Awesome Restaurant Franchise Issue: Buffalo Wings & Rings | Papa Murphy’s | Blaze Pizza

Awesome Restaurant Franchise Issue: Buffalo Wings & Rings

Number of Locations: 75+ Globally

Franchise Development Website: http://ownabuffalo.com/

Cost to Open: Estimated initial investment to open a Buffalo Wings & Rings ranges from $1,292,500 to $2,407,000 with a $40,000 franchise fee for new franchisees.

Headquarter Market: Cincinnati, Ohio

When new ownership took over Buffalo Wings & Rings a dozen years ago, they set out to create an elevated sports restaurant experience akin to the club level rather than the “man cave” sports restaurants dominating the landscape at the time. This strategy has led to success, with impressive growth for the now more than 75-unit global brand. The company has entered new markets and grown outward from its Cincinnati home through a mix of new operators and significant growth from within – half of the chain’s franchisees are multi-unit owners.

Buffalo Wings & Rings has elevated every aspect of the sports restaurant experience, from a more inviting dining area to the innovative and bold menu featuring a broader variety of tastes and options for the entire family. The chef-inspired menu features a rotation of seasonal and diverse limited-time offerings, fresh salads, homemade Bleu Cheese, innovative sandwich options, hand-pressed burgers and fresh, never frozen wings.

The company has also won over new fans and created loyal regularly returning guests behind their Buffalove ® Service Promise which focuses on a servant-leadership mentality that permeates the system from the top down through franchisees to managers and to every employee wearing a Buffalo Wings & Rings logo on their shirt. The company has invested heavily in the communities it serves by giving back through partnerships with local charities and organizations. The brand also launched the Buffalove Foundation which serves as the umbrella for various system-wide philanthropic efforts, including fall’s “Chip in for the Cause” campaign to raise money for breast cancer research and awareness.

Awesome Restaurant Franchise Issue: Papa Murphy’s

Number of Locations: 1500+ Across North America

Franchise Development Website: http://papamurphysfranchise.com/

Cost to Open: Start-up costs range between $279,455 - $492,861

Headquarter Market: Vancouver, WA

Owning the take ‘n’ bake concept in the $40-billion pizza industry has allowed Papa Murphy’s to expand rapidly from their home in Vancouver, Washington, with more than 1500 locations throughout the entire North American continent. The company opened more than 100 locations in 2016 behind a strategy of saturating target development markets which has earned them the #5 spot in the pizza industry.

The company started in 1981 as Papa Aldo’s in Oregon, and opened the first franchise location two years later. In 1995, Papa Aldo’s merged with Murphy’s to form Papa Murphy’s, and the company has grown substantially since then, opening its 500^th store in 1999 and its 1500^th location in 2015.

Papa Murphy’s locations don’t have freezers – they have earned a reputation for quality within the industry by making their dough from scratch, grating their 100% whole-milk mozzarella every day, using butcher-quality meats and hand-slicing their veggies. That dough was the result of vetting more than 250 recipes to find just the right one and with the take ‘n’ bake concept, families can bring home a pizza that takes just 15 minutes in a 425-degree oven to have a piping hot pizza for dinner.

Papa Murphy’s locations also don’t have ovens or dine-in – and that simplicity of model has led to success for franchisees who don’t take on those operating costs that are associated with most players in the pizza space. The franchise has grown behind a strong model that has been refined over more than 35 years and the company believes they can triple in size due to market availability.

Papa Murphy’s average per-person spend is one of the lowest in the pizza category and rivals many large quick-service chains. The company has made significant investments in technology, and has enhanced their digital presence to account for evolving consumer patterns. The marketing at Papa Murphy’s is focused on millennial and Gen-X moms instead of the crowded competition for young males.

Awesome Restaurant Franchise Issue: Blaze Pizza

Number of Locations: 214

Franchise Development Website: http://www.blazepizza.com/franchising/

Cost to Open: The Blaze Pizza FDD lists a range of $319,800 to $858,000.

Headquarter Market: Pasadena, CA 

The fast casual pizza boom hit America by storm in the last decade, and Blaze Pizza has been the industry leader since launching in 2011. From Elise and Rick Wetzel, the founders of Wetzel’s Pretzels, and with the injection of superstar celebrity endorsement from NBA MVP Lebron James, Blaze has made strides to enter the upper echelon of not just the fast casual niche but the pizza industry as a whole.

Following the success of their first location in Irvine, California, the company opened a second flagship location in its headquarter market of Pasadena. The “down the line” ordering style, similar to that of a Chipotle, and the fast fired baking style – pizzas are ready in just three minutes – created a buzz and led to huge early success. Blaze entered Chicago in 2013 and then spread to the east coast with their first New York location in 2014. The company also expanded into Canada in 2015 and opened up a flagship location in Walt Disney World in 2016. Blaze is the first fast casual pizza chain to reach 100 units and $100MM in sales.

The blazing early growth of the brand can also be attributed to the fact that the company does not sell single unit franchise deals. Blaze requires franchise operators to commit to multi-unit deals, typically 3-10 restaurants over 2-3 years – and requires prospects to have experience as a multi-unit restaurant franchisee and recognition as a top restaurant operator. The menu features fresh dough made in-house and all products are made free of artificial colors, flavors and preservatives. As Blaze closes out 2017 and enters 2018, the company told Nation’s Restaurant News that they are focused on enhancing guest service, increasing differentiated menu offerings and expanding their beverage program.