Brad Honigfeld is the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of a group of affiliated companies referred to as The Briad Group. Briad is a multi-unit, multi-state, owner, developer and operator of fast-food restaurants, limited-service hotels, rooftop bars and lounges, and a lifestyle shopping center. Brad as visionary, entrepreneur, and leader of the Briad owned companies has successfully guided the company from its humble beginnings to its current success and profitability. His management abilities, innate entrepreneurial skills and financial, marketing and business acumen, allowed Briad to grow from one ice cream restaurant into a division of over 107 Wendy’s restaurants, 70 TGI Friday’s, a shopping center and 40 Marriott and Hilton branded hotels, together employing more than 10 thousand employees with gross revenue in excess of 1 Billion dollars. Briad recently sold the majority of its Wendy’s restaurants and is pursuing new ventures.
Brad built his business from Roy Rogers to Wendy’s having owned and sold numerous TGI Friday’s and operated numerous Zinburger Wine and Burger Bars. The Restaurant business earned over $500 million in revenue and employed over 10,000 employees. Briad also operates its own Construction Company. While building his restaurant business, Brad also focused on building a hotel business. He and his team located, negotiated, developed, constructed, opened, operated, and managed, and financed 40 limited-service Marriott and Hilton branded hotels representing over 4595 hotel rooms with a asset value in excess of 1 billion. Brad sold the initial 28 hotels and since developed opened and is now operating 12 limited-service Marriott and Hilton hotels. In 2006, Brad ventured into yet another area with the development of the Promenade Shops at Clifton, a 130,000 square foot lifestyle center anchored by LA Fitness, Sephora, PNC Bank, and Tommy’s Tavern + Tap and many other national tenants. Briad recently signed a ground up development agreement with Circle K for 40 convenience stores and full-service fueling stations in the NY region that will have a minimum of 2 nationally branded QSR restaurants.
Brad has utilized his keen insight, negotiating skills, persistence, and vision to develop strategic alliances with financial institutions, contractors, vendors, franchisors, marketers, and other developers. These alliances have helped Briad maximize its profit, reduce expenses, and increase net worth.
Brad is an active and respected member of the franchise community serving on a myriad of committees and sitting on numerous industry panels and is often asked for his advice and counsel. Briad has been recognized with honors over the years for its quality, growth, and attention to detail, commitment to excellence in service, and outstanding operations. TGI Friday’s named Briad as the “Outstanding Developer” of the year in 1995, and for years 1996, 1997, 1998, 2006, 2007, 2008 and in 2009, TGI Friday’s awarded Briad the “Franchise Developer of the Year”. Briad’s hotels frequently rank in the top 10 of their brands in customer service. Briad received an “Outstanding Achievement Award” in 2003 from Homewood Suites/Hilton, was awarded the Top New Hotel Performance 2007 for the Bethlehem Homewood Suites, the Diamond Award Winning Hotel for Central Islip Residence, and the Hilton Award of Excellence 2019 for Southington Homewood Suites. The Briad Group has been consistently ranked among top owners and developers: 2010 Hotel Business Top Owners and Developers #83; 2011 Multi-Unit Franchisee-99 Largest Multi-Unit Franchisees Mega Stars #60; Restaurant Finance Monitor 2011 and 2012- Ranked 9 out of 200. Most recently, Wendy’s recognized The Briad Group, with the Legacy Award – Employer of the Year for Briad’s extensive programs to benefit employees. In the coming years, Brad will continue to lead Briad toward new growth opportunities, increased profitability and expansion into new markets.
