Food Feature Articles

Food Feature Articles

Franchise Sector Showcase

Informative Food franchise articles to support business buyers, franchisees, and franchisors.

It's all her son's fault! Twenty-eight years ago, says Alice Schleicher (pronounced "Slisher"), her then 16-year-old, Rick, came home and said, "'Mom and Dad, I saw a restaurant and I want to buy it.'" It was a KFC in Sellersburg, Indiana. "We kind of looked at each other and said, 'Okay, well, we'll buy it.'" She envisioned having four someday. So far, she's exceeded that by 50.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 9,629 Reads 1 Shares
Linda Fong loves franchising. Not only does she own three Liberty Fitness locations, but one Fast Signs franchise and a Phlato's Closet store. "I can grow the other businesses by increasing sales," Fong says. "I'm opening more fitness locations because that's how I can grow that business."
  • Linda Ray
  • 4,140 Reads
Charles Loflin has won Wingstop franchise's awards for highest sales in 2004 and 2005. Last year, he had a million-dollar store. In 2006, he'll have two.
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 9,648 Reads 2 Shares
More than 26 years ago, North Carolinians Tommy and Donna Haddock bought their first Bojangles' franchise. Things worked out so well, with him taking care of store operations and her working on insurance, workers comp and other "bureaucratic red tape," that they've never felt the need to try another franchise organization.
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 6,877 Reads 1 Shares
For a man who values family so highly, Jeff Rogers has accomplished a lot in the world of business and franchising. He's been at the top of his class in advertising, winning numerous awards; a turnaround specialist advising troubled companies (more awards); and has taken the helm at more than one struggling franchise company, where he worked his magic to transform a loser into a winner (yes, more awards, including 1997 Turnaround Entrepreneur of the Year from Inc. magazine, IBM, and Deloitte.)
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 6,465 Reads 6 Shares
You wouldn't know it from looking at his photo, or at his remarkable string of successes in taking failing chicken franchises and giving them wings, but Aslam Khan grew up poor. "I was born in poverty," said Khan in a 2001 interview, "and had a deep desire to move away from it. I wanted to do better."
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 10,395 Reads
When Linda Burzynski was offered the CEO slot at Liberty Fitness, the franchising veteran says she hesitated, in part because she didn't feel she was in the best shape, physically, to head up a health and fitness organization.
  • Debbie Selinsky
  • 5,386 Reads 23 Shares
Pizza. A blank canvas filled with dreams. Starting with the crust and rising upward through the sauce, cheese and toppings, pizza can be tailored to satisfy the palate - and pocketbook - of anyone. And pizza franchises have become the dream of many an entrepreneur.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 3,182 Reads 8 Shares
I must be becoming a curmudgeon. In recent Viewpoint columns, I have taken potshots at the FTC and my fellow franchise lawyers. So far, the state franchise regulators have for some reason been below my radar screen. Why? Over the course of my...
  • Franchise Update
  • 4,938 Reads 7 Shares
I must be becoming a curmudgeon. In recent Viewpoint columns, I have taken potshots at the FTC and my fellow franchise lawyers. So far, the state franchise regulators have for some reason been below my radar screen. Why?
  • Rupert M. Barkoff
  • 3,623 Reads 9 Shares
Building a franchising empire in the restaurant industry takes a good deal of planning, commitment, and expertise. Fortunately for the industry there still are leaders out there who can bring all those qualities to the table.
  • Joan Szabo
  • 4,241 Reads 39 Shares
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For Don Cape, franchising came as an afterthought-and a good one. Cape, 34, who grew up in a family that developed land in Montana, focused his education and early career almost exclusively in real estate, finance, and development.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 4,670 Reads 15 Shares
Nevermind rising room rates and increased hotel occupancy, customer satisfaction in the hotel industry is up, a new study says. The annual J.D. Power and Associates North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study measured overall hotel guest satisfaction based on six measures: check-in/check-out, guest room, food and beverage, hotel services, hotel facilities, and costs and fees. Hotel chains were ranked in six segments: luxury, upscale, mid-scale full service, mid-scale limited service, economy/budget and extended stay.
  • 3,616 Reads 129 Shares
Time for my annual "just got back from the IFA Convention" column. I saw lots of my lawyer friends while there-also met a lot of suppliers, franchise consultants, academicians, journalists, and franchisees. Occasionally, I even came a cross a franchisor. Didn't see too many psychologists, however. Why not?
  • Lawrence Bivins
  • 4,057 Reads 9 Shares
In 1996, a young London inventor asked British franchise veteran Victor Clewes whether he should franchise or sell the innovative machine he'd created for filtering used cooking oil. Clewes had never set foot in a commercial kitchen, but it didn't take him long to see that Jason Sayers was sitting on a franchising goldmine.
  • Deb Selinsky
  • 5,182 Reads 15 Shares
A family-oriented bar? Imagine children playing and laughing as football games are broadcast on big-screen TVs, while parents and patrons have a cold one. It's not as strange a concept as you might think.
  • 3,045 Reads
Can an elephant change its spots? Sometimes it feels easier to start a new brand than to change an old one-even if the old one seems ready for the bone yard. But how do franchisors who want to keep a valuable (but tired) nameplate breathe new life into it, attracting new customers while retaining the faithful--and convince its franchisees not only to have faith after years of malaise, but that change is what they need? Franchise UPDATE spoke with three franchisors who knew they had a good thing going-and figured out a way to make it fly once again.
