World Wrapps, a survivor of the late 1990's wrap wars, has a new Seattle-based owner and big expansion plans. Recent Company News � Burger King � Seattle University � World Wrapps Latest News � Federated shifting distribution work to Tukwila � Suitor yanks plan to acquire Onyx � Flexcar adds to D.C. fleet � Dendreon laying off 34 � Lilly Icos reports profit More � Companies in the News � People in the News � Get the latest business news on the go! Brought to you by Cingular Today there are 10 Seattle-area World Wrapps and six in San Francisco. Owner Don Flynn says he's now ready to expand the chain across the Western United States. World Wrapps used to be based in San Francisco, and in 1997 its Northwest franchisee bought a Seattle competitor, Todo Wraps. Flynn said that in the years since, the California owners of World Wrapps were pushed by venture-capital investors to expand too fast, and ran into trouble. Flynn, who owns Applebee's and Burger King franchises, stepped in 18 months ago and bought the parent World Wrapps company. Flynn, who was also an original investor in the first World Wrapps store in San Francisco, said he's spent the past year and a half on uniting the north and south branches of the 8-year-old company and moving its headquarters here. "What we did is we stopped the expansion and focused on operations," Flynn said. "Food has always been the strong point, and we've kept our eye on the ball there." World Wrapps today has a niche in the popular fast-casual segment with full-flavored, tortilla-based dishes that go for between $5 and $7. Items include spicy Southwest shrimp and Northwest lemon-dill salmon, and the menu has expanded over the years to include smoothies and other edibles. Now that the operational bugs have been worked out of the united World Wrapps, Flynn is offering franchise territories from Chicago to Hawaii. Seattle, San Francisco and likely Portland, Ore., will stay company-owned, Flynn said. The information World Wrapps is providing franchisees offers an interesting look at the chain's performance. A letter to franchisees available on the company Web site, http://www.worldwrapps.com, notes that last year World Wrapps eateries in locations serving both lunch and dinner averaged sales of $738,000, while units in major shopping centers brought in an average of $1 million. Restaurants in office buildings that only served lunch didn't do as well, though no figures are given for those locations. Opening a World Wrapps store, the company estimates, takes between $300,000 to $600,000, depending on the size and location. The company's ideal franchise candidate will plan to develop at least three units, has at least five years' experience in food service, and a minimum liquid net worth of $100,000.
News and Press Releases
This article has been read 1257 times.
Would you like to own a Franchise?
For more information about becoming a Franchise owner, including a franchise overview, start-up costs, fees, training and more, please visit our Franchise Information page.
Updated Recently