BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

Waco Biker Shootout Won't Slow Soaring Twin Peaks Restaurant Chain

This article is more than 8 years old.

The past five days have been far from the high point of the growth story for Twin Peaks, the casual-dining brand whose Waco, Texas, location was the scene of a gunfight among rival motorcycle gangs that left nine people dead, 18 injured and 170 in jail. After the mass shooting on Sunday, Twin Peaks revoked the franchise agreement with the Waco operator, Chalak Mitra Group, on Monday. Then on Tuesday an old, unflattering consultant’s memo about the brand and its target customers was dredged up on the Internet.

Not a good week for a hospitality company. However, the chain’s years of success as a leader in the so-called “breastaurant” sector in casual dining and consumers’ reactions to past controversies suggest that Twin Peaks should be able to continue on the robust growth path it had blazed before the recent barrage of negative press.

First, consider the hot streak Twin Peaks has ridden the past several years. According to Technomic’s Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report, in 2014 the brand’s U.S. sales grew 45 percent to $240 million, the largest increase of any restaurant company with at least $200 million in domestic sales. That followed annual increases of 69 percent, 99 percent and 50 percent for 2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively. Twin Peaks ended 2009 with 10 locations, and it posted unit count growth of at least 20 percent every year, expanding to 64 restaurants at the end of 2014.

Clearly, consumers are drawn to Twin Peaks’ food and beverage offerings—and, yes, to the “scenic views” of waitresses in plaid crop tops. Business is also booming at similar chains like The Tilted Kilt and Hooters, but really the entire casual-dining segment built around chicken wings is doing well. In 2014, the wing house sector, which Technomic tracks in the Top 500 Report—including Twin Peaks and Hooters as well as more buttoned-up chains like Buffalo Wild Wings —collectively grew sales more than 14 percent.

But just as important as the popularity and momentum evident for Twin Peaks is the fact that consumers tend to have short memories. In time, the Waco shooting will fade from people’s associations with the brand and from the first page of a Google search. For other restaurant brands, we have seen controversies like food safety scares or “open carry” groups wanting to bring guns into restaurants dissipate after weeks or months.

While the majority of Twin Peaks’ locations are in Texas, the brand has expanded to 23 other states, and the farther away from Waco a new Twin Peaks restaurant opens, the less likely consumers in that area are to link the brand and the incident. Most people probably think the melee says more about Texas or biker gangs than about the restaurant whose parking lot was the scene of the crime.

The controversy more likely to recur for Twin Peaks would be the criticism it gets for its business model's reliance on suggestively dressed servers, which can be seen as demeaning to women and patronizing to its male clientele. But those attitudes have been prevalent since Hooters pioneered the segment three decades ago. While the Waco shooting might slow Twin Peaks down temporarily, I doubt much could stop its upward trajectory.