Top 10 Franchise-Friendly Cities

Entrepreneurs are always in search of where the next opportunity exists. Franchising makes this easy, as one of its perks is being able to expand a brand almost anywhere with the backing of an already successful organization. But where does one set up shop?

The following, in no particular order, are 10 potential locations to make your franchise dreams a reality.

Las Vegas
An ideal area for tourism with a booming local economy, all signs point to Las Vegas as a place with high potential for franchises. Which Wich Superior Sandwiches knows it’s not a gamble to grow in this territory, especially with tens of millions of people visiting for business and pleasure each year.

Chicago
Chicago is known for being the ultimate “foodie city,” but it is also an ideal locale for developing brands to expand their reach, whether in the heart of the city or in one of the many surrounding suburbs. With locations in Bridgeport, Naperville and Crystal Lake, Cincinnati, Ohio-based Buffalo Wings & Rings has honed in on Chicago for development. The brand has a strategic growth plan to build out in the greater Chicagoland area.

Atlanta
Atlanta’s musical heritage and southern hospitality attracts a wide range of entrepreneurs. In fact, the city’s surrounding community, Fayetteville/Peachtree City, recently attracted a new GYMGUYZ franchisee. Aaron Anthonsen is set to bring the brand’s first location in the state of Georgia to Atlanta’s surrounding area with aspirations to grow into Atlanta itself. GYMGUYZ is No. 1 in home personal training and provides convenient, customized and creative workouts, bringing their premier health and wellness services to the comfort of a customer’s home, office or setting of choice.

Philadelphia
The City of Brotherly Love is focusing on growing its economic development over the next five years and many brands are taking notice. Sylvan Learning*, a growing education franchise, has pegged Philadelphia for double digit growth, especially with the national roll out of their newest enrichment program, Edge, which is helping children excel in fun courses like coding and robotics.

Miami
Miami’s international feel and warmth has sparked the interest of Chicago-based Forever Brands (Forever Yogurt, BEE & TEA), which just announced it merged with Falafill. Forever Brands CEO Mandy Calara and Falafill owner and world-renowned chef Maher Chebaro are adding the first location of Forever Brands/Falafill to the Miami community with hopes to expand further in the region.

Dallas
Things are always bigger in Texas and many franchise brands are taking this literal where their growth plans are concerned. Ritter’s Frozen Custard recently signed an 11-unit deal in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and is working on opening up units as early as this summer.

Phoenix
The Valley of the Sun is shining its light on small busineses. Right at Home*’s senior vice president of franchise development, Eric Little, knows Phoenix is an important city to grow in and is currently in the process of executing plans to open more locations there by the end of 2015.

Boston
Boston’s historic culture has made certain brands want to make history of their own and grow throughout the city. In 2014, TWO MEN AND A TRUCK*® opened locations in Virginia and central Connecticut, but decided to enter an untapped market, and opened their first Boston location at the end of Q4.

San Francisco
People throughout the Bay Area know how to eat and they have one requirement: It better be fresh! This got the team at MOOYAH Burgers, Fries & Shakes* considering their options. In 2015, MOOYAH intends to end the year with 100 restaurants across the country by bringing the “better burger” brand to the San Francisco Bay Area, with a growth plan targeting 20 locations throughout Northern California.

Des Moines
I know what you’re thinking. Des Moine isn’t what you would expect on a list of some of the largest and most influential cities in the U.S. However, Des Moines is an up and coming city with a youthful population, and brands are taking notice. In fact, Pita Pit just opened their first location with every intention to grow throughout the the entire state of Iowa.