JACKSONVILLE — After spending nearly three decades earning its chops as one of the most successful barbecue restaurant chains in the area, Woody’s Bar-B-Q Inc. is taking its secret recipe sauces and slow-smoked meats national.
Co-founders Yolanda Mills-Mawman and Woody Mills expect to grow their 30 locations to more than 40 by the fourth quarter of 2009, with most of those new restaurants opening in other states. An out-of-state restaurant recently opened in Elizabethon, Tenn.
Mack Cooke, the franchisee who owns rights to Northeast Tennessee, has always enjoyed Florida barbecue during frequent fishing trips and finally decided to bring back the flavor, but opening a restaurant that area residents are unfamiliar with has had its challenges.
Although business was booming the first few weeks, the remnants of a hurricane, the faltering stock market and a presidential election season full of uncertainties have taken their toll, he said. Still, he’s hopeful that when those issues correct themselves business will pick back up.
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