I’ve learned more about yogurt in the last six months than I’ve ever known in my life,†laughs James Franks, vice president of franchising for Red Mango.
Franks is fresh off a franchising event in Washington, D.C., and every now and then stops the interview to wave at one of the 182 potential franchisees that attended the meeting who are also at our restaurant. “Out of respect to our brand and to the franchisees we bring on board, we won’t bring them on board unless we know that we can support them and give them the attention that they need,†he says.
And lately that’s a lot of attention. The two-year-old frozen-yogurt brand finalized a round of development deals this spring with new and existing franchisees that will result in 128 new stores from California to Tennessee. To date the brand has about 50 locations open. Less than a week after the development deal was made public, the company also took a recession-defying step and announced its Store Buy Back Program. To date, no franchisees have tapped it, but the program allows partners to sell their store back to corporate for up to $275,000 if they’re not satisfied within the first six months. More.