Wing Zone looking to locate near Albany State University’s East Campus

ALBANY — In 1991, on the campus of the University of Florida, Matt Friedman and Adam Scott had a dilemma — there was no alternative to pizza delivery for students studying late or suffering from the late night munchies.

To fill this void, Matt and Adam developed the Wing Zone concept and, with it, a successful business opportunity.

And the duo senses a great opportunity at Albany State University.

“College campuses are one of our target markets, they are our bread and butter,” Friedman said. “Typically, all college markets are under-served. We offer offer chicken wings and tenders, along with hamburgers; we deliver, do takeout and dine-in.”

The wing brand currently has nearly 100 locations open across the U.S., with its primary presence being on or near college campuses. In Albany, Friedman said, he is still scouting locations on or near ASU’s East Campus.

“If we go off-campus we will buy or build as close to the university as possible, but being on campus is what really drives our business.” he said.

He’s basically following the same strategy the pair used 26 years ago at Florida, but they won’t be working out of a frat house this time.

“With a population of of more than 40,000 students, it was an excellent place to test our theory,” Friedman said. “We thought a business delivering authentic Buffalo Wings to the campus crowd would be a welcome change to students.”

Friedman and Scott took over the kitchen of their fraternity house after hours and perfected their sauces and techniques for preparing wings.

Any questions as to whether the concept would work were answered when they sold out their first two nights in business. The pair quickly outgrew the frat house and went on to open two storefront locations in Gainesville.

Today, there are Wing Zone restaurants in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, Texas, Washington, Illinois, Missouri, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Virginia, Wisconsin, Maryland, Colorado, and California.

“We think Albany is an excellent market because there is very little competition near the Albany State campus in wings, tenders and hamburger delivery,” Friedman said.

He added once the company decides on a location, it can have a store up and running within 120 days. Friedman is aiming for an opening in late next spring.