Old School Bagel Café, a bagel sandwich shop focused on hospitality and great bagels, has announced plans for a strategic franchising initiative to expand its presence. The strategy starts with a focus on franchising throughout the Midwest, centered in Oklahoma and the surrounding states first. Long-term, Old School Bagel believes they can expand nationally as the brand evolves and expands awareness. Old School Bagel is taking a steady approach to franchising that will allow for sustainable growth and development for long-term franchisee success.
“We’ve built the concept to be a scalable and efficient model, evolving operations to allow the brand to more than double in size through corporate growth in 2023 from 7 to 15. Staying patient with our growth has meant prioritizing our profitability model for our franchisees by doing it ourselves first,” says Joey Conerly, the VP of Corporate Strategy of Old School Bagel. “We have held on to our roots by offering the best New York style bagels, unique sandwiches, specialty coffees, and upbeat atmosphere. We have built the concept to maintain the tradition of the bagel shop paired with the modern convenience of online, in-app, delivery, and catering. It all starts with the best-tasting bagels and unique sandwich recipes that keep people coming back for all day breakfast or lunch.”
The brand leads with the guest experience and building relationships, which embodies everything from how we greet the guest, deliver the food, and pre-bus the table. Old School Bagel’s menu contains a mix of bagels & spreads, sandwiches, salads, pastries, and specialty coffee. All menu items are completely customizable with a variety of ways to have your bagel toasted, scooped, warmed, or ambient. Unique menu items, creativity, and tradition collide perfectly on the menu, such as our “Old Smokey” or “Cuban” being fan favorites.
The company’s founders developed Old School Bagel Café out of a passion to make the best bagels for their community and became known as the “Cheers” of the area, where everyone knows your name. What ensued has become a brand with a cult following that aligns with its defining culture, music, and atmosphere. The brand continues to have longevity while growing sales through increased traffic and platforms even after 17 years of operation.
Old School Bagel doubling in size in 2023 prompted evolutions in the concept including a full brand refresh, equipment enhancements, technology improvements, integrated platforms, and new loyalty program. The new loyalty program was launched in November 2023 with more than 40,000 existing accounts and adding 10,000 more since launching. Store performance has increasingly improved with SSS increases of 13% in 2022 and 21% in 2023. The SSS when compared to 2019 (pre-covid) is an impressive 39%, all done without price increases since September 2022.
“Old School Bagel is all about bringing people the best possible experience and convenience that fits their life best,” adds Conerly. “That’s why we’ve spent so much time perfecting the concept through our growth phase doing everything a typical franchisee would do. We can’t wait to share our proven concept to new franchise partners and help bring the Old School Bagel experience to everyone.”
Old School Bagel is awarding franchise opportunities to single-unit, multi-unit franchisees, and area developers in OK, TX, CO, KS, MO, AR, NM, LA and other nearby states. Ideal candidates include transitioning professionals, seasoned restaurant owners/operators and skilled entrepreneurs.
