The 8 | September 23, 2016

We break down some of the top headlines in franchising so you can stay in the know.

1. “Buffalo Business First: Dairy Queen* Plans For More DQ Grill & Chills in Buffalo, Upstate New York:” Dairy Queen is hoping to open 100 new locations of its DQ Grill & Chill outlets in the next decade in Buffalo and Upstate New York.

2. “How Moe’s Southwest Grill Unseated The Longstanding Champion and Became Brand of the Year in Fast-Casual Mexican:” For Moe’s Southwest Grill, integrity and authenticity go a long way.

3. “Lightbridge Academy* Helps to Ease Anxiety for Students and Parents During Back-to-School Season:” Lightbridge Academy President and COO Gigi Schweikert has tips for making back-to-school season a little bit easier for both parents and their children.

4. “Franchisee Voices:” This week, we kicked off our “Franchisee Voices.” Tune in every day at 4 p.m. to hear the stories of real franchisees making a real impact in their communities. This week, we featured Jarrod Johnson of Smoothie King and Cole Watts of Mosquito Joe*.

5. “How Arby’s Capitalized on Pop Culture to Make a Comeback:” Since Rob Lynch took over as chief marketing officer, the brand has emerged as a marketing innovator and risk taker.

6. “Nation’s Restaurant News: Fueled By Investment, Lou Malnati’s Looks Beyond Chicago:” The Chicago deep-dish pizza chain will start expanding outside of Chicago with help from private equity dollars.

7. “Social Geek Radio: FranTech 2016 Returns to Texas:” To help you keep on top of the newest trends in franchise marketing, FranTech is the place to be. Ann Littman of SafeWay Driving shares her best practices for telling the story of growing a franchise brand using digital marketing, social, mobile and all applicable technologies

8. “The 8:” Today marks the debut of 1851’s The 8. Stay tuned every week as we dish out some of the top headlines in franchising, share our thoughts on the industry and ponder the meaning of life. WWSD?