RICHMOND, Va. — Derek Cha is back in full-on expansion mode.
The founder and former head of locally based frozen yogurt giant Sweet Frog is ramping up the growth plan for his new venture, a fast casual restaurant chain called Zzaam Fresh Korean Grill.
Derek Cha is looking to Southside for his next Zzaam locations. (PHOTO: Michael Thompson)
With locations already open in Carytown and Charlottesville, Zzaam has leased space for three new outposts in Midlothian and one in Colonial Heights, Cha said this week.
Two of those – at 40 Southgate Square near Southpark Mall and 4600 Commonwealth Center Parkway in Midlothian’s Commonwealth Center Shopping Center – will be Zzaam corporate-owned stores and will open later this year.
Zzaam’s Carytown space opened last year.
The other two Midlothian spots are franchised locations in the works for a site on Iron Bridge Road, near a WaWa and Kroger in Chester, and another near Winterfield Road and Midlothian Turnpike, Cha said.
“We’re getting tons of great feedback,” Cha said of Zzaam, which he launched with his wife Annah Cha in 2014. “Our kimchi has been hugely popular. I didn’t think so many people knew about kimchi.”
