Award-winning franchised restaurant & bar business for sale

A two-time award-winning suburban restaurant and bar business operating under the branding auspices of one of New Zealand’s longest running licenced restaurant franchise chains has been placed on the market for sale.

The Pukekohe outlet of the Lone Star restaurant chain located at 8 Massey Avenue in the town opened in 2013 in a purpose-built venue. Lone Star opened its first New Zealand operation in Christchurch in 1988, and the Lone Star chain now has 25 franchised locations nationwide.

The Pukekohe business is one of the latest to have joined the Lone Star franchise network which stretches from Auckland down to Invercargill, and as a result is housed in one of the chain’s most modern premises.

The Pukekohe food and beverage business just south of Auckland has twice won the hospitality category in the Pukekohe Business Association Best in Business Awards – in 2018 and 2015.

Now the Lone Star Pukekohe business has been placed on the market for sale for $1.1 million plus stock, through Bayleys Pukekohe. Salesperson Virginia Zhou said Lone Star Pukekohe was one of the biggest on-premise hospitality destinations in the township - drawing a regional target audience from the surrounding towns of Patuumahoe, Glenbrook, Waiuku, Tuakau, Paerata, and even as far away as Pokeno to the south.

‘In that licensed family dining/mid’ price-range category, Lone Star Pukekohe has few competitors. The brand has stuck to its proven short-order generous portion menu – still offering the likes of the signature-dish Lone Star pork ribs, beef steaks, chicken options and burgers,” Ms Zhou said.

“Pukekohe’s licensed hospitality sector is well defined – with Lone Star being part of a handful of venues which mostly offer different customer experiences – ranging from Ed Street which caters to a very liquor-focused clientele, or the gaming machines and ‘pub grub’ on offer at The Longkeeper, through to the upmarket a-la-carte dining experience on offer at Monarch Café.

“It’s a market segmentation which has evolved organically, but which works well and profitably for the town’s licenced food and beverage operators.

“There is strong brand-recognition for Lone Star Pukekohe throughout the Counties region due to the business’s prominent sponsorship of community events. Everything from the Pukekohe Cardboard Car Rally and the Pukekohe Onion Festival through Franklin Special Olympics and hosting a Christmas lunch for underprivileged families in the district.

“The venue’s strong community reputation has worked in its favour too as Pukekohe’s population has mushroomed to around 31,400 – making it one of the fastest growing sub-regions in the Greater Auckland province.”

Lone Star Pukekohe has a 15-year franchise contract to the Lone Star franchisor. Accounts for the business show gross profit for the restaurant and bar grew by 13 percent from the 2015/16 financial year compared to the just completed 2018/19 financial year.

For the past four full financial years, Lone Star Pukekohe has turned over an average of more than $2million annually. The business’s revenues are split approximately 70/30 percent between food and beverage sales respectively.

“These figures very much reflect the venue’s emphasis on being a family dining destination,” Ms Zhou said, The venue is open seven days a week.

Lone Star Pukekohe occupies some 550 square metres of commercially-zoned

space in a single-level building and is licensed to serve up to 250 guests in three separate areas – the main restaurant room, a covered courtyard and 28 square metres of outdoor deck.

Lonestar Pukekohe employs 19 front-of-house and kitchen staff and general management on both full-time and part-time basis.

Ms Zhou said Lone Star Pukekohe leased its Massey Avenue site on a lease currently running through to 2022 with two further six-year rights of renewal. The restaurant and bar has access to 68 share car parks in the corner block. Neighbouring operations around the Massey Avenue precinct include the full gamut of community entities – ranging from banks and commercial office premises through to cafes and high street national chain and stand-alone shops.

Auckland Council last month approved plans for 34,500 new houses to be built in Pukekohe/Paerata and nearby Drury/Opaheke over the coming 30 years – delivering new dwellings for a population of 100,000 additional residents.

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