DailyFranchiseNews.com

Ruby Tuesday Takes Flight

For those needing to fuel up before boarding a transcontinental flight: fast food is no longer your only option.

Nation’s Restaurant News reported that Ruby Tuesday Inc. has franchised five U.S. airport locations to Spanish restaurateur and concessionaire Areas S.A., marking the struggling casual chain’s entry into a new market.

The first two airport locations will open in Orlando and Detroit by early 2009, Ruby Tuesday said Wednesday. The restaurants will be developed and operated by Areas U.S.A. Inc., a subsidiary of the Spanish hospitality conglomerate. Areas S.A. owns and operates restaurants, retail stores and hotels in nine countries, including Spain, Portugal, Argentina, Mexico and Chile. Ruby Tuesday currently operates or franchises 935 namesake locations.

All in the Family

While the thought of working with a family member may churn many a stomach, there is a select group of individuals who not only can work with a relative successfully but would prefer to work with each other than anyone else.

SmartMoney.com reported that Michael Curcio and his brother, Jason, fit that description. When Michael, the founder of Florida-based Pyrogrill, decided it was time to expand his business, he looked to his older brother, Jason, for assistance. The next challenge was figuring out how best to work together without squabbling or butting heads.

When you've got a shared past, "you kind of handle things like brothers — and that's not really conducive to good business behavior," says 30-year-old Curcio, who made his brother, now 37, director of franchising and part owner in 2003. "We had to find a common ground where we can work as professionals." Siblings often grow up teasing one another, competing for attention, and fighting over toys or TV time. They can simultaneously be the best of friends and the worst of enemies. And when they run companies together as adults, those longtime conflicts can easily re-emerge, threatening both the business and an otherwise close personal relationship.

At the Family Business Institute in Raleigh, N.C., an advisory firm for family-owned companies, one of the "biggest complaints when people call us is 'I can't get along with my brother or sister,'" says president Wayne Rivers. Often, that's because an irritating situation at work has continued for too long. While nonrelated business colleagues might actively attempt to work out differences, families typically "don't have the conflict-resolution skills," he says "They sit there, and they won't talk, and they stew."

For the Curcio brothers, there have been speed bumps along the way, but five years of working together and treating each other as professionals is paying off. The two spend most days in separate offices about six miles apart which "is probably why we haven't killed each other yet," says younger brother Michael. The brothers advise other sibling partners to "divide your responsibilities — and then hold yourself accountable and not have your sibling hold you accountable for them," adds Jason.

The business is growing (they're on track to open seven new locations this year) and the brothers still get together every Sunday night to cook a big family dinner for whatever relatives are in town. "We'll always be brothers, whether we're working together or not," says Michael. "That's more important to us."

Sick of Starbucks? Sip a Smoothie!

With green awnings on every corner and white coffee cups clutched by every commuter, that Seattle-based coffee giant is kind of hard to ignore. However, Elizabeth Thompson is out to prove there is more to a pick-me-up than a venti half-calf with a smidge of foam.

The Oakdale Leader reported that Thompson realized there was a lack of healthy food and beverage choices for local residents to enjoy and decided to take matters into her own hands by opening up a business – Juice It Up! – that would fill that void.

"I'd been looking into different franchises over the years and I really liked the quality of the products and the support from the Juice It Up! corporate office," Thompson said of her franchise choice. "I like the company structure and when I walk into a Juice It Up! store I like the way it looks. Everything is fresh." Juice It Up! combines fruit, proprietary fruit juices, non-fat yogurt, sherbet and nutritional and vitamin supplements to create smoothies that are consistently voted "best tasting" in blind taste tests among the top smoothie and juice bar chains.

"So far, everyone seems to like it. The response has been good and our clientele ranges from the early risers who enjoy their wheatgrass shots to the travelers and the after school bunch," she said. "People have said 'We're so glad you're here!' I hear that daily.”

Juice It Up! has something for everyone's palette with the availability of healthy boosts, such as adding a bit more protein or vitamins, and even specialty drinks that fit into The Zone diet with no added sugar. And, Thompson said, there's more to Juice It Up! than just delicious smoothies.

"We have sandwiches, pretzels, snacks and even warm drinks, too," Thompson said. With new items and smoothie combinations coming in March, Thompson is ready to tempt the taste buds of customers with something to put some spring in your step and a smile on your face without adding to your waistline.

In Memoriam

It is with deep sadness that we mourn the loss of Lois Marshall, 60, founder of The Marshall Group out of Carmel, California.  Lois passed away Monday night after going to bed with a migraine.  For those of you who knew Lois, I don’t have to explain what an important role she played in franchising.  One of the top recruiters for more than 30 years, she was responsible for many a happily employed franchise executive.  She also was a dear friend of this blogger and a tremendous believer and contributor to the IFA Educational Foundation and truly a beautiful woman. Lois’ children, Joelle, Justin and Jordan, have asked that in lieu of flowers or cards, a donation in Lois’ name be made to the IFA Educational Foundation where her fellow supplier members of the IFA will work on establishing a scholarship in her name.  After the upcoming IFA convention, more will be known about details of contributions and a scholarship. Memorial services will be held on Saturday, February 2nd from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. at  112 Yankee Point Dr. in Carmel Highlands, CA. For more information, please contact joellesilveira@sbcglobal.net or rhonda@sandersonpr.com.

