Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue IV, 2015 | Page 12
D OM I N A T O R S
BY KERRY PIPES
Dominating Presence
These franchisees “own” their markets
S
ome people are born with a deep desire to
win. They are passionate, determined,
aggressive, and persistent. We’ve come to
label these multi-unit franchisees “Dominators.” Some have many locations concentrated in one
area, while others have units—and brands—spread
across many states.
We interviewed six such Dominators to learn what
drives them, what motivates them, and what satisfies
them. Each has traced a different path to success, but all
are characterized by dedication, hard work, and a neversay-die attitude, no matter what challenges come their
way—and each story ends at the same place: success.
This year we introduce four new Dominators and
have reconnected with two from previous issues. Their
stories offer both insight and inspiration for franchisees
seeking to replicate their success with their own brands,
in their own markets.
• Becky Finger was a full-time homemaker and
mother of three in Cincinnati the first time she set foot
in a Once Upon a Child store in nearby Columbus.
That was all it took. She was smitten. Twenty-five years
ago when she signed on with the brand, she had 7 employees. Today she has 35, spread across 9 Once Upon
A Child stores and 7 Plato’s Closets—and those stores
have come a long way too. “Earlier, our stores would
do maybe $300,000,” she says. “Now they’re doing $1.5
million or more.”
• Gina Puente is an innovator with a decidedly
non-traditional and energetic approach. Her family
business, Puente Enterprises, created a first-of-its-kind
winery in an airport back in the 1990s. Since we profiled her in 2010, she has expanded to 19 locations and
10 different brands in 3 Texas airports. In 2013, she created and launched Sky Canyon by Stephan Pyles. This
September she won the bid a lease for a quick service
BBQ space at DFW for a new concept with Chef Pyles.
• Mike Pietrzyk is a man with a big heart. The
Firehouse Subs area rep is the person behind the
brand’s $2 pickle bucket sales, which have raised more
10
than $600,000 for the Firehouse Subs Public Safety
Foundation. When we profiled him in 2010, he was
working his way through a 58-store development
agreement with Firehouse and had 21 open. Today, he’s
up to 45 with 3 more in development that will open
by year-end. His territory now stretches into Virginia,
West Virginia, parts of Kentucky, and North Carolina.
• Jon-Anthony Lui loves learning. He also likes the
idea of franchising which, he says, allows him to work
on his business instead of in it. The 30-year-old Canadian now owns 10 Tutor Doctors, employing 350 tutors
and serving 850 families in 10 territories in the Greater
Toronto area. In 2013, with help from his wife Clarissa,
who joined him early on to manage the back end of the
growing business, they became the brand’s first franchisee to reach $1 million in sales.
• Renu Aggarwal’s success as a franchisee is an
American dream story. In 1989, she and her husband
moved from India to Texas, where she was a homemaker and sold jewelry wholesale. In 1997, she surprised
her family by using her savings to purchase a Subway
store. Today she owns 55 Subways in Texas and New
York and recently added a new brand, Wing Zone, in
Houston. At 51, she still has great ambition. “I’d like to
have 100 stores and a lot more people in the next 5 or
10 years,” she says.
• Tom Garrett epitomizes a franchise Dominator. In mid-2005, he was president of RTM Restaurant Group, which operated 775 Arby’s in 22 states
with sales of nearly $800 million when it was acquired
by the franchisor. After the sale he became COO of
Arby’s, exiting as CEO in early 2010. Two years later,
when he learned Burger King was beginning a huge
refranchising initiative, he was ready—and hasn’t
stopped since: today his company operates 196 Burger
Kings in 9 states.
This Dominators issue also includes our annual list
of U.S. DMAs with the most franchised units, as well as
the dominant franchisee organizations in each state and
region. FRANdata provided the numbers.
MULTI-UNIT FRANC