The Wahlberg clan has found the next Massachusetts location where its namesake burger chain will open: Terminal C at Logan Airport.
Hingham-based Wahlburgers just signed two new franchise agreements, including one deal that will bring new Wahlburgers restaurants to Logan and to Toronto's Pearson International Airport.
The chain has only two locations open today: its first restaurant in Hingham, and a second one in Toronto. But Wahlburgers has been on a major expansion push in recent months, driven in part by the exposure it's getting from the A&E reality TV show that shares its name. With the latest deals, nearly 70 restaurants are in various stages of development and are scheduled to open during the next several years.
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While they pursue deals with franchisees to expand in other markets, chef Paul Wahlberg and actors Mark and Donnie Wahlberg are investing their own money in the Wahlburgers restaurants in Greater Boston, essentially their home market. The brothers started with the Hingham Shipyard restaurant in 2011, and will open restaurants in Lynnfield and then Boston's Fenway neighborhood later this year.
That makes the Logan Airport restaurant a bit of a departure from their local strategy: In SSP America, the three brothers found a separate operator with experience in airport locations to own and run the restaurant instead.
The brothers also just signed a 20-store franchise deal with Arjomand Group, a Middle Eastern company. They also expanded a contract with New York's Big Apple Burgers to include six units on New York's Long Island in addition to the six Big Apple restaurants already under development in Manhattan and Coney Island.
Franchise openings that are expected later this year, based on existing lease negotiations, include locations in the Orlando, Philadelphia, New York, and Las Vegas markets.
Jon Chesto can be reached at jon.chesto@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @jonchesto.
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