DailyFranchiseNews.com

Good Product, Great People

Are you living the American dream? Glenn Miller certainly is.

The Midlothian Exchange reported that the Great Britain native left a 20-year career in banking to follow his dream of owning a business – a goal he’s achieved 21 times over: He and his brother, Ian, own 18 Arby’s restaurants in Illinois and three McAlister’s Deli locations in Virginia, the newest of which opened last month in Midlothian.

“People don’t understand how good this country is. This is the country with the most choice in the world. I couldn’t have done in the Old World what I can do in this new one, absolutely impossible. There’s no space. There’s no access to capital. There’s no social fabric there that encourages you to succeed. Here, people celebrate success,” he said. As for their decision to expand with McAlister’s, Miller said he and his brother were immediately drawn in by the product. “It’s fresh, non-fried. It seemed to be a product for our daughters, for a different generation. It’s a good product and we’ve got great people,” Miller said.

And Miller isn’t the only one growing the McAlister’s empire: the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review both reported the Ridgeland, Miss.-based chain is looking to expand into the Pittsburgh area with six to 10 franchised restaurants in the next three years!

Photo: McAlister's Deli franchisee Glenn Miller.

Well Suited for Franchising

There are a growing number of business-to-business franchises that are well "suited" for former executives who want to put their experience to work, but on their own terms. According to Joel Libava, a Cleveland-based advisor with FranNet, a franchise consultant, business-to-business franchises are expected to be one of franchising's hottest segments in 2007. These franchises, such as PostNet, AlphaGraphics, Valpak, Express Personnel and Signs By Tomorrow, allow small businesses to outsource their needs for everything from signage to IT services. Since small businesses play such a big role in our economy, business services franchises continue to grow. Anything a small business owner might need to run his operation, this sector offers. And, many corporate America exiles are gravitating toward this sector.

In an article in today’s Columbus Dispatch “Packing it in: PostNet franchise owner finds second career rewarding,” the tale of John Cumming’s journey from a corporate director to a B-to-B franchise owner is chronicled. Cummings spent 21 years working for Bristol-Myers Squibb until he and 500 co-workers were bought out three years ago. Rather than look for another corporate job in New York City, Cummings decided to return home to Ohio and used the funds from his severance package to open a PostNet in Polaris. PostNet is a diversified business center concept with 1,000 locations worldwide. In the article, Cummings attributes his success with PostNet, his store has become one of the company’s top franchise locations in central Ohio in terms of sales, to his experience in corporate America.

His success also caught the eye of PostNet’s CEO and founder Steve Greenbaum who realized the potential for more PostNet locations throughout Ohio. Corporate has pledged to open at least eight more central Ohio PostNet locations within three years.

Refilling Reaps Financial Rewards and Spawns Industry Competition

Currently, Americans are recycling over 40,000 tons of inkjet cartridges each year. As more businesses and individuals continue to see the savings and ecological benefits of using recycled ink cartridges, the demand for more locations grows. The article, “Many in state heeding inkling to enter multibillion industry,” in today’s Jackson Clarion Ledger speaks to the increasing number of companies that are getting their hands into the multibillion-dollar business of refilling and remanufacturing inkjet cartridges and toner casings in Mississippi and throughout the nation.

Steve Hockett, president of 75-unit Minneapolis-based Rapid Refill Ink, is not surprised by the number of companies joining the arena. Hockett agreed with other industry experts that convenience is the major reason businesses such as his continue to flourish. "The concept is pretty simple. People are attracted to it because there's a significant cost savings from having to buy (original). They're attracted to it because it's recycling," Hockett said. "I think the cost savings will be a factor of going forward.

After opening its first store in Eugene, Ore. in November 2002, Rapid Refill Ink began franchising in January 2004 and expects to add 150 locations in 2007 and 250 in 2008.

Growth in Phoenix Area IS Child’s Play for Little Gym Franchise

Opening a franchise allows many people to combine their best skills without having business ownership experience. That was certainly the case for Deanna Santosusso who recently opened a Little Gym franchise in Surprise, Ariz. The mother of a 5-year-old and a former student of the School of American Ballet in New York City, she left her previous job in property management. She said opening the Little Gym gave her the opportunity to combine her skills as a mother, dancer and businesswoman.

The article “Little Gym opens franchise in Surprise” in today’s Arizona Business Gazette details the success of the Scottsdale-based franchisor nationally and especially in the East Valley area of Phoenix. The Little Gym is a gymnastics and motor-skills-building center for children with 264 branches worldwide.

Santosusso’s Surprise location marks the company’s 10th Valley location and its second in the West Valley. The article outline’s the franchisor’s plans to saturate the West Valley. It seems they are well on their way to accomplishing this, a Litchfield Park franchise is to open this month, and two locations in Buckeye should open within the next three years.

The centers have earned a national reputation for allowing children independence while focusing on physical activity and social networking and use the software program Buxton to identify when a city has about 10,000 kids younger than 6 living within a 12-mile radius. "We're really dependent on 0- to 6-year-olds," said Ruk Adams, senior vice president of Little Gym.

