Opening Milestones: Restaurant and Store Chains

Three high-profile brands recently hit milestone numbers in their ongoing expansions. They are:

* Boot Barn (Irvine, Calif.), which announced it has passed the 500th-store mark with recent openings in Killeen, Texas; East Peoria, Ill.; Phoenix; Deptford, N.J., Indio, Calif.; and Chandler, Ariz., and Huntington Beach, Calif., home of the first store it opened in 1978, The western and work wear retailer has locations in 49 states. (Hawaii is the only state without a BB physical store.)

* Chipotle (Newport Beach, Calif.), which has opened its 4000th restaurant, in Manhattan, Kansas. The latest store includes a drive-thru pick-up lane and the brand’s new high-efficiency food-prep equipment package, which consists of a three-pan rice cooker; a dual-sided plancha that reduces cook time for steak, chicken and fajita veggies; a high-capacity fryer for fresh chips; and a produce slicer. All but about 100 of the brand’s restaurants are in the U.S. Chipotle plans to continue adding to its fleet in 2026 with 350 to 370 new restaurant openings, including 10 to 15 international locations.

* Wingstop (Dallas), which recently took the wraps off its 3000th global restaurant. The brand has been expanding at breakneck speed during the last two years, opening nearly 800 restaurants and expanding its global footprint by 50%, including entering these new markets: Australia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Puerto Rico, Saudi Arabia and The Netherlands. Up next: outlets in in Thailand, Italy and Ireland, with an eye toward eventually having 10,000 restaurants worldwide.