Franchise News
Krispy Kreme To Focus More on Franchising
The brand's franchised stores are outperforming the company-owned ones
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts is reevaluating its business model and will be focusing more on franchising. The brand’s franchised stores are outperforming the company-owned ones.
“Domestically, our franchisees continue to outperform our company shops,” Krispy Kreme CEO Tony Thompson said. “Thus, we believe that by focusing more on franchising, we will be in a greater position to maximize the value of the brand for the long term.”
The doughnut chain has 297 domestic locations, of which 181 are operated by franchisees. All of Krispy Kreme’s 824 international locations are run by franchisees. The fourth quarter for the brand ended on January 31 and company-operated stores reported same-store sales growth of 0.2 percent, while franchisee same-store sales were up 2.5 percent, during that same time period.
The brand is implementing a number of new initiatives to help franchise operators build more profitability and generate higher sales for units. To do this, the brand will lower costs for construction, site location and equipment for new stores. Nation’s Restaurant News reported the brand will also be looking to improve the flow of stores to help make the customer ordering process smoother, thus helping boost revenue. Thompson went on to say the entire company needs to embrace the focus on franchising in order to make it work.
“We will begin a cultural change inside our organization domestically to become more franchise-support focused,” Thompson said. “This is an area we need to be not merely good, but great.”
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About the Author
Nick Powills
FollowNick Powills, CFE, founded No Limit Agency in 2008 and serves as Chief Brand Strategist for the Chicago-based firm. No Limit is a full-service communications agency that establishes and elevates brands by bridging Public Relations, Social Media, Marketing, Advertising, Digital, and a lot of creativity, to best strategize well-rounded and successful campaigns for 50+ global franchise brands. By presenting visionary ideas and building real relationships, No Limit is able to create effective media branding strategies to help companies grow. Nick currently leads a staff of writers, media strategists, designers, social media experts and digital producers in an office think-tank where brands are humanized for strong, compelling media stories. Prior to starting No Limit at the age of 27, Nick spent four years working at a franchise PR agency where he mastered the art of building rapport with media outlets and creating newsworthy pitches for earned media placements. He holds a Bachelor of Journalism from Drake University in Iowa.
