The Early Adopter Franchisees Who Built the Wing-Stop 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 Wing-Stop franchise openings, we saw that not all 2,560 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 1998–2026.

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 Wing-Stop, this group includes 103 store openings (4.0% of stores shown) during 1998–2003.

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 Wing-Stop, this group includes 264 store openings (10.3% of stores shown) during 2004–2009.

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

At Wing-Stop, this group includes 241 store openings (9.4% of stores shown) during 2010–2014.

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

At Wing-Stop, this group includes 700 store openings (27.3% of stores shown) during 2015–2020.

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

At Wing-Stop, this group includes 1,252 store openings (48.9% of stores shown) during 2021–2026.

Early adopters are an informative segment of Wing-Stop’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.

2,560 stores

#NameContactOpenedAddress
1NGNathan Garn
Nov 3, 20011057 South Wadsworth Boulevard, Lakewood, CO, 80226, USA
2KPKalpesh Patel
Nov 28, 20011434 West King Street, Decatur, IL, 62522, USA
3TMTroy Morrison
Jul 11, 20012430 South Interstate 35e, Denton, TX, 76205, USA
4JRJohn Rigos
Dec 1, 201031-14 Steinway Street, New York, NY, 11103, USA
5CRChris Rigassio
Oct 27, 2020905 White Plains Road, New York, NY, 10473, USA
6VOVerified operator
May 25, 2021Full address available with access
7VOPortfolio operator
May 25, 2021Market location available with access
8VOMulti-unit owner
May 25, 2021Verified contact details available with access
9VORegional franchisee
May 25, 2021Territory information available with access
10VOGrowth-stage operator
May 25, 2021Operator profile available with access
11VOVerified operator
May 25, 2021Full address available with access
12VOPortfolio operator
May 25, 2021Market location available with access
13VOMulti-unit owner
May 25, 2021Verified contact details available with access
14VORegional franchisee
May 25, 2021Territory information available with access
15VOGrowth-stage operator
May 25, 2021Operator profile available with access