T.G.I. Friday's and Americana Group, a licensed franchisee of T.G.I. Friday's and the Kuwait-based Middle East operator of several brands in quick service, coffee, casual dining and other food-related products, today announced that they have renewed the development agreement to build the T.G.I. Friday's brand in the Middle East. The development agreement will result in […]

First Data Corporation, a global leader in electronic commerce and payment processing, released its First Data SpendTrend Mid-Month Flash analysis for the first half of December 2010 compared to the same period in December 2009. SpendTrend tracks same-store consumer spending via credit, signature debit, PIN debit, and EBT cards at U.S. merchant locations In early […]

Muscle Maker Grill, a chain of casual eateries that serves freshly prepared meals with your health in mind, announces it is expanding its reach to the West by securing a multi-unit franchise deal to develop five Muscle Maker Grill restaurants in the East Bay area of California. This new agreement marks the chain’s first franchise […]

First Data Corporation, a global leader in electronic commerce and payment processing, today released its First Data SpendTrend Mid Month Flash analysis for the first half of November 2010 compared to the same period in November 2009. SpendTrend tracks same-store consumer spending via credit, signature debit, PIN debit, and EBT cards at U.S.merchant locations. In […]

The times are changing for many of the industries that fortified America’s capitalistic society. With banks trying to figure out how to thrive under new financial regulations, quick serves are facing a challenge to their classic business model: the franchise. Although no one expects the franchise model to disappear any time soon, it’s true for […]

Turbulent is a good term to describe the state of the quick-service industry in the last couple of years. The Great Recession threw off balance sheets and strategic plans alike, miring operators in a realm of uncertainty. But Howard Putnam, former CEO of Southwest Airlines and author of the book The Winds of Turbulence, was […]

Restaurant chains still consider new franchise agreements to be a main avenue for growth, says a new report from foodservice consultant Technomic. In response to the recession, many franchisors have offered their franchisees incentives like enhanced credit support, fee reductions, and temporarily reduced royalty rates. Others have worked with franchisees to drive down supply chain […]

Franchise Professionals Inc. announced that Larry Carnell joined the company as senior vice president of business development. Carnell has more than 30 years of executive management, training, and lecturing experience in the business and franchise communities, most recently founding FranCastle Enterprises, a management consulting firm for the franchise community and other businesses. Earlier this month, […]

A company led by a former Schlotzsky’s franchisee last week officially launched a new website that it hopes will revolutionize the entire franchising industry. FranchiseProfs.com, the brainchild of Chris Nolan and his Cincinnati-based company, Franchise Professionals Inc., launched as a social media network for franchisees and franchisors alike. “I know the pains of franchisees. I […]

A new Buffalo Wings & Rings (BWR) restaurant is taking flight in Brownsville, Texas, due to new franchisees Francisco, Juan, and Luis Guillermo Cordova. Family ties run deep for the newest addition to BWR. With relatives owning and operating the Mission, Texas, BWR franchise, the “Brownsville Boys” know what it takes to run a successful […]

A new Buffalo Wings & Rings restaurant will open on Monday, June 21, in Springdale, Ohio, for a private VIP event. It will open to the public on Wednesday, June 23. A special grand opening celebration will be held Saturday, July 17, featuring a ribbon cutting at 10:30 a.m. with city officials. The doors will […]

FRANdata, an independent research company whose professional team has more than 30 years of collective experience in the banking industry, announced that a new survey found franchisees have a greater chance at getting bank loans if they include the company’s Bank Credit Report in their application package. A Bank Credit Report provides an independent analysis […]

First Data Corporation, a global leader in electronic commerce and payment processing, today released its First Data SpendTrend analysis for the full month of February 2010 compared to February 2009. SpendTrend tracks same-store consumer spending via credit, signature debit, PIN debit and EBT cards at U.S. merchant locations. Despite severe winter weather in several key […]

Villa Enterprises Management, a quick-service restaurant franchiser, announced on Friday that it exceeded its own projections for new store openings in 2009. With a total of 30 new locations opened in the U.S. and internationally, its total store count is now 318 units. This marks a 10 percent increase in new store openings over the […]

Technomic released a report in July in conjunction with Restaurant Finance Monitor that suggests, among other things, that some restaurant franchisors shifted franchising strategies in 2008 to accommodate the recession and credit crunch. According to the report, which details information on the top 400 franchise companies by sales, showed that in 2008 some franchisors—including Pizza […]

