Wing Zone unveiling country's 1st 'wing' restaurant offering drive-thru service

CUMMING - Michael Hornsteiner, Jeff Reddick, Kevin Aycock and Sonny Hires will soon be making history for Wing Zone, a chicken wing franchise based in Atlanta. Hornsteiner, Reddick, Aycock and Hires will become the franchise owners of Wing Zone's first drive-thru location.

"This is our chance to be trailblazers as franchisees," said Reddick. "It's an honor; it's exciting and we know Cumming consumers are going to go crazy over this very first drive-thru wing concept. On July 16, we're celebrating with a bang and Wing Zone Flavorholics are going to get a first glimpse into a brand new way to order wings."

The restaurant is located at 518 Atlanta Road, Cumming. The first 25 customers in line will be rewarded with free wings for a year. Wing Zone expects hundreds of people to camp out for the 11 a.m. grand opening. In addition, other prizes will be awarded throughout the day.

The new Wing Zone franchisees aren't new to franchising however. Hornsteiner is a long-time multi-unit Checkers franchisee. In fact, the new drive-thru Wing Zone is a conversion from one of his existing Checkers locations. The four friends came together out of a desire to own a business together. For two years while Reddick, Aycock and Hires continued their careers in the remodeling and renovation industry and Hornsteiner as a franchisee with Checkers, they searched for the perfect fit.

"We wanted to partner with a franchise that was going places and had eyes on the larger picture," Hornsteiner said. "Matt Friedman and Adam Scott have exemplified that their brand is continually evolving and adapting to current customer needs. Then the opportunity came to open Wing Zone's first drive-thru location and we were all in."

The four franchisees have also signed a deal to open a Wing Zone location in Athens.

The wing drive-thru concept was an idea that Wing Zone has been researching for the past several years since consumers are only getting busier and wanting their food faster.

"If every other food can be purchased through a drive thru, we thought why not wings?" Matt Friedman, Founder and CEO of Wing Zone, said. "This is the time for innovation, not retraction and we are pushing for industry firsts in everything we do. Certainly the drive thru concept is an example of that. Jeff, Michael, Kevin and Sonny are the perfect franchise partners to fulfill our drive thru footprint."