BENSALEM — Wendy’s, Chuck E. Cheese, Church’s Fried Chicken, Baskin-Robbins: You name it, Jim Rudolph has franchised it.
With decades of experience under his belt as a franchisee, in May 2005 he moved to the other side of the table, becoming a franchisor for the first time with the purchase of Rita’s Water Ice. He plans to grow the 349-store frozen-dessert operation, based here, by at least 70 stores this year.
Rudolph says his experience as a franchisee puts him in a unique position to succeed.
For a franchise operation to thrive, he said, “the franchisor needs to work with the franchisee to understand what is going on with the company, and how you can do things differently. It’s about communication, it’s about being accessible, it’s about listening.”
Rita’s franchisees give Rudolph high marks for his early efforts to keep the chatter lively. “He is physically out in the stores. He has become a presence on the front line,” said Mitch Cove, owner of seven Rita’s stores in the area. “It demonstrates his level of commitment. It shows this is not something that is just an investment for him.”
Vendors too say the novice franchisor has done much to foster good relations. “People talk about being ‘partners’ with their vendors, but [Rudolph and his backers] really are. They bring you in on decisions, they ask questions, they want to make sure that the deal is good for you too,” said Andy Crivaro, president of equipment supplier Sentry Equipment in Blackwood, N.J.
The Rita’s concept may be unique among dessert offerings. Its frozen ice and ice cream concoctions can be had by walk-up service only. Store design focuses on tiny locations lighted up like mini-billboards in high-traffic spots.
The whole thing shuts down for half of the year, opening on the first day of spring with a massive free-dessert giveaway. This year, Rita’s stores doled out some 525,000 complimentary 10-ounce servings of “smooth, tongue-tingling bliss,” according to the company Web site.
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