Villa Enterprises Management, a multi-concept quick-serve franchisor, recently opened three new Villa Fresh Italian Kitchen franchises on the Florida Turnpike with its newest multi-unit operator, international foodservice company Áreas. A fourth Villa Fresh Italian Kitchen location on the Florida Turnpike is expected to open next month. The new proprietors had just seven hours to complete […]

Restaurant industry sales are expected to reach $566 billion in 2009, with the industry employing 13 million individuals in 945,000 restaurant-and-foodservice outlets nationwide, according to the National Restaurant Association's 2009 Restaurant Industry Forecast released today. The Forecast projects that while overall restaurant industry sales will increase in current dollars by 2.5 percent over 2008 figures, […]

A recent survey conducted through the National Restaurant Association's Smartbrief online newsletter reported that a majority of restaurateurs think the economy had the greatest effect on their companies in 2008. Economic woes trumped rising food costs (which garnered 35 percent of the votes), calorie legislation (3.7 percent), and food safety (3.7 percent). Despite the industry’s […]

Fitch Ratings believes that the large beverage companies will struggle to grow organically in the U.S., and that future growth is likely to come from abroad, according to a new report. The U.S. non-alcoholic, ready-to-drink (NARTD) beverage market is mature, given the industry's concentrated structure, low volume growth, and high per capita beverage consumption trends. […]

New Edge Networks, the business communications unit of EarthLink Inc., (NASDAQ: ELNK), today became the first telecommunications company to offer a new network service that allows businesses to tag and prioritize data traffic over DSL access using up to five MPLS classes of service. New Edge previously announced plans in January to offer up to […]

The Small Business Research Board (SBRB) Food & Beverage Industry Small Business Confidence Index (F-SBCI) dropped to 30.67 during the fourth quarter of 2007, a decline of more than 17 points from the prior quarter. A decline in two of the three major indicators contributed to the F-SBCI of 48.5 registered during the third quarter […]

Despite the slowing global economy, Wincor Nixdorf is bursting at the seams in Europe and has set its sights on the U.S. quick-service market for 2008. The company's Vice President of U.S. Retail, Tad Shepperd, sat down with QSR at Wincor's annual tradeshow, Wincor World, in Paderborn, Germany, to explain just how the company plans […]

A BCC Research study reports that the U.S. market for food safety testing will have a compound average annual growth rate of 5.8 percent over the next five years. According to a new technical market research report, Food Safety Testing: The U.S. Market (FOD011E) from BCC Research, the U.S. market for food safety testing will […]

Applebee’s International, Inc. (Nasdaq:APPB) today reported comparable sales for the four-week period ended August 26, 2007. System-wide domestic comparable sales decreased 0.9 percent for the August period, while comparable sales for domestic franchise restaurants decreased 0.7 percent. Comparable sales for company restaurants decreased 1.6 percent, reflecting a decrease in guest traffic of between 6.0 and […]

Denny’s Corporation (NASDAQ: DENN) today announced the launch of its Franchise Growth Initiative, a development program designed to accelerate franchise growth in key markets across the country that have untapped consumer demand. The first successful multi-unit transactions have included the sale of 34 company restaurants to both new and existing Denny’s franchisees and commitments by […]

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc. (Nasdaq: RRGB), aannounced that it has closed on the acquisition of 15 of the 17 existing franchised Red Robin® restaurants in the state of California from Top Robin Ventures and Morite of California effective June 18, 2007. In addition, the franchise territory included in this acquisition encompasses the area of […]

Carlson Restaurants Worldwide Inc., parent company of T.G.I. Friday's(R) and Pick Up Stix(R) restaurants, today announced plans to accelerate its development growth through the addition of new T.G.I. Friday's franchisees within Louisiana. "Friday's is excited about broadening its market presence in Louisiana through the strategic recruitment of a broad base of candidates including minority owner/operators, […]

Away-from-home breakfast sales are growing, but remain a major underdeveloped opportunity for restaurant operators according to new research by Technomic. Even though the vast majority of consumers still prepare breakfast at home, sometimes eating it in the car or at school or work, consumers’ demand for time-saving convenience continues to grow, signaling breakfast growth opportunities […]