The World Wants a Slice of America—And These 4 Global Brands Are Digging In

While America’s CEOs grapple with the chaos resulting from a revised trade agenda, deregulation and federal cuts, foreign firms of all sizes continue to invest in the U.S., lured by the appetizing opportunities and receptiveness of American consumers.

Here, we look at four very different overseas companies, each with big plans for stateside expansion over the next few years—and each operating in sectors dominated by U.S. players. Will their careful planning, innovation, and adaptability pay off?

Following the Dough

One thing America is definitely not short of is pizza joints. The country has some 74,000 establishments, from mom-and-pop operations to franchise juggernauts, collectively serving $50 billion worth of dough, cheese, and toppings every year. What is not ubiquitous, though, are pizza restaurants with a British flavor.

This may change, however, as London-based PizzaExpress is finally ready to make its stateside debut, hoping to win over American diners with its blend of freshly made thin and crispy Roman pizzas, upscale decor, and live music.

Photo: Courtesy of PizzaExpress

“We deliver a pizza experience unlike anything in the American market,” claims the company’s chief commercial officer, Chris Holmes, which is why he is confident that the 60-year-old brand will thrive coast-to-coast. PizzaExpress’s U.S. beachhead will be in Florida, with two restaurants planned for Tampa and Orlando.

“Florida is the perfect location for our American launch,” says Holmes. “It is a dynamic market with a strong dining culture, a growing population, and a strong tourism industry.” The Sunshine State also happens to be home to PizzaExpress’ U.S. partner, Purple Square Management Company, whose franchises include Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen and Dunkin’.

“After Florida, we’ll start looking at other places,” says Holmes. “We can’t talk specifics about restaurant numbers or locations yet, but we are looking to have 1,000 global restaurants by 2030, and the U.S. is a big part of that plan.”

Photo: Courtesy of PizzaExpress

Currently, PizzaExpress has about 350 outlets in the U.K. and approximately 100 more in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Following the company’s sale by Chinese equity firm Hony Capital to its bondholders in 2020, a tranche of new funding was unlocked for expansion.

Since its first outlet opened in London’s Soho in 1965, PizzaExpress has filled a special place in Britain’s restaurant culture. Inspired by Italian pizzerias of that era as well as the jazz scene, it has always been considered much cooler than other chains. Waiting staff still wear black-and-white uniforms, tables are marble-topped, and pizzaiolos toss the dough in open kitchens.

Six restaurants double as live music venues—including three in London, where Ed Sheeran, Amy Winehouse, and Norah Jones have performed, and the company has its own music label. Menu-wise, the restaurants offer “authentic” pizzas (including a New York-style pepperoni), low-cal leggera versions—which have a salad-filled hole in the middle—and a kids’ selection.

Dough balls with dipping sauces have become an iconic side. Over the years, PizzaExpress has been keen to broaden its appeal, whether adding items such as chicken wings to its starters or introducing espresso martini nightcaps.

Photo: Courtesy of PizzaExpress

“You could say we are ‘Britalian,’ but as a global brand we have always adapted to local tastes and traditions,” says Holmes. “In Hong Kong, our bestselling pizza is Peking Duck, topped with spiced duck, chili flakes, spring onion, cucumber, mozzarella, and hoisin sauce. In India, the Chicken Tikka pizza features tandoori chicken, mozzarella, pomodoro sauce, and green chili.”

Designs also reflect their locations, according to Holmes. The Florida restaurants “will incorporate ‘full-service’ live music and ‘live-lite’ venues, spanning a collective 2,500 to 3,800 square feet.”

Creating a buzz around the brand could really pay off. PizzaExpress offers home delivery in 10 countries and is also a player in the retail arena. In the U.K., it is the leading frozen pizza brand, found in 4,000 supermarkets, alongside its dressings and “make your own” dough.

Frozen pizza is growing in popularity in the U.S., as a greater number of grocery shoppers want “restaurant-quality” meals. While this may be a tantalizing prospect for PizzaExpress down the line, Holmes insists the priority is to get Americans used to its whole “night out” experience. “We are focusing on opening our pizzerias first,” he says, “but watch this space.”

French Toast

Croissant-flavored Kir royals? As Chandler Bing might have asked: Could you be any more French? Possibly not, but this is the most requested drink at Experimental Cocktail Club, a trendy subterranean den in Manhattan’s Flatiron District, infused with all the art nouveau glamour of New York’s fanciest old speakeasies.

The drinking haunt is located beneath one of the city’s two outposts of La Compagnie, a fashionable wine bar known for cozy banquettes, modish bistro fare, and particularly clued-up sommeliers. Both ECC and La Compagnie are owned by Experimental, a Paris-based company that has built upon on its success on the international bar scene by assembling a group of stylish boutique hotels in some of Europe’s most popular destinations.

