Boston Market invades Las Vegas

Pauline Bell

Thursday, March 21, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Mothers of Southern Nevada relax. Boston Market has come to town.

The restaurant that touts homestyle cooking second only to mom's has opened four locations in Southern Nevada and plans about eight more.

"Our main competitor is mom. We talk to our customers who come in and they say if they didn't come to Boston Market, they would typically stay home and have mom cook," said Troy Cooper, operations manager for the Scottsdale, Ariz.- based BCE West LP, area franchisee for Boston Market.

The fast-paced 1990s mean two working parents who want to provide good quality, healthy meals for their kids -- meals that they don't usually have time to prepare.

"Our menu matches that and it travels very well," Cooper said.

The newest store opened Sunday at 7921 W. Lake Mead Blvd. at Tenaya Way. Other locations are: 2081 W. Sunset Road in Green Valley; 2650 W. Sahara Ave. across from Palace Station, and 2565 E. Tropicana Ave. at Topaz Street. Each store employs between 25 and 40 people.

The markets, which tout rotisserie roasted chicken, turkey, double-glazed ham, meatloaf and hot and cold side dishes, are doing "incredibly well," said area manager Regan Ross.

She anticipated that the newest location would primarily sell dinners to families living in the growing northwest section of the valley. It is doing that, but the volume of lunch business surprised her.

"We're just doing incredible numbers of sandwiches a day. I didn't think we'd have that great a lunch business," she said.

The Boston Market menu is similar to Kenny Rogers Roasters, which Cooper acknowledges is a competitor. "We operate against Kenny's in just about every market," he said adding that he thinks Boston Market has more variety in its menu. Other competitors include Chinese and pizza take-out, he said.

Kenny Rogers' administrator Hugh Roth says the two restaurants are totally different.

"They are deli-style and we're not. We're cafeteria style," he said.

He acknowledged that any restaurant is competition, but that the Las Vegas market has room for competitors. As to the variety in the menu, Roth said Boston Market offers chicken, ham, turkey and meatloaf while Kenny Rogers serves up chicken, turkey and barbecue ribs.

"We're not that far off and as far as side dishes, we are very compatible," Roth said.

Cooper wasn't ready to discuss future Boston Market locations, but said seven potential sites are currently under negotiation.

Roth said Kenny Rogers also is working on expansion, but he wasn't ready to disclose details.

BCE West plans to introduce another bagel chain into the Southern Nevada market as early as May. Einstein Bros. Bagels also is a franchise of the Golden, Colo.-based Boston Chicken Inc., the parent company of Boston Market.

It opened its first bagel store last June outside Salt Lake City. The first Las Vegas store is scheduled to open in mid-May at an undetermined location. Ten to 15 bagel stores are planned in this market, Cooper said.

As of last month, there were 855 Boston Market stores in 37 states and the District of Columbia. Boston market stores are opening at the rate of more than one every business day, making Boston Chicken Inc. the fastest-growing retail food service company in the United States, according to corporate background literature.