Schostak sells Burger King franchises to Atlanta company

Team Schostak Family Restaurants sold its Burger King franchises in Michigan to Atlanta-based GPS Hospitality, as it moves away from fast food and adds eateries that offer more service, such as Applebee's and MOD Pizza.

Including the 60 new franchises, GPS now owns 196 Burger King restaurants, the company said today.

“These new restaurants mark continued growth for GPS Hospitality in the Midwest,"  Tom Garrett, the company's CEO said in prepared remarks. "We look forward to bringing our brand of service and guest experience to the people of Michigan.”

The acquisition was in partnership with Nonami Investments and the Cynosure Group.

The deal's terms were not disclosed.

The Schostaks entered the restaurant business in 1981, when Burger King offered them a chance to buy a franchise in front of an Alpena shopping center they were managing.

Late last year, the company added MOD Pizza, a Seattle based chain, to its portfolio. Schostak's first one opened in Livonia, with a second and third set to open in Northville and Rochester beofore the end of the year.

The Burger Kings that were sold are in the Lower Peninsula, including Detroit, Lansing, Saginaw, Flint, Ann Arbor and Pontiac.

GPS Hospitality, which was founded in 2012, also operates Burger King restaurants in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

Mark Schostak, executive chairman of Livonia-based Team Schostak, praised the new owner.

“The GPS leadership team shares the same values and operational philosophies," he said in a statement "We are confident in their ability to continue to successfully grow and operate the Burger King brand, making this transition as seamless as possible for everyone involved.”

The Schostak family has been in business in Michigan for about a century.

The family enterprise, Schostak Brothers, started in 1920 with Louis Schostak, who came to Michigan from Ukraine.

Louis Schostak’s son Jerome, had three sons who went into the business — Robert, David and Mark.

In 2004, Schostak agreed to develop 15 Olga’s Kitchens in metro Detroit. A year later, the company opened its first Del Taco — a Lake Forest, Calif., fast-food chain — in Dearborn. It has opened two more Del Taco franchises since.

Schostak bet on Applebee’s in 2012.

In its $61-million deal with DineEquity, a publicly-traded restaurant chain based in Glendale, Calif., Schostak acquired 65 Applebee’s restaurants. The company has said it planned to spend another $12 million to renovate a majority of them.

The company has announced it aims to open 25 MOD Pizza joints within five years.