KnowFat, a healthy fast casual restaurant franchise based in Massachusetts is changing its name to UFood Grill.

George Naddaff Chairman and CEO of KnowFat Franchise Co. bought KnowFat Low Fat Lifestyle Grill in 2004 with Eric Spitz co-CEO and President. They are changing the name to UFood Grill, updating the menu, and redesigning the stores to capture a larger audience.

To help market the UFood Grill franchises, Naddaff has signed a deal with former heavyweight champ George Foreman. The new concept and the Foreman endorsement agreement come at a time when quick-serve restaurant sales continue to climb and consumers are increasingly looking for more healthy dining options.

The first UFood Grill opened in Naples, Fla., a couple of weeks ago. The KnowFat stores in Boston’s Downtown Crossing and Landmark Center, as well as the five other locations in Massachusetts, will close for two days this summer to be converted to UFood Grills. The 74 KnowFat units slated to open under eight area developers nationwide will open as UFood Grills

The menu items, all without trans fats and many low-fat or no-fat, will remain largely the same with name changes for some of the products — KnowFat AirFries will become UnFries, for example. Efrem Cutler, the former executive chef at Ritz-Carlton Hotel Atlanta, is the vice president of food development.

The company is selling three franchise models: a two-in-one food and retail store at about 2,500 square feet; a smaller, 2,000-square-foot model without retail; and a 1,000-square-foot mall food court model. Many of the KnowFat stores have a retail component already to them and can account for 20 percent of a store’s sales.

The fast-casual segment has been averaging 15 percent to 20 percent growth over the past few years, according to food service research firm Technomic Inc.

Naddaff — known for creating the highly successful Boston Market franchise concept — and Spitz decided to change the concept after months of focus groups and research led them to believe they were already reaching the fitness-minded consumer and needed to drop the word “fat” from their name to reach a broader audience. The new tagline is intended to attract that audience: “Feel great. Eat smart.”

In the agreement, the legendary boxer will lend his smiling mug to UFood Grill and franchises in return for an undisclosed number of shares in the company, according to Naddaff.

Cross Posted at: Let’s Talk Franchising

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Despite Sales Awards, Printing Franchisee Opens Second Business, Plans Move

Twenty years since Mizerak signed a contract agreement to run an Allegra Print & Imaging franchise in Dulles, he is opting not to renew when his contract expires this year. Instead, the Purcellville resident is going out on his own with, Unity Business Solutions, a similar business he launched in January and plans to move to Leesburg in September.

When Mizerak signed the dotted line with Allegra, he said he “didn’t have any experience and normally a franchise gives you backing and cushioning. Franchises normally are successful when a lot [of startups] fail.”

Within about five years of running the franchise, Mizerak said he decided “you don’t need it anymore.” A franchise termination fee worth about $75,000 kept him with Michigan-based Allegra. While being a franchisee served him well during his first two years of business, in hindsight, Mizerak said, he probably would not have gone the franchise route because “it’s hard to be entrepreneurial because you have to stay focused on what the franchise dictates. I didn’t particularly care for that.”

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Fitness Together announced the sale of its 500th franchise. The 500th franchise is located in Glen Ellyn, Ill. Since 1996, when the company first began franchising, franchises have been sold in 42 states as well as Canada, Costa Rica, Ireland and Israel.

“We are extremely excited about the growth of the company and the fitness industry, in general,” said Rick Sikorski, president and CEO of Fitness Together. “Our growth is a testament to the great opportunity offered to our franchisees and the excellent service provided to our clients. Starting with our first franchise sale nearly 10 years ago, we have been able to provide personal fitness training to hundreds of thousands of clients during that time. We are excited about the future of our company. I firmly believe that the fitness industry, especially our segment, where we provide personal training at an affordable price, will continue to grow. Our goal of opening 1,000 studios by 2012 is within our reach.”

About Fitness Together Franchise Corp.:

Established in 1996 in response to the growing demand for personal fitness training, Fitness Together offers the latest in one-on-one personal training. Fitness Together is part of Fitness Together Holdings, Inc., the world’s largest wellness organization. Fitness Together, founded by fitness leader Rick Sikorski, is built on three main foundations: strong corporate support, proven operating systems, and excellent leaders. There are over 340 Fitness Together franchise locations throughout the United States, Costa Rica, Israel, Ireland, and Canada and another 160 scheduled to open. Fitness Together Franchise Corp. also includes Elements Therapeutic Massage.

