Tijuana Flats Caps Franchises

Orlando Sentinel:

There’s been a change of course for fast-casual dining chain Tijuana Flats.

After nearly 5 years of franchising its Tex-Mex concept to markets throughout Florida and beyond, the Orlando restaurant company has said, no more.

Tijuana Flats has gotten out of the franchise business, opting instead to grow its business through existing partners and corporate stores. The company has about 50 restaurants, with more than a dozen in Central Florida.

‘There are so many companies out there that are just franchise machines,’ said Brian Wheeler, founder of the company. ‘When you do that, you can lose the integrity of the brand.’

Within the past year, Tijuana Flats has announced franchise forays into states such as North Carolina and Pennsylvania. They recently repurchased failing franchises in Pensacola and Fort Walton Beach and have worked for a turnaround at those sites, Wheeler said.

The company saw a 28% increase in earnings for the first 4 months of this year compared with last, and same-store sales – a key industry gauge of performance – increased 8.5%, the company said. Projected annual sales for 2007 are $45 million.

‘We realized that we didn’t want to have a franchise company,’ Wheeler said of the decision to cap franchisees. ‘We’re operators. We love running restaurants, and we’re good at it.’

About 5 years ago… read on.