The nearly 200-unit iced tea chain becomes the third brand at a restaurant-only sales firm whose team includes the IFA's board chair.
HTeaO, the Texas iced tea chain approaching 200 locations in 11 states, has signed with Dine Growth Group, a franchise sales organization that works only with restaurant brands, the firm said Nov. 2. HTeaO joins East Coast Wings + Grill and Sammy's Sliders. The firm is led by chief development officer Carrie Evans, formerly of Chicken Salad Chick, and its team includes Sam Ballas, East Coast Wings' founder and chair of the IFA board.
Outsourced franchise sales is under a brighter light this fall. In October the FTC brought its first Franchise Rule case against a third-party sales organization, which we covered when it settled, and the IFA said the action "makes clear that the Franchise Rule applies to everyone involved in selling a franchise."
Revscale Media (illustration)Out West Restaurant Group runs 61 Outbacks and owes nearly $320 million. Bloomin' Brands has offered $26.3 million to take the restaurants back, which would pull most of Outback's U.S. franchise system in-house.
Yum BrandsYum Brands ended its deal with Encanto Restaurants, and every KFC and Taco Bell on the island closed Monday. Some employees learned about it at the door.
Revscale Media (illustration)Yum says drive-thru voice AI lifts satisfaction 6% and sales about 1.5% where it runs. Taco Bell U.S. same-store sales still fell 4% in the quarter.
TGI FridaysA creditor trustee says former owner TriArtisan drained the chain for a decade. The new management says two more U.S. franchisees are weeks away.
Revscale Media (illustration)The deal folds an AI front office for home care agencies into a scheduling platform that says more than 900 agencies use it.
Revscale Media (illustration)Wendy's, Dine, Xponential and MTY have all drawn outside buyout offers in about a week. Every pitch promises patient capital. None of them asks the franchisees.
