| ||||
Updated RecentlyFriendly's Restaurants vs Applejack's Franchise Comparison
Below is an in-depth analysis and side-by-side comparison of Friendly's Restaurants vs Applejack's including start-up costs and fees, business experience requirements, training & support and financing options.
Start-Up Costs and Fees |
||
| Investment | $498,500 - $1,950,000 | $250,000 - $275,000 |
| Franchise Fee | $30,000 - $35,000 | $25,000 |
| Royalty Fee | 4% | 4% |
| Advertising Fee | 3.5% | 2% |
| Year Founded | 1935 | 1999 |
| Year Franchised | 1996 | 2004 |
| Term Of Agreement | 20 years | 10 years |
| Term Of Agreement | 20 years | 10 years |
| Renewal Fee | $5K | - |
Business Experience Requirements |
||
| Experience | - | |
Financing Options |
||
| In-House/3rd Party | In-House/3rd Party | |
| Franchise Fees | No/No | -/- |
| Start-up Costs | No/No | -/- |
| Equipment | No/No | -/- |
| Inventory | No/No | -/- |
| Receivables | No/No | -/- |
| Payroll | No/No | -/- |
Training & Support |
||
| Training | - | - |
| Support | Newsletter, Meetings, Toll-free phone line, Grand opening, Internet, Security/safety procedures, Field operations/evaluations | - |
| Marketing | Ad slicks, National media | - |
| Operations |
Franchisees required to buy multiple units/master licenses; 62% of all franchisees own more than one unit
Absentee ownership of franchise is NOT allowed. (100% of current franchisees are owner/operators) | - |
Expansion Plans |
||
| US Expansion | Yes | - |
| Canada Expansion | No | - |
| International Expansion | No | - |
Company Overviews
About Friendly's Restaurants
In Springfield, Massachusetts at the height of the Great Depression in 1935, 20 year-old Prestley Blake and his 18 year-old brother Curtis opened an ice cream shop called 'Friendly' that served double-dip cones for 5 cents. The brothers opened a second shop five years later in West Springfield, Massachusetts and added food to the menu. Within a decade, locations opened throughout western Massachusetts and Connecticut. In 1988 Donald N. Smith, the company's current CEO, purchased the company and a year later added an 's' to the name, making it 'Friendly's.'
In May 2000, Friendly's introduced a new food and dessert menu featuring colossal burgers, sandwich wraps, splits, sundaes and Cyclones. Friendly's produces 10 million snack cups and 230,000 gallons of fudge every year. In addition to its restaurants and cafes, Friendly's manufactures a complete line of frozen desserts.
About Applejack's
As an effective business operator, you wish to minimize risk and maximize profit. That is exactly what successful franchising is all about. Franchised businesses have a higher success rate than independent businesses. This is a fact. It is generally accepted that an estimated 40% of all non-franchised businesses do not make it to the end of their first year of operation, and 80% will fail within their first five years of operation. And even the 20% that do manage to survive are not safe, as 90% of them will fail within the next five years. In most cases this is not due to lack of revenues and its mostly based on lack of experience, support and management skills. By joining a Franchise, franchisees can benefit from the Brand marketing, purchasing power and management expertise offered by well-established franchisors. This is particularly attractive to those persons entering the highly competitive food service industry for the first time. As a result of the positive interaction between franchisee and franchisor, our restaurant owner/operators are much more likely to be financially successful than were they to enter the industry as independent restaurateurs.