  • Eddy Goldburg
  • 3,713 Reads 19 Shares
Franchisors are always looking for that magical ingredient to propel their business toward greater profitability. In 2005, many are finding magic in the Internet, as email, laptops, PDAs, SmartPhones, and other mobile communications devices become a regular part of both business and personal life.
  • 7,861 Reads 1 Shares
Whether it's high-fat super-premium gourmet ice cream with mix-in candy, fudge, or fruit, or just plain vanilla low-fat frozen yogurt, for most Americans it's not if or when, but how often they'll indulge in a sweet, tasty, frozen dessert or treat. In the U.S. today, ice cream is a $20 billion-plus industry, with 90 percent market penetration. The industry is mature, meaning any gains from one competitor (Haagen-Dazs vs. Carvel) or segment (super premium vs. light) will be scooped from another.
  • 17,880 Reads 1 Shares
John F. Kennedy made a famous speech at the Berlin Wall, when he said, "Ich bin ein Berliner." Literally, this translates to "I am a jelly donut" because a "Berliner" is a type of jelly donut. To be correct, he should have said "Ich bin Berliner." So now a famous phrase echoes around the world, with millions of people declaring that they want to be a jelly donut. But several million of those would probably rephrase it, "Ich bin ein Krispy Kreme"-fanatical followings are not unusual for that brand.
  • 4,037 Reads 43 Shares
Domino's Pizza and Checker's Drive-In Restaurants are off to the races following the waving of the green flag. Both fast-food companies are capitalizing on NASCAR and other professional racing tie-ins that build awareness and increase sales.
  • 3,139 Reads 1 Shares
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Guess who the biggest rival to Starbucks is? Would you think Dunkin Donuts? You should, says Jett Mehta, a Dunkin Donuts multi-unit franchisee in New York. "Starbucks may own their experience, but Dunkin is nipping at their heels," he says. "Starbucks can't touch Dunkin in new England." In fact, Mehta says, it's not about the donuts: "Dunkin Donuts is a beverage business-it's all about coffee. In western New York, 50% of our sales are beverage-based, or premium things like bulk beans. Donuts are only about 25%."
  • 5,842 Reads 490 Shares
Jim Hagan was a successful salesman selling battery backups for communications systems when he got the idea to get into the restaurant business. It changed his life-though not quite in the way he expected.
  • Ripley Hotch
  • 4,357 Reads 132 Shares
After 10 years in Atlanta, Phil Greifeld hasn't lost much of his New York accent. But after a stint as chief executive officer of the Huddle House chain, he has developed an appreciation for shirt-sleeve weather in winter, and for some of life's simpler pleasures -and smaller places.
  • Tom Steadman
  • 6,560 Reads
Brad Bruckman owned 15 Krispy Kreme franchises in the Northern California/Sacramento area when he felt a desire to reexamine his career direction. "I didn't necessarily foresee any of the problems that were soon to begin affecting that franchise, but I did begin to wonder about other opportunities, and, ultimately, I feel like I got out at just the right time," says the 42-year-old entrepreneur.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 3,631 Reads 3 Shares
Area Developer asked Darrell Johnson, president and CEO of FRANdata, what a multi-unit developer should look for when evaluating franchise opportunities. In a wide-ranging interview, Johnson sorts out the massive amount of available information into four basic categories and provides a tutorial-and dozens of relevant questions-on how to think things through when searching for the best brand to suit your business (and personal) needs.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 4,385 Reads 1 Shares
Being a big fish always helps, especially in a big pond. But big fish still have problems-or opportunities as the more optimistic prefer to call them. And it certainly helps to have a positive outlook when you become an area developer. Topping the list of problems/opportunities are the usual items: location, hiring and retention, financing, etc.-but magnified by the number of units, as well as the number of concepts operating under one umbrella. Area Developer magazine asked four successful "Big Fish" to weigh in on what's tipping their scales as 2005 approaches.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 3,229 Reads 7 Shares
At this year's very successful International Franchise Association annual convention, we were bombarded with a plethora of laudatory statements about franchising. We were told that franchising accounts for more than 40% of retail sales in the U.S. economy, generating over a trillion dollars in sales per year, and that franchising companies provide the source of employment for more than eight million American workers. We heard success stories from both franchisors and franchisees.
  • Rupert M. Barkoff
  • 2,295 Reads 3 Shares
Home of Merengue and a rich baseball tradition, the Dominican Republic covers 48,730 square kilometers, has a population of approximately 8.8 million people living on the island, and has more than one million nationals living in the United States.
  • Larry B. Pascal and Patricia Mastropierro
  • 6,921 Reads 5 Shares
Irvine, CA-based El Pollo Loco has a penchant for serving hand-marinated, flame-grilled chicken and the freshest Mexican foods, and last year the company experienced record sales of $396 million. But executives there say that although their product is important, they owe much of their success to their loyal and dedicated employees. In fact, multi-unit operator Roland Spongberg recently went six years without losing a single manager at his 21 southern California El Pollo Loco locations. So what's going on at this company that's creating this environment of motivated, hard-working employees who stay the course?
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 4,315 Reads 210 Shares
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