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Big Whiskey’s to enter Ark. market with first franchisee

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Last edited 8:27 a.m., Feb. 9, 2016

Big Whiskey’s Franchising LLC signed its first franchisee, a move that would mark the company’s entrance into Arkansas.

Austin Herschend, CEO of the franchising division for Big Whiskey’s American Bar & Grill, said real estate broker Shane Miller agreed to open a restaurant in Bentonville.

“Bentonville is a very booming area,” Herschend said. “If we didn’t get a deal done with this gentleman, we were looking at putting a corporate store there.

“It’s going to be another great place to get our name out there.”

The 5,300-square-foot stand-alone store is targeted to open by September on Southwest Walton Boulevard, near the Guess Who? liquor store.

Herschend said Miller signed a one-store deal, with rights to open another in the northwest Arkansas market.

The projected initial investment range for a single startup restaurant is between $551,000 and just over $1.5 million, including a franchise fee of $50,000, according to BigWhiskeysFranchise.com. Franchisees agree to pay annual royalties of 5 percent of gross revenue. They also are required to spend at least 2 percent of gross revenue on local marketing and contribute up to 1 percent of gross revenue into a marketing fund, which serves all locations, according to the franchising website.

The Arkansas restaurant would be the sixth for Springfield-based Big Whiskey’s. The company operates three corporate-owned stores in Springfield and one each in Ozark and Branson. A separate owner also operates a Little Rock, Ark., restaurant through a licensing agreement, Herschend said.

Last week, Big Whiskey’s officials hired JB&A Real Estate & Tenant Development to explore opening up to three corporate stores in the Kansas City market. Herschend said the company also has franchise leads in Texas, Kentucky, Florida and Tennessee.

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