Croissant Kir royal at Experimental Cocktail Club, New York City / Photo: Courtesy of Evan Sung

Experimental now offers city escapes in Paris, London, and Venice, and hideaways in the Alps, Biarritz, the Balearics, and the English countryside. Its latest Parisian property, Hotel Experimental Marais, which opened in March, is its most ambitious yet—a luxe establishment with 43 rooms and suites, a cocktail bar, and a spa. Its 100-seat restaurant, set beneath a stained-glass ceiling, is an homage to the New York chophouses of the 1950s, but inevitably with a French twist.

The Big Apple, and the U.S. at large, is at the top of Experimental’s agenda, according to Romée de Goriainoff, one of the company’s three founders. “We’re planning to open hotels, cocktail bars, wine bars, and restaurants all over the country,” he says. “We’re not only looking at the obvious locations, like New York, Los Angeles, and Miami. We see opportunities in places such as Raleigh, North Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, Boston, Denver, and Dallas.” The company, de Goriainoff says, could launch up to five hotels a year, simultaneously opening restaurants, cocktail bars, and outlets of La Compagnie—possibly in the same cities as its lodgings.

Photo: Courtesy of Experimental / Evan Sung

Experimental is not part of a huge multi-brand corporation. It was created in 2007 by de Goriainoff and childhood friends Olivier Bon and Pierre-Charles Cros, with Xavier Padovani becoming the fourth partner in 2010. More recently, one of France’s top wine labels, Jean-Pierre Moueix, and feted shoe designer Christian Louboutin acquired stakes in the company to help further transatlantic growth.

ECC opened in Paris in 2007, says de Goriainoff, as a riposte to New York’s burgeoning craft cocktail scene. “We loved what we had seen and wanted to recreate that buzz at home,” he explains. “We then realized that what we eventually created—a blend of the classic and the really unusual—would work in a variety of places.” In 2016, two years after it opened its first La Compagnie in SoHo, Experimental took the ECC concept to New York.

Photo: Courtesy of Experimental / Evan Sung

De Goriainoff believes that Experimental’s two biggest assets in regard to cracking the U.S. are its Frenchness and its employees. “Firstly, French brands have cachet in America as consumers associate France with quality produce,” he says. “Secondly, our bar staff, sommeliers, chefs and waiting staff are passionate about what they do and know their stuff.” He also believes that being independent gives the company a real edge “in a business that is all about human connections.”

Although de Goriainoff expects that Experimental will launch other food and drink concepts, for now, the company’s focus is getting its first U.S. hotel off the ground. “The endgame for us was always hotels,” he says. “Developing, opening, managing them, and scaling quickly.”

He insists that, unlike many hospitality businesses, Experimental’s founders have no exit plan. “Many entrepreneurs get rich from tech or whatever and then think it would be fun to open a beach bar or hotel,” he says. “We’ve cut out all the other stuff and have stuck to what we love doing.”

Market Share

Egg prices may still be in the headlines, but the real drama is found in online chat rooms, as debates continue to rage over how 7-Eleven’s recently upgraded egg-salad sandwiches compare with the iconic tamago sando sold in 7-Eleven outlets in Japan.

Although the first 7-Eleven opened in Dallas in 1927, the convenience store has become so popular in Japan that there are now more than 21,500 outlets there, compared to more than 13,000 in the U.S. and Canada. And in 2005 Tokyo’s Seven & I Holdings fully acquired the 7-Eleven brand globally.

Photo: Courtesy of 7-Eleven

Moreover, while the Japanese konbini have continued to up their game over the past 50 years—offering their adoring customers a dizzying array of freshly prepared meals and drinks—their U.S. counterparts have not been quite as innovative, relying instead on their customers’ need for gas, cigarettes, and Slurpees. With e-vehicles on the rise and smoking on the decline, though, the U.S. operation has embarked on a new business plan, leaning heavily toward the Japanese model.

As part of a major revamp, 7-Eleven aims to build 500 new-look stores across the U.S. and Canada between this year and 2027, all offering freshly prepared, made-to-order foods, plus a selection of other goods from toiletries to office equipment. The company also bought two rival convenience store brands, Stripes and Speedway, which are now being modernized and brought into the fold.

Photo: Courtesy of 7-Eleven

“We’re redefining the customer experience by growing and enhancing our store network and focusing on fresh, craveable, on-the-go, convenient food,” explains Marissa Jarratt, 7-Eleven’s executive vice president and chief marketing and sustainability officer. “To that end, we’re expanding many of our proprietary products and private brands.”

Many menu additions are determined by what proves popular in the company’s Evolution stores, a handful of food-oriented outlets in key cities, where new offerings are trialed. Recent successes include mangonada doughnuts with Tajín, barbecue pork sliders, and the Everything Bagel Breakfast Sandwich.

