new Social Equity Franchise loan fund that would operate as a sepa- rate nonprofit, so foundations and high-net-worth individuals can contribute to help the social equity franchisees get into their units. The goal will be to raise at least $5 mil- lion or up to $10 million, he hasn’t yet decided. Dee Garrett, Everytable’s sup- port manager for operations and franchise, said the next two owners will probably launch in September, and they’ll get four units, right off the bat. To prepare, each has been work- ing as an area manager operating six units, she said, so four will seem easy. Garrett, who has been working at Everytable for six years, said she spent three decades before that working for Carl’s Jr. At Everytable, she started as a store manager and went through the franchisee training program. She was in line to become the first franchise owner last year, but she said a personal issue prevented that
from happening. “It was heartbreaking,” she said. “This was a dream come true for me, doing all the work and getting prepared. It was something that was hard to swallow at the time.” Instead, however, Garrett was asked to join the corporate team, helping the new franchisees cut through the paperwork and pro- cesses of taking over the business. “I love what I’m doing. It’s for a great mission. It’s for a great cause,” she said. “I share the same vision as our CEO Sam does. I really want to see food justice in every communi- ty. We all deserve healthier options, and to make them more affordable, and not to have to go out of your community to have that healthier lifestyle.” She still thinks about becoming a franchisee someday. “Sam told me we could always revisit it,” she said. “He said, ‘We’re doing a lot of things to bring more revenue to the stores.’ And he has proved that, he has shown that, and I see that today in all our stores.”
FRANCHISEE NO. 2 Aguilar became an Everytable fran- chise owner about a month after Cabrera. He owns a unit in Long Beach, California, and has become some- what of a poster boy for the healthful aspect of the concept. When he first started working there over a year ago, eating Everytable for lunch ev- ery day, he dropped 38 pounds to a now-healthy weight. For Aguilar, “the beauty of the model is the storefront doesn’t need many workers, so your labor cost isn’t crazy high,” he said. He employs two part-time work- ers, and he’s eager to open a second unit. He worked previously as an operations manager for a logistics company, so he feels well prepared. Everytable’s reset over the past few months did not phase Aguilar. “My faith is very strong,” he said. Scripture says to take one day at a time. Becoming an owner was a com- plete change in mindset, he said. “I worked full time for others, but now doing it for myself, it doesn’t feel like work.” IS MORE BETTER? One of the aspects of Everytable’s reset is a plan to get franchise op- erators into multiple stores more quickly. Ideally, Polk would like to see most of the remaining 36 company units be refranchised, though some will remain corporate owned for training and testing. So rather than starting with one unit as an owner, as Cabrera and Aguilar did, the next crop of fran- chisees will start with four. “We’re pretty excited about both the operation model we’ve built to support that but also that these franchisees have now an opportu- nity to run a multiple seven-figure business, north of $5 million in total sales, in their first couple of years,” said Polk. Polk, meanwhile, is creating a
PHOTO COURTESY OF EVERYTABLE
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RESTAURANT BUSINESS OCTOBER 2024
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