Franchising

Franchising Opportunities

Corporate Support
Growth Plans
Domestic
International
Real Estate
Real Estate Process & Trade Channels
Criteria – Domestic
FAQ

Concept
Au Bon Pain’s fast-casual concept is all about “Beyond the Ordinary”.

At Au Bon Pain we are committed to going “Beyond the Ordinary” in every facet of the fast-casual dining experience. We welcome our guests with a warm, comfortable cafe setting; a friendly, hospitable customer service smile; and countless fresh, innovative and healthy menu choices. Our experience has shown us that when the most basic and ordinary restaurant elements take the turn towards extraordinary; we get a winning combination that has been the cornerstone of our success over the years.

In 2008, Au Bon Pain celebrated a 30th anniversary! We attribute our achievement, in part, to our outstanding franchise partners. We recognize the fundamental role that franchising has played in our three decades of growth, and we understand the importance of our franchisee's contributions in helping us build the brand.

Corporate Support
The key to Au Bon Pain’s continued success is its people. From the customer service representatives and sandwich makers in the cafés to the President and CEO in the Support Center, we have assembled a winning team that prides itself on an owner/operator attitude. We have built a world class organization where each department is committed to growing the business with financially responsible business practices and a teaching and learning culture.

From the purchasing team who works diligently with suppliers to negotiate the terms that keep our café costs in line; to our operations team who works to ensure clean, safe cafes and guest satisfaction; to our IT team who works to provide the most current technological solutions for maintaining our competitive edge; each department contributes to bottom line profits and plays a critical role in the success of the entire company.

Growth Plans
Au Bon Pain’s future is bright! Our plan is to take advantage of an exploding market segment and accelerate our franchise development in both domestic and international territories. In order to do this, we’re looking for qualified and enthusiastic franchise partners with experience and expertise to help us grow the brand within our five (5) preferred trade channels.

The breadth and flexibility of our five select trade channels gives our brand a powerful competitive advantage in the bakery café segment of our industry.

Preferred trade channels include:

City-center office buildings
Transportation centers (airports, train stations, etc)
Hospitals
Universities
Malls

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Domestic
Currently, we are focusing our domestic franchise program in the eastern, southeastern and midwestern United States. These territories fit into our present distribution system and compliment our current company presence and planned expansion.

Specific franchise target markets in the USA include:

Bangor (ME)
Burlington/Plattsburgh (VT/NY)
Syracuse (NY) Rochester (NY)
Buffalo (NY)
Erie (NY)
Utica (NY)
Albany/Schenectady/Troy (NY)
Harrisburg/Lancaster/Lebanon/York (PA)
Pittsburgh (along with company units) (PA)
Baltimore (MD)
Toledo (OH)
Milwaukee (WI)
Grand Rapids (MI)
St. Louis (MO)
Knoxville (TN)
Nashville (TN)
Memphis TN)
West Palm/Ft. Pierce (FL)
Louisville (KY)
Cedar Rapids (IA)
Northwest Indiana

Please note: We are approximately 5-7 years away from entering markets west of the Rockies.

International
Internationally we are focusing new development in Asian and Middle Eastern territories. We have already signed Master Franchise Agreements (MFA) for India and the entire Gulf region of the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA). This MENA territory includes Egypt, Dubai, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. We recently opened several MENA cafes in Dubai and Kuwait City, and we are expected to open cafes in India in mid-2009.

Au Bon Pain is excited about strategically building a global brand! Please check our web site periodically for updates.

Real Estate
Location is integral to the success of a cafe. As an independent business entity the franchisee is responsible for creating a development plan, selecting all café locations within an Area Development Agreement (ADA) and negotiating all lease terms.

Au Bon Pain will provide assistance in creating a plan that incorporates all of our preferred trade channels, but generally speaking the real estate plan is the responsibility of the franchisee.

Real Estate Process & Trade Channels
When a potential café location is being considered a Site Information Package is submitted to the ABP real estate committee. All franchise real estate locations are reviewed by the same real estate committee that reviews corporate locations.

Au Bon Pain’s real estate model is to open cafes in locations that have a significant captured customer population that come to the area based on large sales generators. Each Au Bon Pain trade channel presents unique real estate opportunities and challenges, but in general, we seek a ten (10) year lease with several option periods of five (5) years each. Some additional factors are presented below:

Business and Industry (B&I) locations are cafes operating in large office buildings in central business districts. Cafes are generally 2,500 to 3,500 square feet and they offer access to a primary street and a building lobby. The trade area for a B&I café is about two to three city blocks. The target customers in this type of location are mainly office workers. Peak serving times are breakfast and lunch and morning/afternoon snack periods.

