OKLAHOMA CITY - Soon there will be a new taco in town.

Midwest City developers Raymond and Meri Walker of TDM Development of Oklahoma announced on Tuesday the locations of 58 Taco Del Mar restaurants they plan to open in Oklahoma and the Wichita Falls and Sherman areas of Texas.

Meri Walker said Oklahoma restaurants are planned in Oklahoma City (16 franchises), Tulsa (13), Norman (three), Lawton (three), Midwest City, Broken Arrow and Edmond (two each) and Yukon, Bethany, Altus, Duncan, Moore, Ponca City, Shawnee, Ardmore, Bartlesville, Muskogee, Stillwater (one each) and possibly others.

"We have a couple of leases already in negotiation and we hope to start construction this spring," Meri Walker said. "They will be primarily in strip malls, like Subway shops."

TDM Development has 12 Subway franchises and two more pending.

She said Taco Del Mar restaurants will range in size from 1,200 to 1,500 square feet and will have seating for about 30 guests. Each will have four to six employees, plus a manager, she said.

The Walkers are planning to keep two restaurants in Midwest City, where they have their corporate headquarters. Harold Smart was the first franchisee approved and he is planning to open restaurants in Norman, she said.

Taco Del Mar opened 75 restaurants last year and now has 193 fast-casual restaurants in the United States and Canada. The Seattle-based company was founded in 1992 by James and John Schmidt.

Taco Del Mar's franchise fees are $20,000 for the first franchise, $17,500 for the second and $15,000 for additional restaurants. The Walkers will host a seminar, or Taco Del Mar Roadshow, Feb. 9 at the Rooser Conservation and Education Center at Oklahoma Zoological Trust.

Meri Walker said the couple was attracted to the chain because of its simplicity. "There are no fryers, it's a healthy concept and there are low franchise and startup fees," she said.

Jerry Shottenkirk reports on retail, health care, energy and law.
You may reach him by phone at (405) 278-2838 or by e-mail at jerry.shottenkirk@journalrecord.com.

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