Heretofore let it be known: On October 21, home is no longer just where the heart is—it's where the teriyaki is, too. Ahead of its annual conference being held in the Mile High City, fast casual teriyaki shop concept Teriyaki Madness is opening the doors of its brand-new corporate shop in the heart of downtown at 1920 17th Street, neighboring Denver Union Station.

"We're all incredibly excited to be opening a corporate-owned shop so close to our headquarters," said Teriyaki Madness VP of Marketing Jodi Boyce. "Denver's Union Station has undergone some serious upgrades in recent years and become quite a hot spot for locals and visiting diners alike. It's also a heavy business area, so we're looking forward to tapping into our delivery capabilities to reach those customers, as well—it's the perfect location to serve our fans in our home city in all the ways we do best."

As TMAD's business has shifted away from dine-in over the past few years to the point where takeout and delivery accounts for 65-80% of its traffic, the brand developed the Union Station shop's kitchen layout and store design to reflect this evolution. As delivery is poised to become an even more integral part of the restaurant landscape in 2020 and beyond, TMAD plans to take the learnings from this shop and implement these updates systemwide to ensure its franchisees are keeping pace with changing customer preferences.

"By implementing these strategic changes to improve shop flow in our corporate location first, we're better able to test the effectiveness and measure results more closely to ensure our methods spell success for our franchise partners," Boyce noted.

The brand also plans to use the new home market shop as its main training site for new franchisees. According to VP of Training Janice Branam, Denver's new TMAD shop brings with it an even better opportunity to help incoming franchisees understand operations within the confines of the layout in which they'll be doing business on a day-to-day basis. "Getting franchisees into the shop to observe during initial training will give them a better understanding of kitchen flow and design before their shop schematics are generated," she said.

As part of the grand opening proceedings, Teriyaki Madness will be offering $5 Chicken Teriyaki Bowls bowls from October 21 to October 24. On the shops Grand Opening on October 23, the first five customers who order an entrée will win free bowls for a year, while the next 20 customers who order an entrée will win free bowls for a month. TMAD is also partnering with Food For Thought Denver to donate a portion of sales on October 25 to the organization's efforts to fight childhood hunger in Denver.

By opening the shop ahead of its annual conference, TMAD is looking forward to showing off the improved capabilities and sleek design of its new store layout, introducing new and existing franchisees alike to the potential that growing with the brand brings.

"We think our franchisees are going to be really excited to see so much of what we've worked to build systemwide in 2019 come to fruition," said Boyce. "TMAD Union Station is the centerpiece of the future of our brand and can't wait to show our shop owners the awesomeness that's ahead."