Buffalo Grill facts for kids
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| Private | |
| Industry | Restaurants |
| Genre | Themed restaurant |
| Founded | 1980 |
| Founder | Christian Picart |
| Headquarters |
,
France
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Area served
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France, Switzerland and Spain |
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Key people
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| Products | grilled meat, ribs, burgers, french fries, desserts |
| Revenue | 557M€ (2017) |
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Number of employees
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7750 (2017) |
Buffalo Grill is a popular restaurant chain in France. It's known for its American-themed steakhouses. The company's main office is in Montrouge, France.
You'll often find Buffalo Grill restaurants in shopping areas or on the edges of medium-sized cities. It's the biggest themed restaurant chain in France. This is true when you look at how much they sell and how many locations they have.
Buffalo Grill has about 360 restaurants in three countries: France, Switzerland, and Spain. Most of these are in France. They serve around 31 million meals every year. In 2017, their sales were over €557 million. People in France have chosen Buffalo Grill as their favorite restaurant brand three times. The most recent time was in 2018. This award came from a study where 8,500 customers picked Buffalo Grill as the best.
The Story of Buffalo Grill
Buffalo Grill was started by Christian Picart in September 1980. The very first restaurant opened in a town called Avrainville, in France.
Just four years later, Christian Picart opened a second restaurant in France. Then, he opened the first "franchise" location in Annecy. A franchise is a business where someone buys the right to use a company's name and system.
Through the 1980s and 1990s, the restaurant chain grew a lot across France. It became popular for its special menu. By the end of 1995, there were over 140 Buffalo Grill restaurants. About 38 of these were franchises.
In 1997, Buffalo Grill opened three restaurants in Belgium and one in Madrid, Spain. More restaurants followed in Spain, two in Luxembourg, and one in Switzerland. In 1999, the company became public. This means its shares could be bought and sold on the Paris Stock Exchange.
In 2005, a company called Colony Capital bought most of Buffalo Grill. They owned 83% of the company. Three years later, Buffalo Grill was sold again to other companies, Abenex & Nixen Partners.
In 2017, a private investment fund called TDR Capital LLP bought the company. This deal was worth about €400 million.
By July 2019, Buffalo Grill had 360 restaurants. About 100 of these were franchises. The company also had over 5,000 employees working for it. The last location in Luxembourg closed in 2020.
How Buffalo Grill Operates
About two-thirds of Buffalo Grill restaurants are owned by the company itself. The other restaurants are run by franchise owners. These owners pay a fee to use the Buffalo Grill name and business model.
The main office for Buffalo Grill is located in Montrouge, France. It's at 9, Boulevard du Général de Gaulle.
In April 2018, two people started leading the company. They were Ivan Schofield, who is a non-executive director, and Jocelyn Olive, who is the chairman.
| Country | Number of restaurants |
|---|---|
| France | 351 |
| Spain | 6 |
| Switzerland | 1 |
