EDITOR’S
NOTE
Multi-Unit Partners
Franchisors and multi-unit franchisees team up for growth
Multi-unit franchisees dominate today’s marketplace, control- ling more total units than their
single-unit counterparts—and an increas-
ing number are operating multiple brands.
This steady shift over the past
decade led Franchise Update Media Group
in 2004 to debut a new magazine—
Multi-Unit Franchisee—to serve the growing
generation of multi-unit operators, hungry
for information to help them expand both
their number of units and their number
of brands.
The first issue of the new maga-
zine featured multi-brand franchisee
John Prince, a former stockbroker whose
franchise holdings then included
Applebee’s, Aaron’s, Famous Dave’s, and
a Hooters (in Salt Lake City, no less!).
We also featured Jim Gendreau, who in
1981 sold 70 franchises in 9 months for
Cost Cutters, and then became a serial
franchisee for several brands, including
operating 54 Cost Cutters of his own. We
also told the story of Tom Larson, who had
20 lodging and restaurant units spread
among 7 brands. We led the story with this:
“Besides size, what makes these
area developers different from other
franchise owners? Why do they amass
so many units and brands while others
are content with one site, maybe two or
three? How do they manage to manage
more brands than other people can handle
units? Who are these guys?”
Since then we’ve interviewed and
profiled hundreds of “these guys” (and
women); heard from experts on every
facet of the business; and compiled lists
and rankings that chronicle the fantastic
growth in not only the numbers, but also
in the professionalism of these operators
and their organizations.
