Transparency in Franchising: Foodservice Industry Veteran Shares Insight into Being a Peterbrooke Chocolatier Franchisee

With a background spanning 30 years in the food service industry, Lee Cartledge’s journey into franchising was anything but straightforward. From his early days managing corporate and franchise relations to navigating the unique challenges of owning a small business, Cartledge had plenty of experience before becoming a franchise owner. Several years ago, he and his wife were looking for a new business venture that they could both enjoy. They were introduced to Peterbrooke Chocolatier and eventually became franchise owners in 2020.

In this interview with 1851 Franchise, the franchisee offers candid insights into what it's really like to own a Peterbrooke location. He discusses the realities of business ownership, the hurdles he and his family have overcome, and the support they've received from Peterbrooke.

This Q&A sheds light on the complexities of franchising and the strength of a brand that has been around for over four decades, providing a transparent look at what it takes to succeed in this competitive space.

1851 Franchise: Frame your personal story for us. What did you do before franchising, and how did you decide franchising made sense for you?

Cartledge: After 30 years in both the full service and fast casual business, I finished a 20 year stint with a fast casual 24 hour a day operation. After that, my wife and I were looking for something that we would both enjoy. I took about a several months sabbatical while we were looking for what we wanted to do. I had somebody reach out to me from Las Vegas, and because of my background and experience in both restaurant operations and franchising, they wanted me to come on board with them for a period of time and help them set up their organization to begin the franchising process. And during that I actually met Jeff Smith. We became relatively good friends during this time. And I learned about the Peterbrooke brand. And I talked a lot about it to my wife in between my traveling back and forth from our responsibilities with this organization, back and forth to Vegas and and to different franchise events, franchising events and so on and so forth. But after many conversations with Jeff, my wife and I took a trip. We're in the panhandle of Florida, so we took a trip over to Jacksonville and toured a lot of the Peterbrooke locations where they originated, learned a lot more about Peterbrooke, spent some time going around the factory that they have in Jacksonville, and decided that this would be something unique. We both have a passion. Had a pretty high interest already in chocolate, and love people and the ability to continue to give back to the community that we've been in since 1996 and it felt like a good fit.

1851: What was your perception of franchising before becoming a franchisee, and what do you want people to know about franchising now that you are in it?

Cartledge: I had 20 years with a national brand in the quick service industry. I ran up to 47 restaurants throughout the southeast for off and on for 10 years. And I worked on the franchise side for 10 years before that. It was unique because I had experience in corporate and franchise relations. The franchisee that I worked for for 10 years that I started with, he actually sold them back to corporate. At the time he had 47 locations, 23 here in Florida and 24 in Dallas. So I had a lot of experience from that perspective.

And then the organization that I went to work for after that supported and built the framework for them to sell franchises. So, you know, compiling the FDD information and doing all the different things that you have to, while also providing feedback and operational guidance.

In January of 2020, my wife and I made the decision that Peterbrooke Chocolatier was something that we wanted to do. My wife had one condition, she said, as long as we can find a specific location available in a specific area that we were looking for in the historical district of downtown Pensacola, If we could find something like that, then she was all in. We took a drive down to Pensacola on a Sunday afternoon and there was a location available almost exactly where she described it.

1851: What made you choose this brand? What excites you most about this company?

Cartledge: Peterbrooke has been around 41 years. And even though they're a small organization, that intrigued both my wife and I, because sometimes the larger an organization can be, the less your voice can be heard. So, you know, I think that has its pros and it's cons in some aspects because, you don't necessarily have the buying power of some of the larger organizations, but you also have the ability to look outside the norm a little bit for things that you may need or things that may help improve the business. And you don't have to go through so many channels to have your voice heard.

1851: How has franchising been different than you expected?

Cartledge: I would say it's been a blessing for my wife and I. We didn't know that it was going to turn out like this, but my son was pursuing a career at the time. And when we talked to him about this, he said, “Oh, that sounds pretty neat. Would you mind if I participated?” So it was my wife and my son and I who went through that process and it turned into a family business. My son, who's 30, runs our business for us and we get in his way as much as we can. So it's very much a family business. My daughter, when she's not in college, comes and supports us and she's become a fantastic chocolatier and is very talented. So, you know, while we have the challenges, I think, in this day and age that any business has, and that's trying to identify the right individuals to be part of your team, part of your family that have the aspirations to continue to provide the customer service that you'd like to have. That's the challenge, even for a small business, but because we're family owned and operated, we're all in the business. It's been a blessing for us.

1851: Franchising doesn’t come in a box. What did you have to learn yourself?

Cartledge: The organization does a great job of giving us the foundation to prepare for all the holidays and dates that have seasonal impact, whether it's Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter, Mother's Day, or Father's Day. These are all busy times for our industry. We have a small team that supports us by providing the basics, like how to build our inventories for displays in the shop. Fortunately, my wife is a master at this. She takes the tools they give us and expands on them, allowing us to do some pretty cool things in our shop for different events. We benefit from creativity within our organization's systems and processes, allowing us to be innovative in how we display and market our products and brand.

1851: How does Peterbrooke support its franchise owners? 

Cartledge: There’s a dedicated marketing department and an individual we can go to directly for any questions or issues we may encounter. For example, if we're out of packaging, they help us source alternatives for our products. One of the key areas of support is social media. Each location can manage its social media independently, or we can utilize a company resource to assist us. Although we don't have the large marketing budgets that bigger corporations enjoy, we are encouraged to think outside the box and explore ideas that have been successful within the organization to enhance our brand recognition in our market.

Being part of a 41-year-old organization, it's valuable to have access to individuals who have been with the company for 15 or 20 years, offering a wealth of experience and support.