Cookies By Design/Cookie Bouquet vs Mara's Cafe and Bakery Franchise Comparison

Below is an in-depth analysis and side-by-side comparison of Cookies By Design/Cookie Bouquet vs Mara's Cafe and Bakery including start-up costs and fees, business experience requirements, training & support and financing options.

Start-Up Costs and Fees
 
Cookies By Design/Cookie Bouquet Franchise
Mara's Cafe and Bakery Franchise
Investment $90,000 - $180,000N/A
Franchise Fee $25,000$25,000
Royalty Fee 6%5%
Advertising Fee -2% local + 1% Nat'l
Year Founded 19831984
Year Franchised 19872004
Term Of Agreement 5 years10 years
Term Of Agreement 5 years10 years
Renewal Fee 25% of initial fee-


Business Experience Requirements
 
Cookies By Design/Cookie Bouquet Franchise
Mara's Cafe and Bakery Franchise
Experience
  • General business experience
  • Marketing skills
    		• We are seeking motivated owner-operators with solid restaurant operating experience to join our system. In exchange, we will provide the tools and training you need to run your own Mara�s Caf� & Bakery location. We do, of course, also expect that you have the right amount of capital to invest in the franchise.

    Financing Options
     
    Cookies By Design/Cookie Bouquet Franchise
    Mara's Cafe and Bakery Franchise
      In-House/3rd PartyIn-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
     
    Cookies By Design/Cookie Bouquet Franchise
    Mara's Cafe and Bakery Franchise
    Training -Franchise owners and their key management staff will receive at least two weeks and up to three weeks of training, including both classroom and on-the-job training.
    Support Newsletter, Meetings, Toll-free phone line, Internet, Field operations/evaluationsYour team will receive five days of onsite help at your own location around the time of your grand opening. You will have access to all Mara's Caf� & Bakery trademarks, recipes and supply chains, and our unique operational procedures. And, we'll provide you with a copy of our confidential operations manual to help you run your caf� properly.
    Marketing Ad slicks, National media-
    Operations 30% of all franchisees own more than one unit

    Number of employees needed to run franchised unit: 5

    Absentee ownership of franchise is NOT allowed. (100% of current franchisees are owner/operators)

    		-

    Expansion Plans
     
    Cookies By Design/Cookie Bouquet Franchise
    Mara's Cafe and Bakery Franchise
    US Expansion -Yes
    Canada Expansion No-
    International Expansion No-

    Company Overviews

    About Cookies By Design/Cookie Bouquet

    When she lost her job, single mother Gwen Willhite had to figure out what to do next. Combining two traditional gifts'flowers and sweets'Willhite developed a new business: Cookies by Design/Cookie Bouquet. Each bouquet was arranged with custom-molded, hand-decorated sugar and cinnamon brown sugar cookies in baskets for all holidays and occasions. The company, which Willhite started in her home, soon grew into a chain of shops that began franchising in 1987. Within 10 years, Cookies by Design/Cookie Bouquet had grown to more than 175 shops in 115 cities across the United States.

    Cookies by Design offers a low entry cost and scalable confectionery bakery franchise featuring custom hand decorated cookie bouquets, gourmet cookies, cupcakes and confectionery treats. For over 30 years, Cookies by Design has been delighting people across the US with a unique and delicious gifting alternative to flowers.Our ability to create custom cookie bouquet designs with a personalized message as well as provide local hand delivery set us apart. Our customers are thrilled with
    Cookies by Design’s ease of service and creativity that delivers their gift with a personal touch. We love being a part of people celebrations, special occasions and life events. From start to finish our cookie bouquets are all hand crafted using our sugar cookie dough, cinnamon brown sugar dough recipes and signature icing creating an unforgettable, tasty work of art. With over 300 unique cookie cutter shapes and thousands of design options Cookies by Design’s potential to deliver gift items that are unique, special & memorable are limitless. Cookies by Design has incorporated the business of gifting with the love of baked goods into one successful franchise. Combining the local bakery retail shop offering personalized gifts and local hand delivery with the cookiesbydesign.com online ordering site, gives each location has a national selling reach with a neighborhood delivery touch.

    About Mara's Cafe and Bakery

    The concept behind Mara's Cafe & Bakery got its start in 1984 when Mara and Glenn's "mom and pop" business began offering customers the highest quality, delectable desserts made fresh in our own bakery and served with freshly roasted coffee. It was with the encouragement of our family and friends that we began creating delicious desserts from traditional family recipes and Glenn, a coffee perfectionist, distinguished a unique line of roasted coffee products. It wasn't long before we had customers coming in and out daily, requesting more of their favorite tasty treats and coffee beverages!

    In 2004, sons Ian and Devan joined the family business with great plans of expansion. After nearly twenty years of establishing a reputation for serving up the best coffee and desserts in town, we knew it was time to expand not only our business, but our menu as well. The first Mara's Cafe & Bakery was opened in Denville, NJ. With the addition of sandwiches, salads, wraps, and more, this simple "mom and pop" concept quickly became a family-run business - and the dining destination of choice during all hours of the day. Customers from all over soon realized Mara's was the best place to enjoy a delicious meal in a cozy atmosphere and began asking for more locations within their own communities. Thus, the idea to franchise our concept was conceived - after all, we couldn't let our customers down!

    Now is the time for you to take advantage of this incredible opportunity and bring our amazing concept to your home town. Discover how becoming a Mara's Cafe & Bakery franchise owner can be the greatest reward of your career - and possibly your life. With the help of our team of experts, our exclusive, award-winning recipes, and our time- tested business model, opening your own Mara's Cafe & Bakery could be as easy as.... pie!

    We sincerely appreciate your interest in Mara's Cafe & Bakery, The Magley Family