Goodwood Barbecue expands in Utah

By Lora Volkert

IDAHO BUSINESS REVIEW

The owners of two Treasure Valley barbecue restaurants have expanded their concept outside Idaho.

A Goodwood Barbecue opened last week in Orem, Utah, northwest of Provo. Goodwood’s owners plan to start construction in mid-March on another restaurant in Draper, Utah, near Sandy, south of Salt Lake City. The Draper restaurant is planned to open in August or early September.

ZGA Architects and Planners, Boise, designed both restaurants. Greenwood Construction Co., Draper, was the contractor for the Orem restaurant. Goodwood plans to open bids Feb. 9 for the Draper restaurant. Cost estimates for each restaurant are $575,000 to $600,000.

The Orem Goodwood seats 220 in 5,000 square feet of leased retail space in the University Mall. The Draper restaurant would seat 185 and occupy 5,000 square feet of leased space in a development called Draper Peaks. Each is to employ 60 to 70.

University Mall is “the center of activity for Utah County,” including Orem and Provo, said Steve Cooper, who, with partners Mike Mantooth and Larry Fields, owns Goodwood Barbecue Co. Likewise, Draper Peaks is a “very upscale retail” development, and the Draper and Sandy area is Utah’s “epicenter of growth,” he said.

“We go for sites and locations that national chains would want to get,” Cooper said. The Goodwood concept was launched in 1999 with a restaurant at the Boise Spectrum, and a second was opened in 2002 in the Meridian Crossroads Shopping Center.

Both Idaho restaurants achieved 10 percent sales growth in 2004 and the company is profitable, Cooper said. He credits Goodwood’s growth to tight control over the small organization and the ability to adapt quickly to changing markets after 9/11.

“There’s a lot to be said for being hands-on and staying in the trenches,” he said.

Goodwood plans three more restaurants in the Salt Lake City market, after which the company will look at more Western region states, Cooper said. The company wants to start building the third Utah restaurant in fall for an early 2006 opening, and build the fourth in 2006, he said.