Around 2014 or so, Shain Buerk began to wonder what the future held for his Toledo-based Scramblers breakfast and lunch chain.
Scramblers, which began its existence 26 years ago as Cafe Marie then later Scrambler Marie before settling on Scramblers a few years ago, was doing just fine as a full-service restaurant chain — 25 locations in three states.
But there were markets, like Chicago and Louisville, where prime locations did not offer enough space, or what was available was too expensive per square foot for a restaurant to make the numbers work.
Two years ago, Mr. Buerk hit on a solution: a fast casual restaurant in the style of Panera Bread or Chipotle Mexican Grill, that could serve freshly-made breakfast and lunch items. Fast casuals require less than half the space of a full service restaurant and less than a third of the staff, but have skyrocketed in popularity.
And thus was born City Egg, Scramblers fast casual concept, which opened its second location Wednesday at 202 N. Summit St. in downtown Toledo in the ProMedica parking garage.
A prototype City Egg opened a year ago in Columbus and continues to do well, Mr. Buerk said.
“There’s a younger demographic out there now and I’ve been looking for a way to do a fast casual that would appeal to them,” he said Wednesday while greeting curious customers trying to figure out what City Egg is about.
With a fast casual, “you can scale down, it’s less expensive, you can have urban locations and enlarge your footprint,” he added.
Fast casual restaurants took in $58.5 billion in sales in 2016, according to the International Franchise Association. And while that was just 7.5 percent of the overall $780 billion restaurant industry, fast casuals grew at 10.4 percent from 2014 to 2015 while the industry as a whole grew just 5.7 percent.
City Egg is for those familiar with Scramblers’ menu of freshly prepared omelettes, wraps, and salads. Like Scramblers, it will be open daily from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
But the new concept “is much more hip, much more urban, much more modern,” Mr. Buerk said. “Tables are available but it’s designed for people who are more mobile.”
Like other fast casuals, food orders can be made online, via a phone app, or at a digital kiosk inside City Egg. Other differences include freshly-brewed coffee drinks and a selection of mixed juices.
After opening the Columbus location, Mr. Buerk said he thought about going to other large cities. But then he was approached by ProMedica to think about placing his new concept downtown.
“I would not have gone out of my way to come here,” Mr. Buerk said. “Don’t get me wrong. Toledo is a great place, but I felt I could be building restaurants in Louisville or Pittsburgh and everywhere else,” he said.
ProMedica said, “Come on downtown and take a day to walk around during the summer. You’ll be impressed with the community, but also with the residences and the businesses here and the recreational users,” said Mr. Buerk, who lives in Monclova.
“I don’t come downtown much. But I was impressed,” he added.
Contact Blade Business Writer Jon Chavez at jchavez@theblade.com or 419-724-6128.
First Published October 24, 2018, 5:11 p.m.
