Dog Haus Taps Area Directors for 1,500-Restaurant Push

By Elena Vasquez

Four newly appointed Dog Haus area directors have signed more than 400 restaurant commitments in the chain’s first expansion wave, according to an emailed press release. The roughly 50-unit hot dog chain is plotting a path toward 1,500 U.S. restaurants.

Those appointments fill four of the chain’s 15 area director territories across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic. Dog Haus expects to announce a second wave during the first quarter and to sell out the entire country by the end of 2027.

The chain built the regional development model under Chris Rigassio, who joined during the summer as president and chief development officer.

What does this change for franchisees?

“Upon joining Dog Haus, the first thing we set out to build was the structure, not the pipeline,” Rigassio said.

Rigassio said: “Most brands sell master agreements to salespeople. We are awarding markets to proven, large-scale, multi-brand, multi-state operators. They live in their markets and will provide support in site selection, new store openings, maintaining brand standards and driving unit profitability.”

Under the regional model, each director receives a specific territory capable of supporting up to 100 restaurants. Directors develop their own restaurants and coach other franchisees in that territory. They may also become equity partners, a structure designed to align their returns with the long-term performance of the system they build.

The initial four directors and their markets are:

• Nick Crouch, who owns more than 135 Tropical Smoothie Cafe restaurants, will oversee development across Florida.
• PG1 Restaurants, which owns more than 60 restaurants, will develop North Carolina, Tennessee, southern Virginia and West Virginia.
• Kyle Yancey, a Jersey Mike’s owner, will cover Delaware, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia and northern Virginia.
• Jesse Allen, who owns Jersey Mike’s and Dave’s Hot Chicken restaurants, will oversee Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi.

The commitments far exceed the chain’s roughly 50-unit base, but they do not represent operating restaurants. The announcement does not disclose how many commitments will convert to openings or when those locations will begin operating.

Dog Haus also hired several people who previously worked at Jersey Mike’s to support the expansion. Lauren Belligham, who has roughly 20 years of experience, became vice president of store development and will help carry developments from signed leases to opening.

Jerry Kallman, who has 30 years of experience in corporate leadership and franchise development, became vice president of franchise sales. He previously built one of Jersey Mike’s largest area director territories.

RJ Cancilla became director of real estate and will support Dog Haus’s real estate sales and construction efforts using data-driven tools.

For operators, the announcement provides no development budget, average check, sales forecast, cost-of-goods percentage or labor-cost target. It does make unit profitability a named responsibility for regional directors, while the equity option ties their returns to the performance of the system they build.

As Dog Haus works toward 1,500 U.S. restaurants and an end-2027 national sellout, the next test is whether the first four directors convert commitments into openings and deliver the unit profitability the model depends on.