Stellar Restaurant Group, operator of Boloco fast-casual burrito restaurants in and around
Winona Capital Management (WCM) is pleased to announce that it has made an investment in Stellar Restaurant Group d/b/a/ Boloco, a fast-casual restaurant business with 13 locations in and around
Boloco is a fast-casual restaurant concept with a 10-year history. CEO John Pepper and partners Adam Liebman, Jason Hutchinson and Gregg Harris founded the company in 1997 as “The Wrap.” In October 2005, the team changed the name of its restaurants to Boloco, adding the tag “Inspired Burritos” to better reflect its focus on burritos that are more than Mexican in origin. Boloco also serves fresh-made smoothies. For more information about Boston-based Boloco and its menu, please visit www.boloco.com.
“While our tag line is Inspired Burritos, we like to think of them more as Irreverent Burritos,” remarked John Pepper. “These burritos want to be a little bit different. The foundation of what we do, and our top-selling menu item, is and always has been the Classic, our version of the traditional Mexican burrito. But it's the unexpected flavors that bring our customers back multiple times per week; the Teriyaki, Buffalo and Summer burritos are just a few examples of items with ingredients not typically found in a traditional burrito but which have created addictive habits that our customers find tough to break.”
The Boloco philosophy has spread throughout all aspects of the business. The founders are proud of the company's environmental policies, the opportunities it provides for its 300 team members, its interaction with the neighborhoods in which it does business, and its partnership with the Green Restaurant Association. From an environmental standpoint, Boloco uses energy efficient lighting, low VOC paints, countertops made from recycled paper, and is migrating to drink cups made from corn. Pepper commented, “We're looking at the data, listening to the experts, and following our hearts in all of these initiatives. Our team is becoming very good at making small but important changes based on what's right for our customers and communities.”
“Boloco is an excellent investment for us as we focus on expanding this compelling restaurant concept so it can reach a national scale,” stated Laird Koldyke, Managing Director of Winona Capital Management. “John and his team have grown the business organically for the last decade, and we are very excited to work with them and use our combined experiences to take Boloco to the next level.”
About Winona Capital Management
Winona Capital Management provides acquisition and growth capital to consumer-driven businesses in the lower middle market. Winona partners with high energy, passionate executives who have a shared focus on sustained growth over longer-term investment horizons. With offices in Chicago and Seattle, Winona Capital manages more than $110 million exclusively on behalf of high-net-worth families and individual investors. For more information, please visit www.winonacapital.com or contact Winona Capital at 312-334-8800.
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