Press Release

Newmark Knight Frank Secures The Simple Greek’s first location in Arlington, VA

The Simple Greek, a fast-casual concept that was born on CNBC’s hit reality TV program The Profit, is coming to the Washington region. The Simple Greek redefines the traditional Greek restaurant with an interactive experience that combines premium ingredients, open kitchens and an atmosphere that nods to Greek culture.

Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) helped the restaurant secure its first location at 1731 Wilson Blvd in Arlington, VA in the Colonial Plaza shopping complex with 2,350 square feet. Five more stores are planned for the region.

Marcus Lemonis, a successful entrepreneur and the star of The Profit, says he knows that the fresh Mediterranean concept will be a hit with health-conscious customers in the Washington, DC region.

“Coming from a Greek family, I am particularly excited to expand The Simple Greek dining experience across the country and give our customers convenient access to delicious and healthy food with reasonable prices,” says Lemonis. “We look forward to meeting customers and to have them sample our wonderful authentic food.”

Washington, DC region franchise owners Tom Grisard and his sons Brett, Ryan and David, who are lifelong Virginia residents, knew as soon as they learned about The Simple Greek that it was the concept for them. David is a 23-year Domino’s veteran who for the past four years has supervised 32 of the 41 Virginia stores for the Team Washington Domino’s franchise. He was recognized by Domino’s in 2011 with the company’s highest honor of United States Manager of the Year throughout more than 5,000 stores. Grisard has extensive experience managing and running multiple successful franchise locations.

“I’ve worked in the food industry in the Washington metro region for more than 10 years, and I know a good food concept opportunity when I see one. This is a company that’s found the right recipe for success,” said David Grisard.

Using made-from-scratch recipes along with only the freshest ingredients, The Simple Greek utilizes a build-your-own assembly line style set-up in an open kitchen to show off the food being prepared. Each bowl, salad or pita is made right in front of patrons as they move through the line. Each customer steps up to the counter and personalizes their own Greek creation utilizing a variety of fresh meats, veggies, sauces and spices.

Newmark Knight Frank’s Jeff Tarae and Jeffrey Fantle helped The Simple Greek find its first location in Arlington. “We are excited to have sourced and secured this first location on behalf of The Simple Greek. It’s important when entering a new market to select a location supporting brand awareness. This location achieves that providing tremendous visibility,” said NKF Managing Director Jeff Tarae.

Lemonis’ relationship with the restaurant began when a Greek restaurant chain in Pittsburgh was featured on The Profit. The program shows Lemonis turn around struggling businesses as he buys an ownership stake in the companies. Lemonis rebranded the chain as The Simple Greek and created an open assembly line model for gyros, salads and plentiful sides.

About The Simple Greek

Inspired by a concept through his CNBC reality television show, The Profit, The Simple Greek was founded by Marcus Lemonis in 2015. Marcus had always wanted to find an opportunity to share his love of Greek food with the world, and it was an instant success! The concept was franchised in 2016, opened 15 locations in 2017 and already has over 20 additional locations opening in 2018.

At The Simple Greek, we serve real Greek food made with fresh and authentic imported premium ingredients that are cooked in front of you using our traditional family recipes. For more information, visit www.thesimplegreek.com.

About Newmark Knight Frank

Newmark Knight Frank, operated by Newmark Group, Inc., is one of the world's leading commercial real estate advisory firms. Newmark has over 4,600 employees in over 120 offices. Together with London-based partner Knight Frank and independently-owned offices, NKF's 15,000 professionals operate from more than 400 offices in established and emerging property markets on six continents. With roots dating back to 1929, NKF's strong foundation makes it one of the most trusted names in commercial real estate. We offer a complete suite of services and products for both owners and occupiers across the entire commercial real estate industry.

Our investor/owner services and products include investment sales, agency leasing, property management, valuation and advisory, diligence, underwriting and, under trademarks and names like Berkeley Point and NKF Capital Markets, government sponsored enterprise lending, loan servicing, debt and structured finance and loan sales. Our occupier services and products include tenant representation, real estate management technology systems, workplace and occupancy strategy, global corporate services consulting, project management, lease administration and facilities management. We enhance these services and products through innovative real estate technology solutions and data analytics designed to enable our clients to increase their efficiency and profits by optimizing their real estate portfolio. We have relationships with many of the world's largest commercial property owners, real estate developers and investors, as well as Fortune 500 and Forbes Global 2000 companies. For further information, visit www.ngkf.com.