Wild Birds Unlimited Creates an Unparalleled Community of Support Through Passionate Franchisees and Customers

Wild Birds Unlimited has been servicing communities for more than 35 years as the premier backyard and birding nature retail franchise. The community-driven brand provides the highest quality backyard bird feeding products coupled with expert local advice on how to enjoy birds and nature. This emphasis on support has served to curate an active family of passionate and driven franchisees.

“Wild Birds Unlimited is much more than a business,” said Paul Pickett, Chief Development Officer. “We are a community of supportive individuals that have a similar passion for nature, birds and people. Our brand is like a family, with relationships that go far beyond business.”

According to Pickett, each and every brand partner, whether they are franchise store owners or support staff, come to the table with a deep and caring passion for the brand. “Close to 90% of new Wild Birds Unlimited franchisees have already engaged with the brand prior to joining the franchise system as a franchise store owner,” said Pickett. “Most franchise candidates are familiar with specific stores or are regular customers of our brand. That initial common thread creates an infrastructure of positive support and love.”

During the discovery day experience, Wild Birds Unlimited partners candidates with multiple franchisee site visits, special access to satisfaction data and a culture of honest transparency, cultivating a community feel and personalized approach right from the start.

Recently, Pickett cited the Wild Birds Unlimited Enterprise Leadership Conference as an inspiring and emotional event in which the community at large came together to support each other.

**“After the conference, my brain is full of information, but more importantly, I have a heart and soul full of love,” Pickett posted on his personal Facebook, accompanied by a photo of two franchisees holding hands. “Wild Birds Unlimited is a community, not just a business. I could not be more humbled to be a tiny part of it,” the post continued.

The picture was of two franchisees, Barbara Haralson from Greensboro, North Carolina and Jeanie Shackleton from Minnetonka and St. Paul, Minnesota. Barbara and Jeanie met at WBU new owner training in 1996 and began what has been a close personal friendship that goes way beyond being fellow Wild Birds Unlimited franchise store owners.

Looking at the response to the post, it is clear to see that the Wild Birds Unlimited family-atmosphere is the real deal, with users commenting, “Our conference is like a giant family reunion!” and “I miss everyone already!”

While there are hundreds of stories like this, Pickett points to Cathy Fleischacker and Pam Dymsza’s Wild Birds Unlimited store in Albuquerque, New Mexico as a prime example of the power of Wild Birds Unlimited’s community. In July 2016, Dymsza suffered a major heart attack and hemorrhagic stroke, leaving Fleischacker faced with uncertainty about running their young business alone.

Not only did the Wild Birds Unlimited’s Franchise Support Center team—including everyone from the Chief Operating Officer to the CEO—personally check in and provide her with dedicated training and assistance, but Fleischacker was contacted by fellow Wild Birds Unlimited franchisees all over the state. The team offered help in any way possible, coordinating assistance from different locations and helping the store regroup and even working the retail floor to help customers and assist in training the newly hired sales team. After Dymsza started to recover, the franchisees and support team stayed in touch, cultivating a powerful and long-lasting relationship.

According to Pickett, this kind of story is not rare within the Wild Birds Unlimited community. “I know two sets of individual franchisees who came into the system around the same time, met during training and now take personal vacations together,” he said. “When employees are spending their off-work hours together, it is clear that there is something special happening within the business model.”

This people-first value system is what fuels the Wild Birds Unlimited community, providing unparalleled support to make sure franchisees are not only as successful as possible but as fulfilled as possible.

With over 340 locations throughout North America, Wild Birds Unlimited is an ideal concept for any individual interested in building a business enterprise that puts people and individual success first.

“The number one factor that Wild Birds Unlimited brings to the table is Joy,” said Pickett. “When you love what you do, work really hard and love the people you do it with, it is easy to make it happen.”

Wild Birds Unlimited is the original and largest franchise system of backyard bird feeding and nature specialty stores with more than 340 locations throughout the United States and Canada. The investment level to open a Wild Birds Unlimited location is $150,837 to $260,991. To learn about franchising opportunities with Wild Birds Unlimited, please visit www.wbufranchise.com.