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Harrien Clark has always had a soft spot for sandwiches. As a19-year-old McDonald's store manager, he met his future wifeover Big Macs while she worked as the restaurant's cashier.
After 28 years under the Golden Arches, Clark, 47, has movedfrom Quarter Pounders to Blimpie subs. The first franchisee underthe Blimpie Urban Initiative for Leadership Development (BUILD)program, he opened a Detroit store in March. With an initialinvestment of $150,000, he's looking for 2001 sales of about$500,000.
"Blimpie opened up a door I thought wouldn't be openingto me," Clark says. The BUILD program started when Blimpierealized it was underdeveloped in a number of major cities."The urban areas were actually very viable," says LanceR. Moore, who heads the program. "We just needed channels toidentify the franchisee prospects and ways to [help] them buildresources to get funding."
Blimpie expects to open five or six stores this year in Detroit;Los Angeles; Newark, New Jersey; and Tacoma/Seattle, Washington.Under the initiative, the company sets up structured informationdays in urban areas, works with the SBA to find candidates,conducts training for candidates to complete their business plansand waives the initial franchise licensing fees of about $18,000.With about 2,000 stores currently, Blimpie wants to have from 200to 400 more stores in the program this decade.
Clark has expansion plans of his own. He hopes to open a secondBlimpie this year and to own a total of seven stores in five years."Once we get this open, we're not going to stop movingforward," he says. He'll have plenty of help, too. Besidesthe support of wife Donna, Clark will enlist son-in-law Chris Jonesand daughter Tiffany Clark as store managers.
Contact Sources
- Blimpie International Inc., (800) 447-6256, www.blimpie.com
- Blimpie International Inc. (franchisee), 09121978@email.msn.com
