Even while Misty Young is launching a franchise program for her family’s Squeeze In restaurants, she’s learning the other side of the franchise business.
Young is part of a group of four investors — the others are from northern California — that won an area-development agreement with Rita’s Italian Ice.
East Bay Ice Empire Inc., the group that includes Young, is looking to develop 75 franchise locations in Sacramento, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties.
It’s the largest franchise-development deal in the history of Rita’s Italian Ice, a Trevose, Pa., company with more than 600 U.S. locations.
The experience with Rita’s Italian Ice, Young says, provides her with a good view of the franchising business through the other end of the lens — the viewpoint of a potential franchisee.
Plus, she says, she’s learning more about the details of operating a franchisor from an experienced food-service company.
