Wing Zone owners hope business takes flight
A new Wing Zone is soon to open in Bellmore. Matt Licht and Matt Dolan hope to have the grand opening around October 25. (Oct. 15, 2010) Credit: Uli Seit
Matt Licht and Matt Dolan hope their business will one day wing Long Island.
They own the only two Wing Zone takeout/delivery stores in the state, and they plan to have five of them, all on Long Island, in which case they will be ringing the Island as well.
Wing Zone, headquartered in Atlanta, serves up cooked-to-order chicken wings, fingers, sandwiches and more, and since the first store opened in 1993 the company has grown to 100 franchise stores across the country.
Licht and Dolan opened their first Wing Zone in East Meadow six years ago, and in two weeks they will open a second in Bellmore. With the football season in full swing and the Yankees playing the Texas Rangers in the American League pennant race, wings and things are hot!
On Super Bowl Sunday last year, Licht said, the East Meadow store sold 30,000 wings. "Every [Super Bowl] we've broken our record," Licht said.
Matt Friedman, Wing Zone's founder and chief executive and a native of Syosset, was a childhood friend of Licht's. They attended the University of Florida at Gainesville, where Friedman noticed the fast food available to students lacked one item: wings. He developed a plan for a variety of flavors and opened the first store right across from the college. It was a hit. One soon grew to seven, and they spread throughout the Southeast. Friedman is sometimes surprised. "I had no restaurant experience," he said.
