Stuart Davis could already consider himself a success, but four Southern California restaurants aren't enough for him. He wants to see hundreds of his City Wok restaurants across the country. Davis started the chain in 1990 and opened his newest location in San Diego in January. He has two Coachella Valley locations. But he wanted to get bigger, and saving money and taking chances on new restaurant locations seemed too slow for his taste. So starting this month, Davis has joined forces with Fransmart in Alexandria, Va., to sell City Wok franchises across the country. Davis said the restaurant business has been a calling for him. "I was the guy in college that someone would say, ‘I'm going out with so and so, where should I take her to eat?' " he said. "I knew where the hot restaurants were, I couldn't necessarily afford to eat at them, but I was a bartender in college in Westwood and I made some good money. I would spend it on going out to eat." After graduating from UCLA in 1983, Davis worked for television and music companies. In the late 1980s, however, he returned to the restaurant industry as a manager. After working for other restaurant owners, he became interested in opening his own Asian restaurant. He envisioned not the usual, late-night takeout joint, but instead a restaurant that would produce fast, high-quality food. "I love Asian food," he said. "I'm very passionate about it, and there was no one in the L.A. area doing anything other than basically Mom and Pop Chinese restaurants. "This was before the days of P.F. Chang's and all these contemporary restaurants." More about small businesses More stories about restaurants C ITY WOK Headquarters: Palm Desert Owner: Stuart Davis Founded: 1990 Employees: 110 in four locations: Palm Desert, Coachella, San Diego and Los Angeles Business description: Fast, fresh Asian food Source of startup funding: Small group of California friends who became investors and a Small Business Administration loan Initial investment: $160,000 for the first restaurant Projected revenues: More than $5 million in 2004 Competitors: Baja Fresh, Rubio's VALLEY LOCATIONS 74-970 Country Club Drive, Palm Desert, 760-341-1511 Trump 29 Casino, I-10 at Dillon, Coachella Post or read comments in our online forums Home Page Hot Topics Quick Links News Sports Business Weather Opinion Obituaries Features Entertainment Movie/TV listings Elections Events Calendar Community Travel Education Photos Your Town Special Reports Forums Technology Space Public Records Customer Service Contact Us Classifieds Real estate Cars Jobs Coupons Page 1 of 3 thedesertsun.com City Wok owner has national dream 7/19/2004 http://www.thedesertsun.com/news/stories2004/business/20040718222419.shtml Davis was interested in doing something more affordable, however. Something like a Baja Fresh for Asian food. He started to experiment with a possible menu himself -- at home and at work. "I was cooking food for my bar customers at one restaurant I ran late at night when things slowed down," Davis said. Eventually, he teamed with a Chinese fine-dining chef and the young manager of another Chinese restaurant. They opened the business's first location in North Hollywood. He moved with his family to the desert in 1995 and opened a location in Palm Desert. He now has one at Trump 29 Casino as well as the newest San Diego location. Jerry Wilkerson, owner of Franchise Recruiters Ltd. in Chicago, has been working in the franchise business for 26 years and is a past president of the International Franchise Association. He said a lot of new franchisers resemble Davis -- businesspeople with a few years of success under their belt, ready for the next big step. "It's the normal path of franchising, but just because you're very good at developing food to sell to consumers doesn't mean you lend yourself well to franchising," Wilkerson said. "I've been in this 26 years, I've seen a lot of them start, a lot of them fail and a few survive." Robert Purvin, the board of trustees chairman of the American Association of Franchisees and Dealers, said that Davis is in the perfect position to think about franchising, however. "It's a good sign that he's been in business for 15 years and he has four or five local restaurants that are doing well," Purvin said. With more than one location, Davis has proven that he can train a management staff to run a successful business, which Purvin says is a critical part of determining franchising success. "The person I don't like to talk to is the guy who Friday night, drives home and has a great idea for a restaurant," Purvin said. "Monday morning he's calling up talking about franchises, and he's never run a restaurant." In order to turn his growth dream into reality, Davis is teaming with Fransmart, a franchise development company that has committed to sell existing franchise owners on the City Wok idea. Sam Chamberlain, vice president of sales for Fransmart, predicts there will be 200 City Wok locations in development by 2007. Chamberlain said Fransmart has developed a network of vendors that can provide new franchises with everything from food to payroll services to chairs and architects. The priority, however, will be to find qualified people who want to open a City Wok. "We're a matchmaker, we're going to introduce them to Stuart, try to get them to make proposal and hopefully have a marriage," Chamberlain said.
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