Franchise Brands Unveil Lower-Cost Prototypes

• Chicken Salad Chick, Annex Brands, Scooter’s Coffee and G6 Hospitality announce deals that expand their presence in the U.S.

• Recent acquisitions include: HomeFront Brands added AdvantaClean to its portfolio, Diversified Royalty acquired Mr. Lube + Tires, and the Kyuramen Group franchise acquired Aokō Matcha.

• The Joint chiropractic franchise is selling 45 California facilities to Elite Chiro Group. Of The Joint’s 960 units, only three corporate clinics remain.

Lower cost prototypes

Camp Bow Wow and the Huey Magoo’s restaurant brand are courting franchisees with smaller building concepts that increase real estate site options and reduce investment costs.

The new prototype for Camp Bow Wow, a 225-unit brand founded in 2000, trims initial costs by $400,000 and is built for scaling, allowing owners to adjust capacity and operations as demand grows, according to a May 14 news release. “The new model creates a more accessible entry point for prospective franchisees while maintaining the premium experience pet parents expect,” said Mark Jameson, chief development officer of Propelled Brands, parent of Camp Bow Wow.

Huey Magoo’s, known for its chicken tenders, now offers a freestanding drive-thru prototype designed for franchisees who want to build an approximately 1,850-square-foot restaurant from scratch on parcels of about a half-acre. In a news release, Andy Howard, president and CEO of Huey Magoo’s, said, “We’ve focused on creating a scalable, cost-effective design that makes development more accessible for franchisees while maintaining the core brand experience.” The fast-food brand, which should exceed 100 units open by year-end, was founded in 2004.

A fast-casual restaurant chain, a coffee shop brand, a pack-and-ship service and a new hotel concept have announced the following agreements:

New development deals

• Chicken Salad Chick has signed its largest development deal so far, for 25 units to be established in upstate New York, including Albany, Buffalo and Syracuse. Chicken Salad Chick, founded in 2008, has about 330 units operating in the U.S.

• Scooter’s Coffee is partnering with Boddie-Noell Enterprises, the largest domestic Hardee’s franchisee, to open 31 additional drive-thru coffee restaurants in North Carolina and Virginia. Scooter’s Coffee, turning 28 years old in 2026, has some 900 locations in 32 states.

• Annex Brands Inc., a B2B and B2C franchisor that has provided packing, shipping and related office services since 1985, has acquired 34 Postal Connections units across the U.S. This gives Annex Brands some 800 locations in the United States, Canada and Mexico with these brands: PostalAnnex, Pak Mail, Navis Pack & Ship, AIM Mail Centers, Handle With Care Packaging Store, Parcel Plus and Sunshine Pack & Ship.

• In a May 12 news release, G6 Hospitality revealed its development agreement with Natson Hotel Group to open 18 Studio 6 Plus properties in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, and Tennessee. Studio 6 Plus, an extended-stay lodging concept introduced in late April 2026, features interior corridor security, larger rooms and full kitchens for roughly $80 to $90 per day.

Recent acquisitions

HomeFront Brands has acquired AdvantaClean, which provides restoration services for mold and water damage along with air duct cleaning. HomeFront founder and CEO Jeff Dudan created AdvantaClean in the 1990s; Home Franchise Concepts acquired the brand in 2019.

“My professional career has come full circle as a business I spent my life building for 25 years is now part of our family of brands once again,” Dudan said in a news release. HomeFront’s other brands are Roof Scientist, Temporary Wall Systems, The Designery, Top Rail Fence and Window Hero.

Diversified Royalty has agreed to acquire Mr. Lube + Tires, a 50-year-old Canadian brand, for about $171.3 million, MarketWatch reported Thursday. May 14 Mr. Lube + Tires specializes in quick, drive-thru vehicle maintenance without appointments.

Diversified said it plans to grow Mr. Lube + Tires into Canada’s leading automotive services franchise. The deal should close by the end of the second quarter of 2026.

The parent of the Kyuramen ramen restaurant franchise has acquired Aokō Matcha, a matcha gelato café. Kyuramen Group aims to grow Aokō Matcha across the U.S. – with 30 openings already planned within the next year – as a standalone concept and inside its Kyuramen restaurants, according to a May 14 report by Nation’s Restaurant News.

Aokō Matcha, which launched in Manhattan in 2025, allows guests to choose the intensity of matcha in their gelato, NRN said. The menu also features other matcha desserts, specialty lattes and Japanese tea, the publication added.

The Joint Corp., a chiropractic franchisor, is selling 45 of its corporate-managed clinics in Southern California to Elite Chiro Group for about $2.3 million. Founded in 1999, The Joint brand introduced its retail health care business model in 2010.

The sale to Elite Chiro will reduce The Joint’s corporate clinics to only three among the 960 locations in its clinic portfolio. The franchisor has plans to re-franchise the three remaining corporate-owned or managed clinics, a news release stated.