Top Franchising News

With Uncle Maddio's poised for exceptional growth in 2016, the fast-casual pizza restaurant is expanding its leadership team. Matt Andrew, founder and CEO of Uncle Maddio’s, named Jocelyn Blain chief development officer for the growing pizza franchise. In this newly created role, Blain will fuel real estate, restaurant design, and franchise development. “Jocelyn has a […]

The Pie Hole, the Los Angeles–based American pie and coffee shop, will bring its classic made-from-scratch, sweet and savory pies to Old Towne Orange by April.  The Pie Hole has been featured on The Cooking Channel show “Unique Eats” and Condé Naste Traveler included the Maple Custard Pie in its “Top 12 Best Pies in […]

Dunkin' Donuts, America's all-day, everyday stop for coffee and baked goods, announced the signing of a multiunit store development agreement with existing franchise group, Panama City Donuts LLC, to develop five new restaurants in New Orleans. The first restaurant under the agreement is planned to open in 2017. Led by Vik Patel, this team will […]

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit executed a new development agreement for eight stores, with six to open in Nevada and two in Southern California. Originally from Montana, owner-operator Doug Dubin intends his investment to be a family business. His family has three generations of restaurant experience, and the fact that Dickey’s is still owned and operated by […]

Dreamt up at a backyard barbecue and launched on a shoestring budget in an off-the-beaten location in Westchester, Florida, in 2010, Pincho Factory is the homegrown fast-casual success story launched by cousins and business partners Nedal Ahmad, Otto Othman, and Nizar Ahmad. Now, with two corporate stores to their name and a new one on […]

Doc Popcorn, a growing international franchise specializing in fresh-popped, kettle-cooked flavored popcorn, completed 2015 with robust retail and franchise sales and a number of agreements to open new locations domestically and abroad in 2016. Its growth pushed the brand past the 100-unit mark in 2015. In addition to malls, stadiums, convention centers, and farmer’s markets, […]

BIP Capital, an Atlanta-based venture capital firm, launched a franchise development division, the BIP Franchise Accelerator, to help emerging brands accelerate their growth. Currently, the BIP Franchise Accelerator's portfolio includes fast-casual concepts Tropical Smoothie Café and Tin Drum Asian Kitchen, and the company is seeking to invest in brands with high growth potential across all […]

Coming off its best year in company history, Pizza Patrón announced that on Monday, February 1, it is relaunching its franchise program after having shuttered it in 2013. Despite shelving its franchise program and closing approximately 30 percent of its units over the past three years, Pizza Patrón was able to achieve positive same store […]

After years of sharing its handcrafted ice cream sandwiches and other treats with scores of fans throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, CREAM has taken center stage as one of the fastest-growing dessert franchises in the country with 22 locations. In 2015, CREAM experienced levels of growth and success unmatched in its five-year history. Last […]

Dunkin’ Donuts, America’s all-day, everyday stop for coffee and baked goods, signed of a multiunit store development agreement with new franchisees Amit and Kalpesh Patel for Detroit, Michigan. The pair will develop four Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants and one multi-brand unit with Baskin-Robbins, the world’s largest chain of ice cream specialty shops. Their first restaurant is […]

Fast-casual restaurant leader Fazoli’s, riding a five-year same-store sales growth streak, is taking its story on the road, part of an aggressive franchise recruitment program. Fazoli’s, already the nation’s largest Italian fast-casual chain, is hosting free open houses throughout Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The first is January 26 in Toledo, Ohio. Others will be […]

Penn Station East Coast Subs, the fast-casual restaurant known for its grilled, made-to-order sub sandwiches, hand-squeezed lemonade, and fresh-cut fries, signed leases for new restaurants in Dublin and Marion, Ohio. The Dublin restaurant will be located at 6175 Sawmill Road and is slated to open in fall 2016. The Marion location will open in May […]

Tropical Smoothie Café, the leading fast-casual café concept known for its better-for-you food and smoothies with a tropical twist, signed franchise agreements to open 23 locations in the Atlanta market over the next five years. The award-winning smoothie franchise is targeting North Atlanta, Marietta, and Cobb and Cherokee counties to open the new cafés. Currently, […]

Wayback Burgers, the rapidly growing fast-casual brand famous for its fresh, never-frozen burgers and hand-dipped milkshakes, announced it has inked a master franchise partnership with Alberta, Canada-based Wance and Malik Corporation, bringing America’s hometown burger joint to Canada. As part of the partnership, Wance and Malik Corp. will open a minimum of ten Wayback Burgers […]

Dunkin’ Brands, the parent company of two of the world’s most recognizable brands, Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins, announced that it has signed a master franchise agreement with Grand Parade Investments Limited (GPI) to begin developing Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins restaurants in South Africa. The agreement remains subject to GPI’s receipt of approval from the Financial […]

Chicken Salad Chick, the nation’s only Southern inspired, fast-casual chicken salad concept, announced its first location in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, will open on Tuesday, January 26 at 280 West Coleman Blvd., Suites F and G. Located in the Northcutt Plaza Shopping Center, the new restaurant is owned and operated by franchisee team Michelle Singleton […]

The Pie Hole, the Los Angeles, California–based modern American pie and organic coffee concept, closed another three-unit franchise deal for Los Angeles County, California. Named to Condé Nast Traveler’s Best Pies in America list, The Pie Hole features sweet and savory, made-from-scratch pies and an exclusive line of The Pie Hole organic coffees in a […]

When it comes to building up a restaurant chain, companies generally fall into one of two camps: growth by franchising or growth through corporate stores. Like political parties, these affiliations are chosen based on core values and more often than not, they are mutually exclusive. That’s not the case for Charley Shin. The founder and […]

Rise Biscuits & Donuts, Durham, North Carolina’s award-winning concept featuring both sweet and savory breakfast and lunch options, announced the opening of its first Charlotte location at Ballantyne Town Center, at the corner of Providence West and Johnson Roads in South Charlotte. The quickly growing franchise has opened five new stores in the last six […]

Thriving on consumer demand while appealing to the appetite of investors, Firenza Pizza, one of the latest contenders emerging in the race to dominate the fast-casual pizza industry, strongly closed 2015 and has all of the pieces in place to launch an aggressive national growth initiative in 2016. Firenza was founded in 2015 by Dave […]

Donatos Pizza, one of the nation’s original fast-casual pizza chains, signed a development deal that will bring four new locations to Charleston, South Carolina, over the next few years. Donatos will open its first Charleston location in Summerville this May. The restaurant, located at 214 Azalea Square Boulevard, will mark the company’s first location in […]

My Pie Pizza, the fast-casual custom pizza brand renowned for serving New York–style pizzas in a New York minute, announced plans to bring the fast-casual pizzeria to the Reno, Nevada, area. Legacy Franchise Group brokered the franchise agreement, which signifies continued growth for the custom pizza chain. My Pie began franchising earlier this year, expanding […]

Russo’s New York Pizzeria is now open in Katy, Texas. Local residents, commuters, and visitors can now savor the tastes, aromas, and unmistakable ambiance of an authentic New York-style pizzeria. The well-known, chef-driven, fast-casual Italian restaurant franchise, that brings to life old-world charm and hospitality is open at 1708 Spring Green Blvd, #180 in the […]

The restaurant operations field tends to be a boys’ club often times, but Dickey’s Barbecue Pit owner-operator Gina Young defies gender stereotypes as the only female in an elected position. NFAAC, or National Franchisee Advertising Advisory Council, is Dickey’s elected council of six owner-operators who make system-wide decisions on everything from advertising strategy to limited-time […]