NIFA Q1 Recap: Franchise Growth Reimagined
March 10, 2021
On Thursday, March 4, the Northern Illinois Franchise Association (NIFA) hosted its Q1 virtual event, “Franchise Growth Reimagined.” It was an informative event, centered on a variety of topics including refranchising, finding capital, reimaging and real estate opportunities. We’d like to thank all those who could attend for their thoughtful participation.
The event kicked off with insight from Danielle Scott, a partner at ZGrowth, on reimaging initiatives for Jabz as they refreshed their branding to appeal to a wider audience. The refresh realigned Jabz with current trends to compete with increasing competition. Finding financing for such reimaging opportunities is something that Ryan Linsky of Linsky Capital has seen, as franchisees look to fund these capital investments. Given the state of the economy, Linsky says lenders might not be as eager, but low interest rates make it a great time to refinance current loans.
Brian Kelley of Phenix Salon Suites discussed increased real estate opportunities with landlords eager to fill excess capacity. In some cases, landlords are reducing rent prices which makes it an opportune time to enter key markets. Jon Fischer of Wetzel’s Pretzels says landlords have been accommodating while high traffic areas like shopping malls were closed, but if you’re locked into a long-term lease, expect to only see a rent break for the short-term.
If you would like to view the discussion from the NIFA Q1 event, click here to download the video recording.
We’d like to extend a huge thank you to our panelists, Danielle Scott, Jon Fisher, Brian Kelley and Ryan Linsky for making this event possible. Your insights, strong connections and extensive knowledge of franchise growth, today and tomorrow, fueled a valuable discussion.
In honor of this event, the NIFA donated to the IRAEF Restaurant Employee Relief Fund. This fund provides financial support to restaurant workers in need as the restaurant industry continues to be impacted by the effects of the pandemic. We appreciate those who donated with us.
It’s important that we continue to foster these connections and share best practices in the new year. We encourage anyone who would like to stay connected to check out our NIFA LinkedIn group.
Looking ahead, we are planning several wonderful 2021 events and hope to see everyone in person in the near future. We encourage anyone with topic ideas and sponsorship questions for future events to reach out to Lauren Izaks directly by clicking here.
Visit www.northernilfranchise.org for more information about the organization.
