DailyFranchiseNews.com

An Applebee's in Ridgecrest, California?

Ridgecrest, California city officials recently served up this juicy appetizer: Applebee’s could be coming to town.

The Daily Independent reported that the neighborhood grill and bar chain is one of four restaurants under consideration for a business park adjacent to a new SpringHill Suites hotel.

“The restaurants must be sit-down, full-service businesses to be considered,” said Gary Parsons of the community development department. “Applebee's is among them, but we have no confirmation on any of them at this time.”

Cyrus Commissariat of Golden West Restaurants, the Applebee's franchisee for Kern County, suggests that local residents shouldn’t get excited quite yet. While he believes the restaurant would do well in Ridgecrest, there are no plans in the immediate future.

“Maybe in a year or two we can open a place in the Ridgecrest area. We currently have a restaurant in Bakersfield, and we're definitely looking at expanding to the east,” said Commissariat. “Ridgecrest and Tehachapi have both fallen squarely on our radar as towns that would support an Applebee's restaurant.”

The company is actively looking at the area and working with local real estate agents regarding possible locations. Commissariat said the Indian Wells Valley definitely fits Applebee’s demographics.

Hardee’s Last Hurrah

The order is in: Hardee’s store number one, the burger chain’s first franchised location in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, will be demolished on Monday to make way for a veteran’s memorial and park.

The News & Observer reported that the tiny restaurant, which opened on May 5, 1961, has been vacant for over a decade and has fallen into disrepair, making a museum or other memorial impossible.

"It made no sense economically," said Rocky Mount city manager Steve Raper. "I wish it was in decent condition where we had some other options, but it has to be razed."

Many residents are sad to see Hardee’s go, despite its parent company dealing the region a major economic blow when it moved its headquarters to St. Louis in 2001.

"I remember going there when I was a kid," said Jackie Lynch. "Any time you were referring to anything, it was like a landmark -- 'It's near the Hardee's where you can't sit down.' ... I thought maybe they'd keep it as a memorial. I didn't think they'd ever tear it down." Skip Carney, of the local public relations firm Carney & Co., agreed, saying, "It's been bittersweet. It's a little piece of history we're going to lose, but on the other hand, it's progress."

The new park and memorial to be constructed at the Hardee’s site will cost approximately $400,000, according to Raper. Over half of the money will be raised by Mayo Boddie, chairman of Rocky Mount-based Boddie-Noell Enterprises, which operates 308 Hardee's restaurants in Virginia, Kentucky and the Carolinas. Boddie-Noell was the third Hardee's franchisee in the country. While he is sad to see it go, Boddie chooses functionality over sentimentality.

"Just an old rundown building sitting there doesn't do anything for anybody," Boddie said. "That's just business. You can't live on being sentimental about something."

On The Border? Almost

Tex-Mex cuisine isn’t in short supply in the Lone Star State, but residents in the South Texas area will soon have five more places to grab fajitas and a margarita (or two).

The Dallas Business Journal reported that a franchising deal has been finalized that will bring On The Border to Harlingen, Laredo, San Antonio and Corpus Christi. Local franchisee Moussa Haidar, who also operates several IHOPs in the area, bought an additional location in Corpus Christi as part of the aforementioned deal. The Harlingen and Laredo locations will be the first On The Border restaurants to open so close to the Mexican border, the location for which the concept is named.

On the Border currently has 144 locations in 32 states.

The restaurant’s parent company, Brinker International, also operates Chili's Grill & Bar, Romano's Macaroni Grill and Maggiano's Little Italy.

McDonald’s Selling Boston Market?

Making headlines is the news that McDonald’s may be putting its Boston Market restaurant chain up for sale, continuing to focus on burgers. McDonald’s acquired Boston Market seven years ago for $173.5 million in a bankruptcy auction as part of a move to diversify.

According to this Chicago Tribune article, since McDonald's acquired Boston Market it has slimmed the chain down to about 630 restaurants in 28 states.  McDonald's does not break out revenue and earnings for Boston Market but has suggested in the past the restaurant chain was profitable and doing well for the company.

However, in 2004, it paired a McDonald's and a Boston Market at one site to see if that could help boost evening sales at its namesake while helping increase traffic for Boston Market. Last year, it dramatically changed Boston Market's look by dropping its black and white awnings and reducing seating in the belief that only 30 percent of its customers would dine in the restaurant.

