Dean Kessell has only been in business as a Famous Toastery franchisee for seven months, but his success to date is enough to make even the most seasoned restaurateur envious.
“It’s exceeded our expectations,” he said. “And the beauty is we’ve done very little advertising - it’s all been word of mouth. During the week you’ve got a lot of the office crowd coming by for breakfast and lunch, and on the weekends you get families. We’re blowing away our projections.”
Along with his wife and business partner Beth, it’s clear Dean is thoroughly enjoying his time as a Famous Toastery franchisee, which makes sense, as he started as a satisfied customer of the brand.
“My background is marketing, for the most part,” Dean said. “My office was two blocks from the first Famous Toastery location in Huntersville [,N.C.]. I loved the food. I started going there with colleagues, then my customers, and then my wife and I would go on the weekends. We got to know the owners.”
It wasn’t long before Dean and his wife discovered Famous Toastery was franchising. The couple was looking for a new business opportunity and decided they’d be a perfect fit.
“From a people standpoint, we like them, and we really admired the product and the service model,” Dean continued. “It’s very different from anything else out there in this market. That’s why it’s a compelling offering.”
Dean and his wife have every intention of opening up more Famous Toastery locations, but not just because it’s a profitable business. According to Dean, it comes back to the people behind the brand, as well as what the Famous Toastery name stands for.
“They’re looking for partners, not just owners,” he said. “That’s huge. The other side is, the product is so great. The food is the best. The way we do the service model, every server is your server. Customers look and say, ‘Why doesn’t every place do this?’ We’re able to put on a show that people come to see on a daily basis. We already have an amazing following in the market.”
As far as the success he and his wife are seeing, Dean remains bowled over.
“When you start a business, this is sort of what you dream about,” he said.
It’s a dream more and more franchisees will be able to make a reality as the brand expands.