Shipley Do-Nuts signed a deal with Vik Agrawal to open 30 units in New Mexico and Florida.
When Vik Agrawal’s father came to the United States from India, his dream was to own a business, and he achieved it with a single Subway location.
Today, the younger Agrawal is CEO and president of the Nitu Group, which has grown to nearly 100 locations across multiple states with several brands. This year Agrawal signed a 30-unit agreement with Shipley Do-Nuts, which will take Nitu Group beyond 100 units and into new markets.
It’s the latest expansion for a group that dramatically increased its unit count over nearly two decades. When Agrawal took over the business in 2007, the portfolio had seven Subway stores. He’s since shifted away from the sandwich brand and found new partners, including Shipley, Church’s Chicken, Supercuts and Cost Cutters.
Nitu Group has 94 locations spread across Texas, Florida and Colorado. What continues to drive Agrawal is the franchise model itself, which he said brings a wealth of growth potential.
Vik Agrawal is the CEO of Nitu Group, which has a portfolio of Shipley Do-Nuts, Church’s Chicken, Supercuts and Cost Cutters locations.
“I found from the start that I really enjoyed the franchise relationship, from its challenges to its benefits, and really dove into it,” Agrawal said. “I enjoy the innovation it allows for my business. Looking to find ways to do things better, grow and find new opportunities.”
Agrawal’s portfolio expanded largely via acquisitions. Regis Corp., for example, was looking to refranchise many of its Supercuts and Cost Cutters salons. The timing was right and Agrawal bought several units in each.
Church’s Chicken then came into the fold in 2021 when Agrawal bought out another Subway franchisee who also owned Church’s stores. Agrawal sold his Subway portfolio in 2023.
“It came together when we started feeling it wasn’t the right opportunity for us anymore,” Agrawal said of Subway. “The brand is such a behemoth that there’s not much growth happening right now and we had to put a lot of time into the business, which we felt may be better served somewhere else. The brand at that time was also “allowing” private equity firms “to come in and buy stores, making it easier to exit.”
Agrawal found his next opportunity in Houston-based donut brand Shipley. Founded in 1936, Shipley has more than 376 locations across 13 states and 204 franchisees in its system. Having lived in Houston, it was a concept he was familiar with, and in doing research, Agrawal was impressed by the numbers.
“We wanted to get into a brand that was in a state of growth,” he said. “We had been hearing a lot about the brand for quite some time, and saw it wasn’t just growing in sales and locations, but also in ‘buzz,’ where the market awareness is consistently increasing. We found it to be exciting and attractive.”
Keith Sizemore is the senior vice president of franchise development at Shipley.
Nitu Group’s first Shipley opened in Laredo, Texas, south of San Antonio, and it was just the beginning for Agrawal. With the new deal, Agrawal will open 10 locations in several New Mexico cities, as well as 20 in the Miami area.
“Our plan to develop 30 came from multiple conversations with brand leaders and real estate agents we’re familiar with in those markets,” Agrawal said. “The brand was great to work with, and they’ve been very receptive to our ideas.”
Keith Sizemore, Shipley senior vice president of franchise development, said as a proven operator, Agrawal is a strong addition to the system.
“He had extensive multi-brand, multi-unit experience and is already a successful Shipley franchisee,” Sizemore said. “Partnering with franchisees like Vik allows us to grow with those who understand the fundamentals of operating a successful franchise but also bring a proven track record of managing multiple units. That strategic mindset and ability to scale quickly makes them an ideal partner to accelerate expansion, maintain brand integrity and deliver a solid guest experience.”
To manage the dozens of units in his portfolio, Agrawal said leveraging technology has been important, but what has really led to success is having good people on his team.
“The data is great and I’m a numbers guy so that’s important,” Agrawal said. “But it comes down to having the right people in place. We like to have multiple levels of management to make sure we have the right coverage. That and consistently good operations, I think if you have that, you can overcome a lot of things.”