Mr. Fix-It

It’s hard to dissuade someone from pursuing a goal they’ve already set for themselves. Thankfully, Brian Wigutow figured it out all on his own.

Franchise Update reported that after more than a dozen years in the restaurant industry, Wigutow realized operating his own restaurant was not the right career choice for him or his family. Though most would find themselves at a crossroads when their lifelong goal proved ineffective, Wigutow consulted a franchise broker and found a career match he had never considered before: Handyman Matters.

"I didn't have any handyman experience, but I know how to run a business and have the ability to manage skilled labor," says the 48-year-old Wigutow from his office in Columbia, Maryland. "Operating a franchise like Handyman Matters is just a matter of process. It mainly requires a basic business acumen.” Wigutow opened his franchise in October of 2004. In preparation, he says he spent much of his time during the prior six month period evaluating the Handyman Matters brand, speaking with current franchise owners and former operators, and quizzing the corporate staff. "I really tried to do my due diligence in order to make an informed decision," he says.

Wigutow discovered what many others are finding out, that handyman-related franchising is a healthy and growing industry (the segment is ranking high atop best franchise opportunity lists like those found in Entrepreneur magazine). Franchise players like Handyman Matters, Handyman Connection, and Mr. Handyman, are grabbing more and more of the growing market share in home repairs, remodeling, and building. Indeed, these fix-r-up franchises offer a slew of solutions for millions of time-starved, two-income families, and retiring Baby-Boomers. He's done so well with his first Handyman Matters territory, that just this past November, Wigutow took on a second adjoining territory. He's now serving a swath of the Baltimore-Washington, D.C.-area market.

"It's been a great business for me because my family is an important part of my life. I want to take my kids to school and be able to spend time with them in the evenings. It's important for me to have a balanced lifestyle," he says. A typical week finds him working a solid 40 hours or so and spending most evenings and weekends at home.

They Really Care

Whether it’s just help at the grocery store or around-the-clock attention, sometimes families cannot provide their aging relatives with the assistance they need when they need it most. Thankfully, help is just a phone call away.

The Highline Times reported that Comfort Keepers is ready, willing and able to fill the void created by family members’ hectic work schedules or geographic constraints by providing caregivers to clients in their homes to perform some of the chores and other tasks. Services include light housekeeping, meal preparation, laundry, grocery shopping and medication reminders.

One Comfort Keepers client is Burien, Washington resident, Glenn St. Charles. A retired owner of an archery store and an experienced bow hunter who has written two books on the subject, St. Charles, now 96, has needed a little help since his wife died in 1999. His Comfort Keeper helps him three hours a day, five days a week, with his housework and cooking. Caregiver Nancy Peterson makes sure he has enough food on weekends to last until Monday rolls around again. St. Charles, an avid swap meet attendee, has even had someone from Comfort Keepers come out to drive him to a few events. Staying at home has also allowed St. Charles to keep up with people he has befriended in his years as an archer.

Comfort Keepers' owner Kim Sanchez said that a national survey of people over age 65 revealed that 95 percent of seniors would like to stay in their own home as their need for care grows. Sanchez also estimates that 60 percent of her clients live in Burien-North Highline, Des Moines, Sea-Tac and Tukwila.

Sanchez purchased the local Comfort Keepers in 2002, opening the business with her father, Jim Bianchi. Nearly six years later the company has done nothing but grow by at least 15 percent each year, she added. Most of the growth she attributes to word of mouth. Sanchez wants seniors and their families to know that Comfort Keepers and similar businesses provide an alternative to assisted living facilities and nursing homes. As any company grows service always becomes a question, but Sanchez takes pride in what they are doing.

"Something I will never compromise is our quality," she said.

A Better Burger is Born

For anyone that’s ever been served a dry, lukewarm burger that has been sitting under a heat lamp for hours, this post is for you. Read on, as a better burger awaits.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that much like in fashion, the trickle-down effect has made its way into the burger arena. A few years ago, chefs started serving their patties gourmet-style, topped with ingredients like foie gras and shaved truffles, changing the hamburger landscape across the country – specifically in South Florida, where there are new kinds of burgers, new ways of ordering them and more sophisticated settings in which to eat them.

At The Counter in Royal Palm Beach – the first East Coast branch of a small California chain – guests receive a clipboard and step-by-step instructions for building your own burger. Turkey, beef or veggie? One-third, two-thirds or one pound? Open since the end of October, co-owner Lexi Viens says the biggest draw is the more than 300,000 different combinations. The choices include: 10 kinds of cheese, 27 toppings, 17 sauces and three buns. The beef is antibiotic- and hormone-free Angus. The burger of the month could be anything from a halibut bloody Mary burger to an ahi tuna burger with daikon radish slaw and wasabi aioli. The Counter calls its decor "urban edgy," with metal chairs and stools, black-and-white photographs on the lightest of gray-blue walls. The hippest burger joint of the bunch, the service is as snappy as the burger selection.