Hospital cafes are located in the main lobby of large hospitals. Cafes are generally 2,500 to 3,500 square feet and may be open 24 hours, 7 days per week depending on the size and feeding needs of the hospital. Target customers are hospital employees and patient visitors. We generally seek hospitals with at least 3,500 full time equivalent employees. The hospital trade channel offers an opportunity to operate many satellite cafes from a master café.

Transportation Center cafes are located in airports and train stations. Cafes are generally 1,700 to 3,000 square feet. Customers are travelers and employees who seek quick grab-and-go meal solutions. Often these cafes will have limited seating and offer the opportunity to operate many satellite cafes from a master café.

University cafes operate usually on college and university grounds and sometimes within a short walk of dorms and central student shopping areas. Cafes are generally 2,500 to 3,500 square feet. Customers are the students, faculty and staff of the university. We generally seek to open cafes on universities with at least 10,000 full time undergraduate students.

Mall cafes are located in large, fashion anchored closed and open air retail centers. Cafes are generally 3,000 to 3,500 square feet. We seek higher end fashion centers of at least 1,000,000 square feet for enclosed malls and 400,000 square feet for so called “life style centers” anchored by large department stores such as Nordstrom, Macy’s or Crate and Barrel.

Criteria – Domestic
Because we want to prepare our franchise partners for optimal success from the beginning, we only sign Area Development Agreements (ADA) based on a territorial market with a minimum unit potential of 10-20 locations. (We do not sell single unit agreements.) This ADA multi-unit potential enables our franchisees to build a significant business in an area with solid earnings potential.

In order to be considered for an Au Bon Pain franchise, you must have the financial and management resources necessary to develop multiple cafes.

Criteria include:

Open cafes in one of the listed expansion areas.
Offer quality real estate sites in the selected territory.
Sign an ADA for a minimum of 10 units.
Have a liquid net worth of $350k per unit, or approximately $3-4M.
Provide poof of financing from a bank or other financial institution.
Offer multi-unit restaurant business experience.
Offer an established management infrastructure within the market you wish to franchise.
Willingness to adhere to the ABP system.
A strong desire to succeed, work hard and be part of a winning team.

FAQ
How much money do I need to be an ABP franchisee?

Generally ABP requires cash liquidity of $350k for each potential location, or $3-4M available depending on the size of the territory. Additionally, there needs to be proof of financing from a bank or other financial institution.

How much does it cost to open a café?
Some basic franchise fees include:

Area Development Agreement (ADA) fee is $7,500 per location (minimum of 10 units)
Opening fee is $30k per location
Royalties are 5%
Additional opening costs depend on factors like the territory and location of the café. These costs are disclosed in the Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD). (A Franchise Disclosure Document will be provided upon approval of your application.)

Can I open a single unit?
No. We only sign agreements for territories with a minimum unit potential of 10 cafes.

How many years do I have to open a minimum of 10 units?
The amount of time given to open 10 units depends on many of factors, but generally speaking it is within 5-7 years.

Does ABP provide sites?
No. ABP has a real estate department that will map the area and advise on securing sites and leases, however, all of our franchisees are independent owners/operators and they are responsible for finding locations within our preferred trade channels.

What domestic franchise territories are available?

Bangor (ME)
Burlington/Plattsburgh (VT/NY)
Syracuse (NY) Rochester (NY)
Buffalo (NY)
Erie (NY)
Utica (NY)
Albany/Schenectady/Troy (NY)
Harrisburg/Lancaster/Lebanon/York (PA)
Pittsburgh (along with company units) (PA)
Baltimore (MD)
Toledo (OH)
Milwaukee (WI)
Grand Rapids (MI)
St. Louis (MO)
Knoxville (TN)
Nashville (TN)
Memphis TN)
West Palm/Ft. Pierce (FL)
Louisville (KY)
Cedar Rapids (IA)
Northwest Indiana

What international franchise territories are available?
ABP is focusing its international growth on Asian and Middle Eastern territories. A Master Franchise Agreement has already been signed for Japan and the Middle East/Northern Africa (MENA) including – Kuwait, Dubai, Jordan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. We are currently in discussions with potential franchisees for China, Hong Kong, and Canada so applications for those markets are on hold for the moment while we work out the details.

We prefer to discuss franchise opportunities directly with the principals who will be managing the business. If you have serious interest in being considered, please use the online form available here. Please briefly outline your particular area or country of interest, and provide a summary of your current business experience. List your objectives for the potential Au Bon Pain franchise, and verify that you have adequate capital available for the investment.

We will get back to you as soon as possible with a response, and qualified applicants will be sent an application as the first key step in the franchising process.

Thank you for your interest!

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