The List Issue: Emerging Franchise Brands with Under 50 Locations

ArteVino Studio offers BYOB art classes, private parties, corporate events, and open studio time to artists of all experience levels in their six studios located throughout New Jersey. The casual environment and judgment-free art space has proven enormously popular in ArteVino’s home state, and the brand is developing expansion plans throughout the East Coast.

Ben’s Barketplace has been servicing the pet owners of Northern California from their store in Rosemont for over 10 years. The pet-care brand only became a franchise earlier this year, and owners Sally and Brad Romero are eager to extend their lucrative model to new stores throughout the West Coast. Ben’s Barketplace’s single store saw more than $1.3 million in sales in 2016 alone and has enjoyed 15 percent year-over-year growth for the past three years.

The Brass Tap’s simple but genius franchising innovation was to create a scalable bar & grill model that tailors each location’s extensive beer menu to local preferences, making every Brass Tap location feel like the neighborhood bar. The concept allows The Brass Tap to roll with any changes to consumer preferences on the fly without disrupting the franchise model.

Mike Pierce’s barbecue chicken was famous in his hometown of Kapaa, Hawaii for 35 years before he opened his first Chicken in a Barrel location. Pierce served his chicken—a family recipe—at local events and through a charitable organization before demand for his chicken encouraged him to open his first restaurant in 2010. Two years later, Pierce opened his second restaurant. Now, Chicken in a Barrel has entered the franchise game, and Pierce expects to find the same enthusiasm he’s seen for his Hawaii-style BBQ chicken in Kapaa throughout the rest of Hawaii and the U.S.

Startup costs: $244,510 to $395,208 for Roadside Express locations, $497,100 to $687,500 for full-service locations.

Closet and Storage Concepts works with residential clients, designers, buildings, and architects to create innovative organization and furnishing solutions. Though they currently operate just 26 locations, the brand has been in franchising for over 30 years. That careful development strategy has produced strong, well-positioned franchisees, each benefitting from the brand’s decades of experience and refinement.

Coolgreens has created a menu that caters to a variety of dietary preferences, including vegetarianism and veganism. Coolgreens is also adamant about improving their communities, partnering with franchisees who have strong community roots and are passionate about healthy and responsible eating.

Ecomaids offers green cleaning solutions, including LEED-certified services and all-natural products, for homes and business. Though Ecomaids currently only operates six locations, they have a large footprint, with locations in New York, North Carolina, Minnesota, Arizona, and Oregon.

Enjoy Your Party differentiates themselves from other party and event staffing agencies through their Core Values, a strict set of principles and expectations held for all employees. While their standards of conduct are strict, their operations are deliberately flexible, allowing them to effortlessly adapt to the requirements of the event.

Famous Toastery has been adamant about serving only high-quality, fresh-made breakfasts in a casual, family-oriented atmosphere since 2005. That combo struck a chord with customers, and Famous Toastery quickly expanded to three restaurants, eventually turning to franchising in 2013. Now Famous Toastery has 13 locations throughout the East Coast, and they are still expanding.

French Fry Heaven has refined their recipe to provide a perfect fry and built a menu of creative and enticing fry-based entrees, including poutine, pizza fries, country-fried chicken fries, and pulled-pork fries. They put fries front and center, making them one of the few concepts to do so.

Full Pyscle has set out to remedy the omission of upper-body strength training in cycling classes with a proprietary concept that incorporates upper-body strength training into an intensive cycling routine. The concept has been a hit in Full Pyscle’s initial markets of California, Illinois, Texas, and Florida, and the brand is now looking to expand throughout the U.S.

Idolize is positioned to take advantage of the growth in the U.S. skin-care market by focusing on the fastest growing segment: eyebrow and facial threading. They also offer traditional spa services, such as body waxing and facials, and sell a line of retail products, providing a set of discrete revenue streams for owners.

K9 Resorts Daycare & Luxury Hotels offers dog-boarding and daycare services, catering to the multi-billion-dollar boarding and grooming industry. The concept is small but growing rapidly, making it an attractive opportunity for entrepreneurs looking to break into franchising.

Kennedy’s All-American Barber Club offers men an alternative to family-oriented haircut chains and high-end salons. They provide classic straight-razor shaves as well as cutting-edge grooming products, creating a unique combination of traditional and modern services.

La Rosa Chicken & Grill checks off a number of today’s most important boxes for strong consumer positioning, including a health-conscious menu, family recipes that don’t look or taste mass-produced, and a modern yet warm and inviting restaurant. The chicken-focused restaurant is a well-positioned fast-casual restaurant opportunity.

Lo-Lo’s Chicken & Waffles is a soul food franchise that is not jumping into the health-food game. They offer delicious, home-cooked food, particularly their signature savory fried chicken and delectable, syrupy waffles. Lo-Lo’s owners can also benefit from supplemental revenue streams by adding a full bar and catering services.

Pool Scouts is a particularly attractive proposition for a prospective franchisee who is looking to take control of their work-life balance. A $3 billion industry, pool cleaning services offer a strong enough boon in the spring and summer months that many franchisees are able to support themselves year-round from 6–8 months of work.

Pretty in Paint offers painting classes at a rotating lineup of local venues. The mobile model means that franchisees do not have to invest in or maintain a brick-and-mortar location, and the partnerships with other local businesses provide a built-in marketing network.

Formerly Pita Grill, Pure Pita has been operating in Manhattan and North Jersey since 1993. Those locations remain hallmark quick-service food destinations in their communities, and Pure Pita is angling to leverage their popularity in new markets with the franchising concept.

Relocators launched its franchise opportunity in the spring of 2016 and is now hungry to grow and plans to expand nationally in the coming years. Relocators offers a full suite of moving services, including