At OneBurger in Coral Gables, diners order such creations as The Black Black and Blue: a blackened burger topped with roasted black bean spread and aged blue cheese. Eat it sitting in the sliver of a dining room on Philippe Starck smoke-gray plastic chairs. Founder Danny Guiteras describes himself as a frustrated architect and it shows every step of the way, from the all-black exterior to the stark white interior. "Our whole idea with One Burger is let's take some of the recipes or gourmet sensibilities and translate them to the burger," says Guiteras. So there is a Caprese burger with tomato, mozzarella di bufala and pesto right next to a bacon and cheddar burger made with Italian pancetta and sharp Vermont cheddar. According to the writer, however, the dining room here could be a bit bigger and service could be friendlier.

Figaro's Heads East

Craving “the best pizza you can have at home?” Now your appetite can be met – even overseas!

The Portland Business Journal reported that the first Figaro's Pizza restaurant planned for the Middle East has opened in Abu Dhabi.

Sense Gourmet, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi-based Foodco Holding, signed an exclusive franchising agreement with Figaro's Pizza in early 2007 to open stores in seven Middle Eastern countries. On Jan. 17, the group opened their first location in the Marina Mall in Abu Dhabi -- the first of four Figaro's Pizza restaurants it will open this year.

Plans call for the opening of 35 locations in the United Arab Emirates alone, with two locations in Abu Dhabi, two in Dubai and one in Sharjah to kick off the expansion. Additional locations are planned for Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Egypt.

“We are very excited that our first expansion outside of North America is with such a distinguished, experienced and well capitalized group as Sense Gourmet,” said Ron Berger, Figaro’s Pizza chairman and CEO. “Their dedication to offering consumers only the highest quality products and services attracted us to them and make them the perfect partner for Figaro’s.”

In addition to expanding to the Middle East, Salem, Oregon-based Figaro's Pizza also recently signed a franchising agreement for Mexico, where 50 stores are expected to open. Figaro's currently has more than 100 locations.

Breakfast (or Lunch or Dinner) of Champions

Grab a spoon, stat. The Cereal Bowl (http://thecerealbowl.com) is coming to a city near you.

“It really started as a joke, sort of,” Kenneth Rader, the president and CEO of The Cereal Bowl, told QSR magazine. “I was an undergrad at Syracuse University and hung out at Starbucks a lot. I said to a friend one day, ‘Wouldn’t it be awesome if this were a cereal Starbucks.’ We laughed about it and I e-mailed my brother at the University of Miami. He thought it was a great idea.”

That ‘joke’ quickly grew into a business plan that won awards in college competitions. Over the following years the brothers and their third partner, childhood friend Michael Glassman, planned the concept, acquired financing, and prepared to open their first store, all while finishing graduate school. The Cereal Bowl opened in Miami in February 2006, allowing customers to create their own cereal combinations choosing among 35 cereals and 50 toppings. Hot cereal combinations made with oatmeal range from nutritious to ultra indulgent. The Cereal Bowl also offers yogurt parfaits, granola bars, Rice Krispies Treats, and its version of a smoothie, the Oatie, made with sorbet and oatmeal.

“We’ve tried to appeal to a broad range of people, not just college students craving enormous amounts of sugar before class,” Rader says. “We want to appeal to everyone, but we’ve worked to stick to our identity as a cereal store. So, when we decided to offer smoothies, we didn’t want to just have smoothies, or we’d be competing with Jamba Juice and the like. Adding oatmeal just made sense and, they are extremely healthy. With our parfaits made with yogurt, nutritious cereals, and granola bars, many first-time customers are surprised that we are almost a health-food establishment.”

Other concoctions might be on the horizon, but Rader says his team has learned to pace the introduction of new products to allow consumers time to absorb the ideas and try them. That’s just one lesson learned over the past two years while The Cereal Bowl team has focused on learning the restaurant business, perfecting their first concept and preparing for future growth. 

The Cereal Bowl’s first franchise is scheduled to open within six to eight weeks. Given the competitive cereal environment, Rader doesn’t want to share details other than it will be in a mid-Atlantic state. Other 2008 plans include a prototype company-owned kiosk location at the University of South Florida and two other franchise stores.

For the Love of the Game

Calling all Super Bowl ticket holders: Jay Feingold wants YOU.

The New York Post reported that like many sports fans, Feingold was both shocked and elated when his favorite team, the New York Giants, upset the Green Bay Packers to make it to the Super Bowl for the first time in eight years. Unlike many sports fans, however, he is going to great lengths to obtain a front row – or any row, really – seat to see his team march to victory.

As the owner of PremierGarage of Northern New Jersey, Feingold has quite the bargaining chip to get into the stands: Feingold posted an ad on craigslist offering to renovate someone's garage in exchange for two tickets. New terrazzo flooring and cabinetry usually costs about $7,000, he said. "It's a pretty damn good swap," said Feingold.

Seconds after the Giants kicked the winning field goal on Sunday, fans shelled out upwards of $10,000 per ticket to the February 3rd game. Other fans offered trades such as tickets to this year's All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium, or tickets to the Ryder Cup. As of last night, none had any takers.

Good luck, all!