After opening The Hoagie Stop in October 2021, Byron Cogdell Sr. has received tremendous support from the Buffalo community. He opened two more locations with a fourth shop expected to open in September. According to Biz Journals, Cogdell is relocating to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and he’s bringing his yummy sandwiches with him.
Cogdell had plans to bring a “family-style bar/restaurant” to Buffalo, but his mind changed after a family vacation in North Texas. His business has now crossed the $1 million mark, as Biz Journals reports.
“We were just going to visit my mother-in-law for her birthday and I fell in love with the city, with Dallas,” he told Biz Journals. “I was completely impressed with the way the city is set up.”
The chef is now looking forward to bringing a fifth location of The Hoagie Stop to an entirely new city.
“We’re probably going to start in Frisco with a location 15-20 minutes from our home,” he said.
The Hoagie Stop is is expanding south – all the way to Texas. https://t.co/I3xmEZeJeM
— Buffalo Business First (@BfloBizFirst) July 12, 2024
Cogdell’s wife will stay behind to oversee the newest Buffalo storefront for a while to ensure that it starts on the right foot. Cogdell also built a management team and delegated roles to help keep the finances in order and ensure that employee operations run smoothly at all New York locations.
Part of the secret to the prevailing business is his homemade sauces. With expansion at the forefront of his mind, he decided to work with a food distribution company to package his special recipes instead of doing it all himself, which helped make the transition to a new state easier.
“Since beginning of the year, I’ve been delegating more and more tasks off to my staff,” he said. “We’ve already put things in place.”
Another project he’s working on is consistent signage and furnishing for his current and new locations.
“I have a vision of what I want it to look like,” Cogdell said. “We have some things planned for down there I didn’t have when I started in business in Western New York. I have all the necessary things now in my corner that I didn’t have. I have the resources and means I need.”