Wingstop began offering franchises in 1997. Franchising allowed the young Garland, Texas, restaurant chain to expand beyond its original company-operated footprint.
Wingstop was founded in 1994 by Antonio Swad and Bernadette Fiaschetti. Its first years established the brand around cooked-to-order wings, multiple sauces, and a distinctive pre-jet aviation atmosphere. The move into franchising came three years later, making 1997 an expansion milestone rather than the company’s founding year.
The first franchised location opened in 1997. That detail is sometimes confused with later corporate events: Gemini Investors acquired Wingstop in 2003, Roark Capital Group acquired it in 2010, and the company went public in 2015. None of those dates marks the beginning of franchising.
Franchising became central to Wingstop’s growth model. By 2002, the company said the brand had served two million wings, illustrating how quickly the concept scaled after franchise development began. The correct year is therefore 1997, not 1994—the year Wingstop was founded—or 2003, the year of its acquisition by Gemini Investors.