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The new Patriot Express loan is offered by the Small Business Administration (SBA) network of participating lenders nationwide and features our fastest turnaround time for loan approvals.  Loans are available up to $500,000 and qualify for SBA’s maximum guaranty of up to 85 percent for loans of $150,000 or less and up to 75 percent for loans over $150,000 up to $500,000.  For loans above $350,000, lenders are required to take all available collateral.

The Patriot Express loan can be used for most business purposes, including start-up, expansion, equipment purchases, working capital, inventory or business-occupied real-estate purchases.

Patriot Express loans feature SBA’s lowest interest rates for business loans, generally 2.25 percent to 4.75 percent over prime depending upon the size and maturity of the loan.  Your local SBA district office will have a listing of Patriot Express lenders in your area.

For more information: Patriot Express

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Fresh Casual is a new segment in the restaurant industry that combines the upscale, quality experience of a casual dining setting with the quicker, faster growing fast casual service.

This new model is for those who want quality, fresh food without the fuss.

A new website has been launched called FreshCasual.com is an online publication dedicated to covering the fast growing fresh casual segment in the restaurant industry.

Some of the franchise brands that would be considered Fast Casual are:

Sandella’s Flatbread

Vapiano

Fresh City

Tossed

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The franchisees of SuperCoups have formed an association. In an effort to enhance communication and create a forum for franchisee representation and negotiation the franchisees have elected to form the SuperCoups Franchise Owners Association (SCFOA).

For many years SuperCoups has had an Advisory Board, which is organized with the participation of the franchisor. The SuperCoups Advisory Board provides an opportunity for the franchisor to present information to franchisees and visa versa, but the franchisees wanted a more independent forum to enhance communication among franchisees and the franchisor.

A former member of the SuperCoups Advisory Board, Jim McCann, who has been a franchisee (SuperCoups of Mercer County) of SuperCoups for 12 years, said “the advisory council fostered communications between the management team of SuperCoups and the franchisees, recently the parent company was undergoing an ownership change, the franchisees felt it was important to form an association to make sure there was a forum to communicate among ourselves and directly with the parent company while providing the Advisory Board with added support.”

In November of 2006, Jim started looking into ways to organize the franchisees and came across the American Association of Franchisees and Dealers (AAFD). “The AAFD offered a step by step process that made the forming of the SCFOA much less intimidating, we all have businesses to operate and we can’t spend too much time organizing, the AAFD gave us a blueprint to form the association, inform the franchisor, and establish an infrastructure to operate efficiently,” stated McCann”

The first and largest franchisee of SuperCoups, Ron Benedetti conducted a survey in which 43 out of 47of franchisees participated. Ron said, “When Jim first approached me about the idea to start an association, I felt the best place to start was with the franchisees, if they supported an association I would be on board. The survey revealed 92.9% of the franchisees surveyed felt that starting a franchisee association was the thing to do.”

Both Jim and Ron feel the SCFOA will foster better and more productive communications among franchisees, the franchisor and the parent company.

Ron says, “SuperCoups is a great product that consumers will always use to help them make buying decisions, I’ve never seen a home I didn’t want to mail, the most important thing for all of us is to grow and enhance the SuperCoups network, the forming of SCFOA is a big step in that direction.

Jim added, “SuperCoups has been a very good business for me over the years, I would like to see the system grow, just to the west of me in Bucks County, PA there is a great opportunity for a franchisee, I could put some of my advertisers into those areas and I’m sure the franchisee would do the same to my envelopes. The growth of the SuperCoups system benefits us all. I am confident that if we all work as a team we can enhance the SuperCoups system together.”

About SuperCoups: SuperCoups, a wholly owned subsidiary of Valassis, is a co-op direct mail franchise. Since 1982, SuperCoups direct marketing solutions have delivered local coupons with super savings to consumers, helping small businesses grow while maximizing returns on their advertising investment. For more information about SuperCoups or its franchisees visit http://www.supercoups.com

About AAFD: The AAFD is a national non-profit trade association representing the rights and interests of franchisees and independent dealers throughout the United States. Formed in 1992, the AAFD is focused on market driven reform to achieve its mission to define and promote collaborative franchise cultures that the AAFD describes as Total Quality Franchising. Since its formation the AAFD has grown to represent more than 50,000 franchised businesses throughout the United States. The AAFD currently has members in all 50 states and represents more than 100 different franchise systems. For more information about the AAFD, visit: http://www.AAFD.org

Cross Posted at Let’s Talk Franchising

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