Little Gym is not the only kids franchise that’s seeing big growth right now. Math Monkey, Future Stars Sports Photography / Pegasus School Images and other child-centric businesses are booming. According to Entrepreneur, education and tutoring businesses will be hot in 2007. Whether it’s online tutoring, subject specific, or even for the youngest bunch of pre-schoolers, parents are willing to throw down big bucks to ensure their child has the extra edge. Many of these tutoring franchises are even being hired by schools because of the No Child Left Behind Act which requires schools to provide tutoring services if their programs don’t meet performance standards

Learning Express Takes Advantage of “Emotional Experience”

According to the founder of Learning Express, Sharon DiMinico, 61, shopping for your kids is a very emotional experience. She decided to capitalize on that after ringing up a $2500 bill shopping for her daughter when the child was a baby. Now the nationwide chain, the only franchisor of toy stores, operates 120 stores in 27 states. Their revenue reached a high in 2000 of $110 million thanks to the Beanie Baby craze then was down to $78 million in 2005.  But DiMinico expects more good times with predictions of retail toy sales up for this year.

Read the story in this recent article in the Boston Globe.

Ink Industry Booms

The ink refilling and remanufacturing industry is booming and it looks like Rapid Refill Ink is coming out ahead. The Washington Times reports that Rapid Refill Ink plans to open at least 75 more locations in the Washington area by 2010! Not only do the Rapid Refill Ink owners walk the walk -- they talk the talk!

The lush carpeting in Rapid Refill Ink stores is 52 percent post-consumer content and made in part from recycled milk containers. The walls are made of 100 percent wheat stock and the countertops from compressed sunflower seeds. The flooring in the store’s production areas comes from reclaimed tile and its brochures are printed on recycled paper.

But Rapid Refill Ink’s biggest impact is in what could ultimately be the millions of inkjet and laser toner cartridges it keeps from landing in the world’s landfills. In the United States alone nearly eight cartridges are thrown away every second, according to Recharger Magazine. What’s more, each plastic toner requires 3 1/2 quarts of oil to produce; 2 1/2 ounces of oil are used to produce each new inkjet cartridge. Ink remanufacturers everywhere, including franchised companies Cartridge World and Island Ink-Jet among others, are experiencing growth due to the fact that consumers are becoming more aware of how they help the environment. Makes you think twice before throwing out your cartridge, huh?

Michigan Attorney Opens We The People Franchise

An article from the Lansing Community Newspapers talks about a We The People franchisee and how many bankruptcies she is seeing amongst her clientele—a sign of the times?  We The People provides legal document preparation for people who represent themselves in simple, uncontested legal matters such as bankruptcies, divorces, adoptions, buy-sell agreements and living wills. Although the local franchisee Catherine Appel is a licensed attorney, most of her staff is not.  She feels this service is very important for those who cannot afford legal representation and many items are easily prepared documents that don’t require an attorney to prepare, but proper knowledge and guidance.

The Story Behind Build-A-Bear

Maxine Clark, founder, CEO and chairwoman of Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc., recently visited Georgia's Troy University's Phenix City campus to speak with MBA students and promote her new book "The Bear Necessities of Business: Building a Company with Heart."

Andrea Hernandez of the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer attended Clark's presentation and wrote about the success of this company that stemmed from a 1996 shopping excursion for Beanie Babies and has since become a public company with $358.9 million in net retail sales.

While Clark was crafty and for a very brief time thought of sewing bears herself, she was also a savvy businesswoman. For nine years, she worked for May Department Stores Company in areas such as merchandise research, marketing to product development. She went on to become the president of Payless ShoeSource, Inc. where she worked from 1992 to 1996. She opened the first Build-A-Bear Workshop in a St. Louis mall in 1997. The company, with locations worldwide, expects to open its 300th location before the end of the year. Build-A-Bear's success also spurred Clark to start friends 2B made, where girls can design their own dolls, rather than bears. Who would have thought this concept would be so timeless, but with such amazing growth, we have a feeling Build-A-Bear will be around for many years to come.

Beauty Remains Big Business in Franchising

The number of new franchisors in the “beauty” arena says a lot about us as a society but skincare, hair salons and tanning outposts are becoming big franchise businesses.

Women probably won’t like the idea of their husbands getting their hair cut by bikini-clad stylists, but a handful of new chains are betting men will flock to their salons in droves.

Paradise Cuts (right), Knockouts and Sports Cuts are a far cry from your franchised salons of the past (think Fantastic Sams, Great Clips, Hair Cuttery). These "men's" salons offer much more than a haircut you would receive at the neighborhood barber. Paradise Cuts features women in bikinis in a beach themed environmment and while the Washington, D.C. area chain is not franchised, it may be down the road. For those looking to buy into a similar concept, there's Knockouts where men can receive haircuts from women in boxing shorts and have free rein of the remote control and Sport Clips where female stylists are trained to "talk sports" to their male customers.

Today's Washington Post features an article about this niche and includes a hilarious quote that speaks volumes about our priorities.  Paradise Cuts co-founder Rudy Lilly said, "Life's too short for an ugly barber."

National Clean Air Store Opens First Store; Begins Franchising

With allergies and asthma on the rise, Frank Nelson and Skip Spanga are betting consumers will flock to the country's first National Clean Air Store in Des Moines.

Nelson and Spanga were in manufacturing and distribution of products for respiratory care when they realized that the average consumer could greatly benefit from similar products. Four years ago the duo began researching different products available and last year opened a showroom and corporate offices in suburban Des Moines.

Earlier this month, they opened their first retail outlet in a local mall. Products include dehumidifiers, encasement products for bedding and even ultra violet lights that eliminate bacteria from duct work.

The company has also begun franchising. While the new Des Moines store is currently the only one in operation an article in today's Des Moines Register says there are seven area developers who will be opening franchises in other states.