Ten Fresh Franchises Draw Interest at IFE

For franchisees looking to invest in anything from bubble tea shops to customer service training to boozy ice cream, the International Franchise Expo had it all—and then some. Hundreds of brands had booths at IFE, held June 1-3 at New York City’s Javits Center. Franchise Times hit the show and chatted with representatives from 10 unique, up-and-coming brands.

Bango Bowls

The idea for Bango Bowls came from a desire to provide diners with healthy choices, said co-founder James Bonanno. Bonanno launched Bango Bowls in 2017, and he didn’t want to sacrifice flavor or pigeonhole his business into one category. If it’s served in a bowl and is reasonably good for you, Bango probably has it. The menu includes bowls made of acai, grains, salads, poke and oatmeal, as well as various smoothies, toasts and pressed flatbreads called “flaninis.” Bango has seven corporate stores in New York. “Sales started growing, and we thought it was a viable, great opportunity for someone,” Bonanno said about the brand’s decision to pursue franchising.

British Butler Institute

No, it’s not just for butlers. Founded in 1997 and based in London, the British Butler Institute is a luxury customer service training company. The institute trains employees for jobs in all sorts of sectors, such as cruise ships, hotels, residences, childcare and more. Brands like the Four Seasons or certain cruise lines have their own in-house training programs, but reach out to the British Butler Institute as a supplemental training course, Principal Gary Williams said. Other times, the brand holds a fixed course in, say, Miami, where anyone can fly in for training. “They get certified … and that really opens the door for them to get jobs in hospitality,” Williams said. As for franchising, the institute is looking for a franchisee in the United States to develop their own market. “We don’t want to sell 100. We want one, and do it seriously well,” he said.

Brooklyn Robot Foundry

Established 12 years ago in New York City, Brooklyn Robot Foundry hosts STEAM—science, technology, engineering, arts and math—classes for all ages through building robots. Founder and CEO Jenny Young was working in education prior to creating the concept. “One of the things I learned is that the best way to kill a kid’s love for learning is a with a bubble sheet,” Young said. “The benefit of this is it allows children to have this ability to be creative without having to have a right or wrong answer.” Brooklyn Robots Foundry doesn’t have brick-and-mortar stores. Franchisees will have territories with a set number of zip codes, plus a home base for storage and training. The company, which is new to franchising, creates open-ended projects for its students using common materials. “We’re trying to really demystify engineering. So, we use materials that are around in the world and are not scary,” Young said. “No one is scared of a pipe cleaner or pom poms or popsicle sticks.”

CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice

Bubble tea was the category to watch at IFE this year. One of many brands at the expo’s crowded Taiwan Pavilion was CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice, a bubble tea franchise with more than 5,000 stores across the globe. The brand has many international locations, along with 20 stores on the East Coast. CoCo was founded in 1997 in Taiwan, and as it expands in the U.S. it wants franchisees committed to running stores well. “CoCo, at its core, is an operations company,” said Jeffrey Lin, the business developer for the New York office. “What I tell people is that we’re not here specifically for the goal of selling you a franchise.” CoCo aims to keep upfront investment costs as low as possible (its investment range is $241,000-$1.3 million). “Our goal is not to make money off of the act of franchising,” Lin said. “Our goal is to make money off of successful businesses and a successful partnership.”

GameTruck

Tempe-based GameTruck brings more than 100 games to its customers via truck. The franchisor has 51 trucks around the country, each with the ability to hold 15 kids at a time. The trucks have PlayStation, Nintendo and Xbox games. “We meet monthly to make sure that the games are up to date with new titles,” said Mark Strano, business development manager. GameTruck serves people 6 years and older. “Really, that’s the beauty of the system,” Strano said. “Gamers are growing in age. They’re playing much longer, into their early 30s.” The 40-foot trucks require about 60 feet for parking. “As long as they have that, they can go wherever they want,” Strano said.

Gyu Shige Japanese BBQ & Bar

One of many booths at IFE’s Japanese Pavilion serving up samples was Gyu Shige. The brand offered a taste of its wagyu beef with a signature sauce. Gyu Shige, led by CEO Takahiro Igo, has more than 160 locations worldwide, the majority of them in Japan but with one franchise store in Virginia. Gyu Shige’s menu also includes sushi rolls. It’s opening a sister restaurant, Wagyu Street, in Long Beach, California, early next year. Wagyu Street will offer Japanese barbecue, in a style called yakiniku, and serve wagyu beef with a street food spin.

Midwest Shooting Center

Midwest Shooting Center is a one-stop shop for gun owners and those looking to become owners. The brand has eight corporate stores with firearm retail and range services, along with extensive training; it launched franchising this year. The brand started in Ohio, but it’s looking to expand across the country. “There are little pockets all over the United States where there’s more of a draw for that, like specifically Texas,” said Rachael Lust, franchise sales manager. “We have so many people from Texas inquiring with us, so that’s probably going to be a big hub.” Guns are widely available in the U.S., and the need for gun education and safety is in high demand, Lust said.

Pet Passages

At Pet Passages, franchisees need to have compassion above anything else. “For me, it’s kind of become more of a ministry,” Vice President Andrea Harris said of the end-of-life pet care franchise. “For me, it’s just a really valuable service that, one, people don’t know exists and, two, everybody needs.” Pet Passages offers cremation, funeral and obituary services for families whose pets have died. Mike Harris founded the company in 2016, after decades of working as a licensed funeral director. The brand has 19 locations, all of which are franchised, mostly in the southern and eastern United States. Pet Passages anticipates opening another four this year. “I want everybody to have this opportunity,” Harris said. “You should be able to have this service be available. I think it should be in every state.”

Sticky Fingers Cooking

Sticky Fingers Cooking has taught more than 75,000 kids about healthy eating and cooking across its five territories in Colorado, Texas and Illinois since 2011. It chose franchising to expand because “we basically decided that we want kids to cook absolutely everywhere without any boundaries to our growth,” Chief Operating Officer Kimberly Douglas said. “This seemed like the most opportunistic way to do that.” Classes and camps don’t require a physical location. Instead, they’re hosted in schools, libraries, YMCAs and Boys and Girls Clubs, Douglas said. “We don’t need a kitchen. We just need outlets and a sink,” she said.

Tipsy Scoop

Boozy ice cream shop Tipsy Scoop started franchising in March. The company has three corporate stores in New York City and ships product nationwide. CEO Melissa Tavss founded the brand in 2014, combining her marketing and ice cream-making backgrounds. Ice cream flavors include dark chocolate whiskey salted caramel, vanilla bean bourbon and raspberry limoncello sorbet, among others. It offers off-site catering with ice cream carts, in addition to brick-and-mortar stores. The ice cream is made off-site and delivered to each location, so franchisees don’t need a culinary background or to hire ice cream makers. “It’s a very easy, simple setup,” Tavss said.