Wellington bagel house Wholly Bagels is nearing its 10th anniversary and has decided it’s time to take on the rest of New Zealand.
Founder Charlie Daily has fielded more and more calls over the years from people wanting to open a Wholly Bagels outlet, and has decided 2007 is a good year to franchise more stores.“It’s always been the vision from day one, but we wanted to get the product right,” he said.
He had franchised two of the five stores in Wellington and Lower Hutt and was pleased with the outcome.
“It’s a case of finding the right person.”
Having worked seven days a week in the bagel business since starting his first store next to Midland Park in 1997, Mr Daily says the key to running a successful operation is good service and is determined that should continue. “As long as I am involved, it’s always about the service.”
He knows each of his 100 employees personally, and he wants the same out of franchisees. He intends to pick only those people who want to get involved day-to-day.
“We’re looking for people to invest money, but also who want to work in the stores. It doesn’t work as a simple investment.
“For us it’s like a marriage, I’ve got to get on with them.”
Learning to bake bagels in Washington DC before migrating with his Kiwi wife, he was determined to build his own chain of bagel stores in New Zealand.
The step to franchising took that dream to another level.
“It’s the only way to grow. People have to have some financial risk and capital gain potential to run the stores right.”
Running it right means turnover of anywhere from $500,000 to $1 million for a bagel shop, a value that Mr Daily says fits with the “middle-of-the-road” price tag of $200,000 to $400,000 for a franchise.
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