Photo: Courtesy of 7-Eleven

But this is far more than a marketing overhaul—it is a deep, systematic reset for 7-Eleven’s entire U.S. operation. More than 1,100 in-store restaurants—such as Laredo Taco Company, Raise the Roost, and Speedy Café—have already been installed.

Fresh food items to go are increasingly being customized to better meet customers’ preferences in different states. And it has started working closely with Warabeya, a major supplier to Japan’s 7-Eleven outlets, known for its high-quality bento boxes, onigiri rice balls and bread products.

Warabeya, which has three production plants in America—and next year will open another in Ohio—produces the Old Bay chicken sandwich in Virginia and the Tacorito, “a unique taco-burrito hybrid,” in Texas, as well as onigiri products and Japanese-style sandwiches for the U.S. outlets.

Photo: Courtesy of 7-Eleven

7-Eleven recently updated its tuna, chicken, and egg salad sandwiches, introducing the fluffy, sweet white bread—in which water is replaced with milk—that is insanely popular in Japan. The French toast sandwich (for which there is a chipotle bacon mayo option) is also made with sweet bread.

“We are excited to continue expanding Warabeya’s presence across the U.S.,” says Jarratt. “We draw inspiration from around the world for our food products, working closely with international operations to identify categories and ways to modernize offerings, such as our bake-in-store programs and grab-and-go cases.”

Last year Seven & I started using generative AI to create descriptions and images of potential new shelf-fillers by analyzing data from sales figures to feedback on social media. The company claims AI can slash R&D time by up to 90 percent and generate proposals for new products and services.

One hugely successful innovation imported from Japan is 7Now delivery, which promises customers delivery 24/7 within 28 minutes of some 3,000 products throughout the U.S. and Canada. According to Seven & I’s latest earnings forecast, 7Now could deliver a billion dollars to the company in fiscal 2025—which is a lot of egg sandwiches.

Sweet Spot

If fashion retail is currently in a slump, nobody told Mango. This summer, the brand, based in Barcelona, Spain, will cut the ribbon on its fourth store in Manhattan, occupying prime Broadway real estate adjacent to Lincoln Square.

This opening is part of Mango’s ambitious American expansion plan, which began in 2022. This year, the company aims to open more than 20 stores in the U.S., predominantly throughout the Sunbelt and Northeast, but with notable debuts in Seattle, Chicago, Ohio, and Oregon, as well.

Mango store on Fifth Avenue, New York City / Photo: Courtesy of Mango

In total, Mango has earmarked more than $100 million for investment in the U.S. between 2024 and 2026. As well as its retail operation, it has invested in logistics—it recently opened its second U.S. distribution center, close to Los Angeles—and digital growth. By the end of 2025, it aims to have some 65 company-owned stores stateside and more than 1,200 U.S. employees.

According to Daniel López, Mango’s chief expansion and franchise officer, “The latest New York megastore reaffirms our deep commitment to the U.S. market, a fundamental pillar in our global strategy, as well as the positive reception by our customers, a key market that is experiencing double-digit growth.” The U.S., he notes, is one of Mango’s five main markets in terms of revenue, and it is expected to make the top three by the end of 2026.

Several brands, including Ireland’s Primark, Canada’s Aritzia, Japan’s Uniqlo, Sweden’s H&M Group and Spain’s mighty Inditex—owner of Zara, Bershka and Massimo Dutti—are all making a push into America’s previously overlooked heartland, as fashion trends, propelled by social media influencers, go global much faster.

Many of these overseas companies are filling the void left by declining department stores and depleted malls. But while Mango’s airy emporia will incorporate the brand’s “new Mediterranean-inspired store concept” familiar throughout Europe, and will feature a similar array of “warm tones and neutral colors,” the company is positioning itself as a more upscale brand in the U.S., with premium pricing, a much bigger selection of clothing produced in Europe rather than China, and a focus on its “timeless” pieces rather than stack-’em-high basics.

The locations Mango has earmarked are noticeably higher-end, as well—enclaves such as Bellevue Square in Washington and Michigan Avenue in Chicago—in a bid to target more affluent consumers and stand apart from fast-fashion competitors. Another differentiator is Mango’s emphasis on natural materials and use of buzzwords like “handcrafted.”

Positioning Mango as a “masstige” lifestyle brand in a crowded sector makes a lot of sense for a company with a long-term vision. In April, it opened its first stand-alone Mango Home store, on Barcelona’s fanciest street, Avenida Diagonal, which sells a more aspirational collection of the homeware that the company currently sells online or in some larger stores.

Company insiders expect stand-alone Mango Home stores will open in key European cities over the next two years, with America following. This looks like perfect timing, with analysts forecasting that the U.S. home decor market is set to grow 4.11 percent annually between now and 2030. Offering American consumers splashes of Mediterranean-inspired interior design in such sunny market conditions could make the Spanish company’s expansion a breeze.