Paying For The Name Brand

The Star Press:

Is there a Honeybaked Ham in your future?

Not in the sense of whether you’ll be buying and eating one of the upscale entreés, but whether you’ll buy your way into the company.

Honeybaked Ham officials recently contacted The Star Press to talk about their desire to expand their franchising operation into the Muncie area.

‘We recognize that the Muncie market is one that would be a ripe market for us to have a new franchise there,’ said Jim Squire, director of franchise development for Honeybaked Ham Co. and Cafe.

Franchises like Honeybaked Ham, McDonald’s and Subway can be a means for people to get into business without starting from scratch with their own concept. And some entrepreneurs use a franchise as a springboard to their own pursuits: Dave Thomas was a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchisee before he founded the Wendy’s hamburger chain.

But franchises also have hazards. As popular as some franchises can be in one area of the country, customers in another area might turn up their noses, and a poor location can undermine even a well-known name.

Chester’s Fried Chicken - best known for convenience store locations in Indiana and around the United States - opened last year in Daleville, but closed in February after only eight months. The closing frustrated Gary Shadoin, the restaurant’s general manager.

‘In our case, it was timing and location,’ Shadoin said. ‘There just wasn’t a strong draw to pull people off Interstate 69 at exit 34. There was no shopping.’