The Early Adopter Franchisees Who Built the Buffalo Wild Wings Empire

The Innovation Adoption Curve explains how every major innovation becomes mainstream.

In franchising, early franchisees jump into a concept long before the laggard ones recognize the brand.

When we mapped Buffalo Wild Wings franchise openings, we saw that not all 1,414 stores in this curve are created equal. Early adopters took on the risk of joining a lesser-known concept, while later adopters entered a more established brand. The curve follows these openings across 1994–2026.

Let’s look into each group:

Innovators take extreme risk before systems or demand exist. Think of the first Tesla customers who bought an expensive electric car without EV infrastructure.

At Buffalo Wild Wings, this group includes 36 store openings (2.5% of stores shown) during 1994–2000.

Early adopters act after innovators but before mainstream validation. Think of the early Airbnb hosts who joined before people believed in short-term rentals as a market.

At Buffalo Wild Wings, this group includes 204 store openings (14.4% of stores shown) during 2001–2006.

Early Majority requires visible proof before entering. Think of people who joined Facebook once it had already become popular among their friends.

At Buffalo Wild Wings, this group includes 495 store openings (35.0% of stores shown) during 2007–2013.

Late Majority enters on broad validation and widespread adoption. Think of users who joined Netflix after getting hooked following the free trial.

At Buffalo Wild Wings, this group includes 313 store openings (22.1% of stores shown) during 2014–2019.

Laggards come onboard once adoption is widespread. Think of users who adopt Amazon once it is the default for retail.

At Buffalo Wild Wings, this group includes 366 store openings (25.9% of stores shown) during 2020–2026.

Early adopters are an informative segment of Buffalo Wild Wings’s adoption curve. Use the operator preview to explore this cohort and identify franchisees who entered the system early.

For new franchise brands, this cohort can offer a starting point for finding operators with experience joining emerging systems.

We map this behavior to sharpen franchise development outreach—so every message is targeted, relevant, and worth sending.

Innovation Adoption CurveStore opening counts over time, divided into adoption groups: Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority, Laggards.

1,414 stores

#NameContactOpenedAddress
1WHWray Hutchinson
Nov 12, 2000208 South Mattis Avenue, Champaign, IL, 61821, USA
2JLJack Litman
Dec 9, 200535 Le Count Place, New Rochelle, NY, 10801, USA
3CRChristopher Ramsey
Dec 14, 1996Heath, OH, 43056, USA
4George FellowsGeorge Fellows
Nov 1, 2021471 Northwest 87th Terrace, Plantation, FL, 33324, USA
5BJBrian Jordan
May 13, 2001752 Lake Harbour Dr, Ridgeland, MS, 39157, USA
6Verified operatorVerified operator
Jan 14, 2023Full address available with access
7Portfolio operatorPortfolio operator
Jan 14, 2023Market location available with access
8Multi-unit ownerMulti-unit owner
Jan 14, 2023Verified contact details available with access
9Regional franchiseeRegional franchisee
Jan 14, 2023Territory information available with access
10Growth-stage operatorGrowth-stage operator
Jan 14, 2023Operator profile available with access
11Verified operatorVerified operator
Jan 14, 2023Full address available with access
12Portfolio operatorPortfolio operator
Jan 14, 2023Market location available with access
13Multi-unit ownerMulti-unit owner
Jan 14, 2023Verified contact details available with access
14Regional franchiseeRegional franchisee
Jan 14, 2023Territory information available with access
15Growth-stage operatorGrowth-stage operator
Jan 14, 2023Operator profile available with access