🚀 Franchise Expansion Heating Up Fast: The Biggest Moves of the Week

Welcome to the Franzy Five — your 5-minute breakdown of the most important trends and moves shaping the franchise market today. This week, we’re seeing major signals around the future of restaurant delivery and the shakeup happening in the U.S. coffee landscape. The franchise economy is shifting fast, and these stories show where operators and investors are placing their bets for 2025.

Also inside:

🚁 Greg Flynn says restaurant drone delivery could reshape last-mile logistics
☕ Why the future of coffee may not belong to Starbucks
🇺🇸 Government reopening and its effect on franchising

Let’s get into it.

🚁 Drones: The Next Frontier in Restaurant Franchising

Summary:

• Greg Flynn, CEO of Flynn Group’s 3,000-unit empire, believes drone delivery will be “utterly ubiquitous” within ten years

• Zipline, the medical-delivery pioneer turned retail operator, is expanding into major metros with restaurant partners including Panera, Chipotle, Wendy’s, and Dave’s Hot Chicken

• The big pitch for operators: drones could finally break restaurants’ costly dependence on third-party delivery platforms

Our Take:

Drone delivery is no longer a moonshot. When the largest franchise operator in the country starts repositioning his business around it, that is a signal investors should not ignore. The unit economics are still evolving, but the strategic upside is obvious. Faster delivery, lower labor costs, and a path away from the razor thin margins crushed by third-party platforms.

This is the first real alternative to the DoorDash tax, and early operators in this space will get a front-row seat to a consumer behavior shift that could rival the rise of drive-thrus. The only question left: who gets there first, and who gets disrupted along the way.

Link to Franchise Times →

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☕ Why the Future of Coffee Might Not Belong to Starbucks

Summary:

• Starbucks and Dunkin’ still control roughly 85 percent of U.S. coffee sales, but a new wave of drive-thru focused brands is eating into their dominance

• Dutch Bros has doubled to 1,000 shops since 2021 and plans to hit more than 2,000 by decade’s end, powered by Gen Z who overwhelmingly prefer icy, customizable, highly caffeinated drinks

• With revenue rising from $498 million in 2021 to $1.3 billion last year, Dutch Bros and competitors like 7 Brew and Black Rock are proving that the real growth engine in coffee lives in the drive-thru, not the café

Our Take:

This isn’t just a wake-up call for Starbucks, it’s a signal for franchise investors: the coffee category is still very viable, but the brands that grow fastest won’t just be the biggest, they’ll be the most nimble.

Drive-thru models, seamless mobile integration and experiential branding are proving to matter more than sheer store count.

For investors, the opportunity lies in the rising wave of coffee concepts built for speed, social engagement and younger demographics, not just the old coffeehouse formula.

Link to WSJ →

🇺🇸 Government Reopens, Franchises Breathe Again

Summary:

• After a 43 day shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, the government has officially reopened with funding secured through January 30

• SBA backed loans, federal permitting and regulatory reviews are back online after weeks of delays that stalled franchise openings and slowed systemwide growth

• Consumer confidence took a hit during the closure, creating a ripple effect across small businesses that may take time to fully recover

Our Take:

A government shutdown is more than a political story. It hits the franchise sector right where it hurts, because this industry runs on confidence, capital and predictable timelines. When the SBA pipeline freezes for six weeks, deals stall, openings slide, and franchisors feel the royalty drag almost immediately.

The encouraging news is that the lights are back on. But the real recovery will show up in the next 60 to 120 days as lenders clear their backlog, buyers regain conviction and delayed openings finally come online. For franchise investors, this is a reminder that macro volatility matters just as much as unit economics.

Link to 1851 Franchise →

📰 Other News in Franchising

🏠 Authority Brands Signs 200+ New Franchise Owners in First 10 Months of 2025 (PR Newswire)

📈 Top Franchises of 2025 Outperforming Independent Businesses (1851 Franchise)

☕ Flynn Group Shifts Gears With a 160-Unit 7 Brew Agreement (Franchise Times)

🍔 Culver’s Founder on Their Growth Strategy and Franchising “The Right Way” (Franchise Times)