A local architect, a property developer and two restaurant owners have one thing in common: They all have an ownership interest in bringing Einstein Bros. Bagels to Springfield.
Rita Baron, principal of Baron Design & Associates LLC, and Terry Reynolds, principal of C. Arch Bay Co., are joining forces with restaurant and nightclub owners Paul Sundy and Jay Hickman to create RT Development LLC.
By June, the partners expect to bring the first Einstein Bros. franchise to the Springfield market, and plans are in the works for three Einstein Bros. restaurants to follow.
Lakewood, Colo.-based Einsteins Bros. (Nasdaq: BAGL) operates more than 330 restaurants on its own, and licenses approximately 100 franchises, according to
www.einsteinbros.com. Baron’s eaten at more than one, she said.
Baron thought the franchise’s menu, which includes bagels, sandwiches and even hot dog and pizza bagels for kids, would be a nice complement to Springfield’s current restaurant scene. She and longtime friend Reynolds had wanted to partner in a business for a while.
About a year ago, Baron initiated a casual conversation with Einstein Bros.’ corporate office and learned the company already was receiving requests from Springfield residents for a local restaurant.
“They said they knew Springfield was ready,” Baron said. “But they wanted to make sure that the franchise would be run by someone with experience.”
That’s where Sundy and Hickman come in handy. Baron first met the two when her architecture firm designed Parlor 88, a lounge co-owned by Sundy and Hickman. Sundy also has ownership interests in Big Whiskey’s Bar & Grill, the Springfield franchise of Whole Hog Café and Fedora Social House. Hickman co-owns four Ernie Biggs Dueling Piano Bar locations, including the one downtown on South Avenue.
“We’ve been in the restaurant management game for a little while now,” Sundy said. “We’ve tightened up our management infrastructure, and this is one of the things that has come down the pipeline.”
Day-to-day operations of the Einstein Bros. sites will be the responsibility of Sundy’s and Hickman’s management company, JP Management Co. LLC.
“(JP Management) has its own in-house marketing and centrally located accounting, so all of our bills are paid out of one location,” Hickman said.
Payroll also will be the responsibility of JP Management, Hickman said. Baron said each restaurant would employ between 15 and 20 full- and part-time employees.
In May, the franchisees will begin hiring for their first location, slated for 1933 S. National Ave., which currently houses Pasta Pronto, across from St. John’s Hospital, Baron said.
Baron said construction should start by the first of April.
“The building is going to be stripped completely and redesigned,” she said, noting that expansion would bring the space to nearly 3,000 square feet. There also will be a drive-through and outdoor patio, she said.
Baron Design will be performing the design work, based on direction from Einstein’s corporate office.
On average, Einstein franchise fees are $35,000 for a single restaurant, with a franchising royalty of 5 percent of gross sales and advertising fees of up to 5 percent of gross sales, according to the corporate Web site. Baron said the fees RT Development will pay are structured differently, since the company negotiated for the territory – which covers Greene and Christian counties – instead of a single restaurant. RT Development is required to open four stores in four years, and the group is targeting major Springfield thoroughfares Campbell, Battlefield and Sunshine.
Representatives of competitor Panera Bread Co. (Nasdaq: PNRA) say there’s plenty of room for another franchise bakery-café concept.
“We focus on doing the best business we can every day, and we welcome everyone into the Springfield market,” said Mindy Spitz, community relations manager for Panera Bread’s Springfield franchisee, Traditional Bakery Inc. “One thing I know about Springfield, is that there are a lot of people here who love to go out to eat.”
Traditional Bakery and its owners, Jim and Gaynell Magers, operate 29 Panera cafés in Springfield, Branson, Joplin, Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Okla., and northwest and central Arkansas. Two restaurants have opened in the territory in the last year, Spitz said, and a bakery-café in Conway, Ark., is scheduled to open in July.[[In-content Ad]]
