FRANZY THE WEEKLY BRIEFING | | | Hey there, Welcome back to the Franzy Five. Big week in the industry and a bigger one inside our four walls. This week: Portillo's pulls back outside Chicago, we opened Minnesota's first PopUp Bagels (with a line at 5:30am), a facial bar with real membership economics, Goddard's 700th school, a plumber-turned-sales-coach on the pod, and a free CPA-led webinar on funding your franchise. | In This Edition | 📰 Portillo's pulls back outside Chicago | | 🗣️ We opened Minnesota's first PopUp Bagels | | 🏷️ Brand of the Week: Face Foundrié | | 📊 Goddard hits 700 schools | | 🎙️ From $32K plumber to sales coach | | 🎓 Free webinar: Funding a franchise + taxes |
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| | In the News Portillo's is closing restaurants outside Chicago as its expansion push hits the brakes.What's happening: Portillo's will close a mid-to-high single-digit number of underperforming restaurants outside Chicagoland, most of them this quarter, per Restaurant Dive. Texas was called out as a problem market. Q3 comparable sales rose 1.4%, but traffic fell 0.7%, so pricing did the heavy lifting. Why it matters: CEO Brett Patterson was blunt on the earnings call. He said the company ramped new markets too quickly, added infill locations that pulled sales from its own restaurants and lacked a strong training culture. Portillo's is now shrinking its new prototype to 4,600 sq ft, canceling weak real estate deals and putting capital into existing restaurants first. The big picture: Portillo's runs its own restaurants, but the lesson applies to every franchise buyer. A brand that's beloved at home doesn't automatically travel. Before you buy into an expanding concept, ask how units perform outside the home market, how close the next location can open to yours, and what training looks like 1,000 miles from headquarters. |
| | Heard at Franzy We just opened Minnesota's first PopUp Bagels Some personal news this week. On November 6, my partner Dan Daquisto and I opened PopUp Bagels in the North Loop of Minneapolis, the brand's first location in Minnesota. It's the first of 10 locations we have the rights to develop across the Upper Midwest. It was a whirlwind of a week getting everything set up. Then opening day came, and we had a line around the block at 5:30am. I spend my days helping people buy franchises, and there's nothing like living every part of it yourself. I'm documenting the whole journey on Instagram, the wins, the chaos and everything in between. Follow along at @alexfromfranzy. | | Brand of the Week Face Foundrié A membership-driven facial bar built around quick 20 to 50 minute visits. Investment Range $365K - $622K | Avg Gross Sales $824,121 |
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Face Foundrié opened its first facial bar in Edina, Minnesota in 2019 and started franchising in 2020. The concept is quick, affordable facials, waxing and skincare in a retail storefront. As of year-end 2025 there were 65 bars open in the US, with 30 more signed but not yet open. Memberships drove about 36% of system sales in 2025. Per Item 19, the 53 bars open all of 2025 averaged $824,121 in gross sales (median $694,957), and bars open three-plus years averaged $1,175,365. Franchisees run a 1,400 to 2,200 sq ft storefront, and multi-unit Area Development deals start at two units. Why we like it: recurring membership revenue is about as close to a subscription business as retail beauty gets, and the ramp data is unusually transparent. It's a strong fit for an operator who wants to build a multi-unit beauty business and is comfortable hiring and leading skincare pros. | | By the Numbers 700 Goddard Schools now open |
The Goddard School opened its 700th location this week in Winter Garden, Florida. The brand started as a single school in Pennsylvania, began franchising in 1988 and now operates in 37 states plus DC. Florida alone saw 13 new franchise licenses awarded in 2026, and seven of them went to existing owners. That's the number I'd watch. When current franchisees keep buying more units, it's one of the strongest validation signals a brand can get. | | This Week from Franzy He made $32K a year as a plumber. Then someone taught him to sell. This week on The Exit Plan I sat down with Brian Burton, founder of Blue Collar Closer and GM of Benjamin Franklin Plumbing Phoenix. Brian is a third-generation plumber and high school dropout who took a commission-only job in Las Vegas after a GM asked him, "Is that all you want to be?" He then spent 12 years teaching sales across plumbing, electrical and HVAC franchises. If you're looking at a home services brand, watch this one. Brian cites research that in about 85% of sales presentations the customer is never asked to buy, and he walks through the one scripted question every tech should ask on every call. He also tells me why he never opened his own business. His answer surprised me. | | Franchise Education ROBS, SBA or HELOC? A CPA's guide to funding your franchise Free live webinar, Wednesday, Nov 18 at 1:00 PM ET. The session. How you fund a franchise affects your taxes for years. Michael Reeder, CPA, Managing Partner of Reeder CPA Group, walks through the full funding menu and the tax side of each choice. His firm specializes in franchise buyers, and he's bought businesses himself. What you'll learn. The options (ROBS, SBA loans, HELOCs, securities-backed lines of credit, 401(k) loans, franchisor financing and cash), how to match a route to your liquid capital, retirement balances, home equity, credit and risk tolerance, and the tax impact of each. That includes why ROBS requires a C-corp, interest deductibility, and S-corp vs. C-corp elections. The advanced stuff. Michael will cover how to stack sources, like using ROBS or HELOC funds for the equity injection on an SBA loan, plus the mistakes that trip up first-time buyers: ROBS compliance, personal guarantees and putting your home on the line. Then it's live Q&A, so bring your rough numbers. How to join. It's free. Register here, and if you can't make it live, register anyway and we'll send you the recording. You can catch past sessions and see what's coming next on our webinar series page. We run this series because education should come before any signature. General education only, not tax, legal or financial advice. | | More from the Industry Three other stories worth your time this week. | Foodtastic still wants MTY, even after a no → The Canadian operator proposed C$43 a share for the parent of Cold Stone, Papa Murphy's and Wetzel's Pretzels. MTY's board passed, wrapped its strategic review and named board chair Victor Mandel CEO. |
| Reply if any of these caught your eye. We read everything. - Alex | | | FRANZY Franzy is the modern way to find and own a franchise.
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