Arby’s Follows Chick-fil-A To Manhattan

Arby’s is opening a store in Manhattan, not too far away from Chick-fil-A’s first full-service outpost in the city. Arby’s last had a presence in New York in 2008, when it closed a store in the Manhattan Mall food court. The new store will debut this month in Midtown.

The 3,400-unit chain is on a sales upswing. It’s been working to become more of a deli, offering a wider variety of proteins in a wider variety of sandwiches, and this year, it started renovating its stores. About 160 stores will be refurbished by the end of the year.

Arby’s, based in Atlanta, is majority-owned by the Roark Capital Group together with Wendy’s, which retained an 18.5% stake when it sold Arby’s to the private equity firm. Roark also owns brands including Hardee’s, Cinnabon and Carvel.