Chicago, Sept 20: The buzz surrounding problems in the celebrity romance of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck has been good for business, according to the chief executive of Baja Fresh Mexican Grill.

When Affleck was recently caught by the press buying lunch at a Los Angeles Baja Fresh restaurant, sales spiked 7 percent in the day, Gregory Dollarhyde, the chain's chief executive, told investors on Thursday.
Unlike other fast-food chains, Baja Fresh, a unit of the Wendy's hamburger chain, is banking in part on the association with celebrities to help build its reputation.
Rather than invest in advertising, management has instead put money toward public relations and charity events to build cachet with a more upscale crowd than typically found at fast-food joints.
"We are there for people who aspire to be upwardly mobile," Dollarhyde said on Thursday. "We fit the bill for people that can eat anywhere they want."
Baja Fresh aims to meet consumers' demand for fresher, healthier foods with choices like fish tacos made with fresh mahi-mahi and enchilada salads with charbroiled chicken. Many menu items are priced at $6.00 or less.
It claims to have something for everyone, and recently launched a light menu that Dollarhyde said will meet the needs of those on low-fat diets or low-carbohydrate plans like Atkins.
Wendy's International Inc. bought the fledgling Baja Fresh chain in June 2002 to tap into demand for fresh Mexican food, one of the few growth areas in the crowded U.S. fast-food market. Larger rival McDonald's Corp., made a similar move, purchasing Denver-based Chipotle.
Wendy's is planning to grow Baja Fresh, primarily a West Coast phenomenon, to 600 to 700 stores coast-to-coast by the end of 2007 from a current 255. Whether or not East Coast yuppies will see the celebrity appeal that their L.A. counterparts do remains to be seen.

Bureau Report