5 Franchises You Didn’t Know Were Franchises

There are some brands that everyone recognizes as franchises. McDonald’s, for example, is a famous franchise restaurant. You can go almost anywhere in the world and see the iconic golden arches, but there are other brands that may have similar recognition but aren’t necessarily associated with franchising. Here’s a look at tfive different brands that many people may not know are franchisees.  

1. IKEA: With 360 stores worldwide, IKEA is arguably one of the world’s most recognizable furniture brands. Based in Sweden, the brand has been franchising since being founded. 

2. Swarovski: This Austrian jeweler has been around for over 110 years and has been franchising since 1977. The brand has over 2,000 stores worldwide with 1,300 of them being franchise locations. 

3. Clarks: This footwear retailer sells over 50 million pairs of shoes every year, and is one of the most famous shoe retailers in the U.S. and abroad. Based in the UK, this brand has been franchising for 27 years.  

4. UPS: After being founded in 1907 as the American Messenger Service, UPS was rebranded to the United Parcel Service in 1919. This brand is highly recognizable, yet not many are aware that they could own their franchise location. 

5. Wahlburgers: While one of the younger brands on this list, this restaurant concept deceives many exploring franchise opportunities due to its famous founders, Mark, Donnie and Paul Wahlberg. Because of this, many have overlooked the fact that this is actually a franchise brand and has used the model as a growth vehicle to establish its current presence of 31 locations across the U.S. and counting.

While these brands may be well-known, they’re often not associated with the average person’s conception of what a franchise is. It goes to show the vastness of the industry, the viability of the model as a strong means of scaling a business, and that no matter the size or recognizability of the brand, some are still local businesses underneath it all.