The sandwich chain owned by
The program is meant to reduce the barriers to entry for restaurant franchising. Firehouse Subs said it costs between
The company is targeting first responders and veterans because Firehouse Subs was started by former firefighter brothers in
"We really believe that this is tapping into our roots,"
"We have a small number of first responders already in the system. We'd like to have a lot more."
He estimates less than five per cent of Firehouse restaurant operators are first responders or veterans but wants to see that figure hit 15 or even 20 per cent.
Hancock's pitch comes as Firehouse is spending tens of millions on expanding its restaurant count in
In November, Firehouse announced plans to open seven new locations across
But as Firehouse expands so are competitors.
Longtime competitors
But Hancock's not intimidated.
"We really feel like we have a distinctive model from our franchisees and then when it comes to our products, our guests tell us the same thing — that we have the best hot sandwiches in the industry — so we feel good putting our hot sandwiches head to head with anybody," he said.
When
McNeish, an associate professor at
For now, Hancock is content to continue in expansion mode and to keep revamping existing restaurants so they are outfitted with a "kitchen of the future" that helps get sandwiches to customers quicker.
"Sometimes they feel they have to wait a little longer for a Firehouse sandwich than they do for some other concepts, so we redesigned our entire back of house," he said.
The redesign included new technology that helps the company steam ingredients in a third of the time the task used to take.
Guests in
This report by The Canadian Press was first published
Companies in this story: (TSX:QSR)
© 2024 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved., source