Although the company spokesperson said no decisions have been made, the company’s priority continues to be the McDonald’s brand.

FranchIZZA

The popularity of pizza has doubled during the past 20 years and is now being included in six percent of dinnertime meals, up from three percent, according to industry stats. So it’s no surprise that pizza places such as Figaro’s Italian Pizza, the nation’s largest chain in the “We Bake or You Bake” segment, are expanding to keep up with business.

According to a recent article in the Triangle Business Journal, Brixx Wood Fired Pizza, a concept with nine locations, just announced they’re turning toward franchising to move forward with expansion efforts.

Pizza and Franchising – sounds like a hot industry trend in 2007. Household names will soon include more than Domino’s and Pizza Hut! All this talk is making me hungry – pass the pizza!

EXEC OFFERS HIS TALENTS TO NEW SUB CHAIN

From the Orlando Sentinel, local franchisor Earl of Sandwich, announced that former Quiznos executive Michael Grodi will join as president and chief executive officer.

Grodi, who previously served as senior vice president of operations and development for the Quiznos sandwich chain, will be responsible for expanding the Earl of Sandwich concept nationwide.

Probably a good move for Grodi with Quiznos caught in a horrible controversy over the suicide of a franchisee recently.

MCDONALD’S KEEPS INNOVATING

Those crazy cats at McDonald’s just keep on innovating—a few weeks ago we revealed that they were adding little “gymnasiums” for kids at some of their locations—to counteract, no doubt, the Happy Meal Effect!  Now, The Louisville Courier-Journal says that in the Louisville market, some of the fast-food chain's 90 regional locations are offering free wireless Internet access, music via satellite radio and news headlines on flat-screen televisions.  In addition, plans are in the works for a movie rental kiosk to be placed in some of the locations.  What’s more a new design for these locations may make them resemble the seating layout of a Starbucks.

McDonald's To Open Gyms for Kids

From the “it goes hand-in-hand file” The Times Record reports that McDonald’s is opening play gyms in some of their locations. These will be called R-Gyms after Ronald McDonald and they will cater to mostly kids to counteract the childhood obesity issue.  This blogger finds this HILARIOUS!  Taking your kids for the old Big Mac then having them try to burn it off afterwards in the R-gym seems more to me like a babysitting service!  Have lunch at Mickey D’s then stick around for the exercise session to burn it off afterwards!  Now we’ve seen it all. The good news is there are now lots more healthy choices at McDonald’s so one can in theory teach their kids the importance of ordering a salad or fruit plate for lunch then going into the R-gym for a little “burn it off” time.  Let’s hope it works.

Mama Fu's Franchisees Sue Raving Brands

Not good news for Atlanta based Raving Brands, according to FastCasual.com, an online magazine catering to this restaurant segment, which by the way is the best state-of-the-art online mag right now for the restaurant industry.  Raving Brands and Martin Sprock, the founder, are being sued by many Mama Fu’s franchisees for basically not having a proven concept in place when they began selling franchises. There are currently 18 Mama Fu’s open in six states, and the plaintiffs Sugarloaf Noodle House, Wong Fu’s Noodle House, WE 3 Inc., Triad Restaurant Management, Central Florida Land Investments Inc. and H&J Goldt Corp represent half of those franchisees.

This is exactly why franchisors need to be wary of selling an “idea” instead of a proven prototype restaurant that has been successful for at least a year or more.

More lawsuits for Quiznos

It’s more trouble for Quiznos according to Fast Casual magazine. A major class action suit has been filed on behalf of 28 Wisconsin franchisees who claim that the company has systematically defrauded its franchisees in a scheme designed to build the brand at the expense of its operators in the field. According to Chris Bray, president of The Toasted Subs Association, which is made up of Quiznos franchisees, the suit has been a long time coming. Bray also claims that franchisees have been trying, to no avail, to negotiate with the franchisor. Among complaints: Quiznos forces franchisees to buy food and supplies from Quiznos or its affiliates at inflated prices while setting artificially low retail prices for its products, making the stores unprofitable for the franchisees.

There has been painful gossip about this chain throughout the franchise community for the past year or more so this comes as no shock to those active in the industry. Still Bray’s comment about franchisees who are losing their homes in this struggle is heart wrenching.  We will all be watching to see what the outcome will be.