--- title: "DEA Music & Art To Expand Across the East Coast, Targeting Key Markets In New Jersey" url: https://burnaze.com/article/66b4fa9d-c669-4f5e-9186-53ff85f614bd source: "1851 Franchise" original_url: https://1851franchise.com/dea-music-art-to-expand-across-the-east-coast-targeting-key-markets-in-new-jersey-2715623 category: "Education & Childcare" industry: "Education & Childcare" topics: ["Development & multi-unit"] published: 2021-05-03T18:13:00.000Z modified: 2026-11-01T02:25:56.089Z image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/7e259cfc112003028242e39e0bd07b814858.jpg --- # DEA Music & Art To Expand Across the East Coast, Targeting Key Markets In New Jersey **TL;DR:** DEA Music & Art, a music and visual-arts education franchise, is expanding across the East Coast, targeting key markets in New Jersey. The brand, founded by Magi Kapllani in 2003, offers a range of programs in music, visual and performing arts and is looking for franchisees to help bring the concept to more communities. *originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2021-05-03. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/dea-music-art-to-expand-across-the-east-coast-targeting-key-markets-in-new-jersey-2715623).* ## Story DEA Music & Art, a music and visual-arts education franchise with three locations open across Staten Island, is looking to follow a path many New York residents take after seeing some success — expanding out of the city and heading to Jersey. With some students still restricted from going to school and education becoming less engaging as a result, entrepreneurs in the Garden State have an opportunity to invest in a well-positioned concept primed for the future. Since 2003, DEA Music & Art founder Magi Kapllani has opened three studios in the Staten area. In 2019, with a dream to help others open their own studio, Kapllani decided to start franchising the DEA Music & Art brand. With a simple, semi-absentee business model, reciprocating program structure and in-demand services, DEA Music & Art offers a winning franchise opportunity in the $23 billion after-school enrichment segment. Now, Kapllani is looking to share this lucrative opportunity with entrepreneurs across New Jersey and the East Coast so more students can learn and grow with the brand. The New York-based school was named in honor of founder Kapllani’s parents, who are both well-known, classically-trained musicians in Albania. Kapllani, who is herself a classically trained musician, started the brand with the goal of providing tailor-made music and art instruction to more students. “In 1999, I came to the U.S. to attend the piano performance master's program at the University of Illinois and performed all over Chicago,” said Kapllani. “After moving to New York City, I decided to establish my own school where students could receive the absolute best music education possible like my parents did in Albania.” DEA Music & Art stands out in the enrichment education segment by offering a wide range of programs in music, visual and performing arts, including Pop Idol, Rock Band, Virtuosi, Visual Arts, Chorus, Theatre and individual instrument lessons. Students can also enjoy summer camps and book birthday parties at the studios, which create additional revenue streams for franchisees. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, DEA Music & Art pivoted to virtual learning, ensuring students still have the opportunity to achieve excellence in music, art and performance and allowing the academy to extend its reach to students across the country. The school also offered free Kahoot! game days twice per week to keep students and staff engaged and excited about music and art. In addition to virtual classes, DEA Music & Art introduced micro-schooling programs, in which parents can drop their kids off at the studios and staff can help students connect to their virtual classroom to assist with additional work — with social distancing and sanitation protocols in place. This also creates an increased source of revenue since owners are open for longer hours. Since day one, performances have been a key differentiator for DEA. Even during a pandemic, Kapllani was adamant about helping students benefit from the life-changing and confidence-boosting experience of live performing arts. This year, the academy hosted its first virtual recital, and the response was everything she could have hoped for. “I received so many messages from parents telling us how much their kids needed the performance and how great it was to see,” said Kapllani. “It is so great to see how much the kids and parents put into it even though they were at home. I have seen firsthand how all types of students can flourish when given the chance to shine on stage, and in a year that’s been made dull by the pandemic, seeing your child excel in music and art and expressing themselves is a bright spot in people’s day.” Now, Kapllani is looking for franchisees who can help bring DEA Music & Art to more communities throughout the East Coast and beyond. As of right now, DEA Music & Art is targeting New Jersey, which includes approximately three million family-occupied households, for franchise growth. The brand has identified Newark, Jersey City and Paterson as territories ideal for expansion. While most supplemental education franchises on the East Coast are sold out, DEA has unlimited territories available, creating a rare opportunity for prospects to leverage an untapped market in their community. Kapllani is specifically targeting New Jersey for growth so that she will be within driving distance to provide hands-on support for new franchisees. Since the brand has not yet signed any franchisees, the first DEA Music & Art franchisee will receive 100% of Kapllani and the team’s attention. With this hands-on support, prospective franchisees don’t need to worry about being experts in music or art. “Our ideal franchisee is someone who is a hard worker and has a passion for teaching children,” said Kapllani. “It doesn’t necessarily need to be someone with my kind of music or art background, as they will not be the teacher, but they should be passionate about what they do.” The initial franchise training for DEA Music & Art owners will last five days in one of the studios and will provide owners and studio managers insight into the day-to-day operations, how to choose the right curriculums and programs from the brand’s library, marketing tactics for establishing enrollment as well as overall financial and studio management best practices. Additionally, in-studio and on-going support will be provided once franchisee’s centers are ready to open. Now, after navigating the challenges of 2020 and emerging stronger than ever, Kapllani notes that she’d love to see 10 DEA Music & Art locations open in 2021. “My primary hope is that DEA can serve franchisees the way it has served me,” said Kapllani. “As we gear up for growth in New Jersey and beyond, DEA Music & Art will continue to be a place where prospective franchisees can thrive and secure their future by inspiring a love for music, art and education with the youth in their community.” ## Entities - 1851 Franchise (publication) - unit expansion (topic) - franchise growth (topic) - Education & Childcare (sector) - new jersey (location) - music education (topic) - East Coast (location) - art education (topic) - Newark (location) - Jersey City (location) - Paterson (location) --- Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/dea-music-art-to-expand-across-the-east-coast-targeting-key-markets-in-new-jersey-2715623). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/66b4fa9d-c669-4f5e-9186-53ff85f614bd).