignment to a brand’s market plan. Every concept serves a different audience, and success depends on placing that concept where its customers already live, work, and move. Visibility, access, co-tenancy, and strong anchor retailers all play a role as well.
“Everything ties back to the customer base,” Rick says. “You need to know who your customer is and where they are.”
This is where experience and perspective become invaluable and why it is so important to have the right people on the team. People who are self starters and entrepreneurial are ideal for deals like these. Over the years, Rick has worked closely with real estate industry leaders like Alfio Pasquarelli, whose approach to real estate has helped shape how sites are evaluated and secured.
“Alfio is a self-driven businessperson and is often in the trenches with his clients. Alfio understands not just real estate, but how customers move across brands,” Rick notes. “He’s shown us how to look at sites differently, how to combine brands on one site, how to unlock opportunities we might not have seen.”
In one recent example, patience proved to be the deciding factor. After struggling to secure a location in a highly competitive Ontario market, the team was ready to move forward with a different, less ideal option. Instead, Alfio encouraged them to wait.
Over a few days, he had secured a premium site, one that had previously seemed out of reach. In a matter of weeks, the team went from sourcing a location to signing a lease. Through his ability to negotiate and his incredible network, he was able to unlock critical real estate and facilitate a deal with the landlord. The result was a projected increase of $500,000 in sales compared to the original option.
Stories like this reinforce a key principle: not all growth is good growth.
“You have to make sure expansion aligns with your unit economic model,” Rick explains. “Everything can look great on a map, but if it doesn’t work financially, it won’t last.”
For QSR operators, the takeaway is clear. Growth should never come at the expense of fundamentals. Knowing your customer, staying disciplined, and securing the right location, not just the next available one, are what distinguish strong performers from the rest.
In QSR, where margins are tight and competition is constant, the right location doesn’t just support success, it defines it.
