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The Wolf of Franchises 🍟

@franchisewolf

Apr 21, 2024

In 1975, Steve Jobs approached his former boss - Nolan Bushnell - about investing in his computer company.

Bushnell declined the opportunity to own 33% of Apple for just $50k 🤯

He was too focused on bringing his restaurant idea to life.

The restaurant? Chuck E Cheese's👇

Bushnell graduated from The University of Utah in the late 1960's.

He worked as an engineer at an electronics company before founding Atari in 1972.

The company saw immediate success as they invented arcade classics still played to this day.

The game 'Pong' was the first hit.

But even before Atari, Bushnell was more interested in restaurants.

According to Atari co-founder, Ted Dabney, Bushnell was constantly looking at different pizza parlors in the Bay area, to brainstorm ideas.

"Chuck E. Cheese was always his passion project, even before Atari"

Read 20 tweets

The Wolf of Franchises 🍟

@franchisewolf

Apr 7, 2024

In 1894, two companies began in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

By sheer fate, they shared the same name - a fact that would cause over 100 years of bitterness.

One is now a global behemoth, the other just a regional ice cream chain.

This is the untold story of Hershey's:

Milton Hershey is the founder of Hershey's Chocolate.

Despite growing up poor (literally half-starved), he struck gold with Hershey's after shutting down 2 failed candy shops.

His legacy includes Hershey's Chocolate, a town, school, theme park, & reshaping US industries.

Meanwhile, Hershey's Ice Cream (HIC) was founded by Jacob Hershey & his brothers.

HIC was a pioneer in creating pre-packaged ice cream pints, in addition to building their own ice cream shops.

Their products are sold in 33k stores today (including their own shops).

Read 16 tweets

The Wolf of Franchises 🍟

@franchisewolf

Mar 24, 2024

Trader Joe's absolutely dominates grocery stores.

They earn ~$2,100 per square foot, which is more than 2x Whole Foods, and ~4.5x Walmart.

Put simply, they've created an experience that makes customers LOVE them.

Here's how:

Trader Joe's began as Pronto Market in 1958.

Founder Joe Coulombe, the "Joe" in Trader Joe's, pivoted from Pronto Market to avoid a clash with the "800-pound gorilla" of convenience stores dominating the LA area: 7-Eleven.

AKA...TJ's (sorta) owes its existence to 7-Eleven.

In 1967, the first store opened in SoCal - the name was a nod to 1960s Tiki culture, a playful twist on Trader Vic's.

By 1979 TJ's sold to Aldi founder Theo Albrecht, kicking off a whirlwind of expansion, as Joe stayed as CEO for the next decade.

Read 14 tweets

The Wolf of Franchises 🍟

@franchisewolf

Mar 10, 2024

What does the:

• Taco Bell Quesalupa 🌮
• Pizza Hut stuffed crust 🍕
• Domino’s cheesy bread 🧀

and other fast-food items have in common?

Apparently...a secret government agenda to offload 1.4 BILLION pounds of surplus cheese.

Welcome to the Big Cheese Illuminati:

The US government has a problem.

They own ~1.4 billion pounds of "surplus" AKA unneeded cheese.

Most of which is kept deep underground in converted limestone mines - which are temperature controlled at 36 degrees Fahrenheit.

How on earth did we get here?

In the 1970's, a dairy shortage saw prices increase by 30%, leading to the government stepping in to stabilize pricing.

To motivate farmers to keep producing, President Jimmy Carter subsidized the dairy industry - and injected $2 billion into it in a 4-year span.

Read 15 tweets

The Wolf of Franchises 🍟

@franchisewolf

Jan 16, 2024

The franchise industry creates dangerous hype cycles.

Over the last 5 years, I’ve seen the cycle repeat itself many times.

If you’re evaluating new franchises, don’t fall for it. Here's how it works:

PHASE 1: new franchise brand hits the market

The first territories sell quickly thanks to an impressive item 19.

PHASE 2: those early franchisees show proof of concept, and the brand uses that success to sell out the entire country.

Then...things go south 📉

PHASE 3: franchise competitors begin popping up

They use the original brand's rapid growth as a selling point for their own future success.

PHASE 4: rookie franchise buyers fall for the hype and buy into the 2nd/3rd/4th-to-market brand

The result? OVER SATURATION

Read 13 tweets

The Wolf of Franchises 🍟

@franchisewolf

Jan 14, 2024

Operating in just 7 states, Wawa does a whopping $15 BILLION in revenue.

Each year, they serve:

• 200M cups of coffee
• 80M made-to-order "hoagies"
• Over 600 million customers

Oh, and there's gas too ⛽

Here's how Wawa became a convenience store behemoth:

In 1902, owner George Wood shifted his family business from an iron factory, to dairy farming 🐄

He opened a milk processing plant in none other than Wawa, Pennsylvania (where their corporate HQ still is today).

But the first Wawa store wouldn't open for decades...

Before refrigeration was commonplace, milk delivery was the norm.

It wasn't until the 1960s that dairy products were sold at grocery stores.

So in 1964, the grandson of George Wood opened the first Wawa as a way to sell their dairy products: milk, butter, & ice cream.

Read 16 tweets

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