Pickleman’s Gourmet Cafe has announced discounted fees and royalties for veterans who become franchise owners in the fast-growing fast casual sandwich chain. With a $10,000 reduction in the initial franchise fee and royalty payments waived for the first six months, Pickleman’s Franchising is letting potential partners know their military experience and leadership is valued.
“Our family has a long history of military service to the country. Growing up as a kid, I was privileged to witness my Uncle Greg’s career firsthand. He was a highly decorated Navy pilot, Top Gun School graduate and Commander of the legendary Blue Angels. I remember him flying into Springfield, Illinois in his A-10, then his F-18, and then one day he showed up in the Navy Blue Angel lead demonstration plane,” says Doug Stritzel, founder and CEO of Pickleman’s Gourmet Cafe. “Greg’s commitment to excellence showed me that you can never dream too big. As a product of all of this, my dream was to create a system that provides the opportunity for people to become successful entrepreneurs.”
Doug’s brother, Mike Stritzel, Chief Information Officer of Pickleman’s Franchising, joined the Army intelligence branch soon after 9-11 and served in Asia for 10 years in uniform and as a civilian.
“In order to have a healthy, robust, franchise system, we need to continue to add diversity, including adding franchisees from the veteran community that I believe will become some of the future role models in discipline and leadership that others may learn from,” said Doug.
Pickleman’s Gourmet Cafe expects the franchise will be attractive for veterans beyond the discounted terms. The company recently released its Average Unit Volume numbers for 2022, showing impressive 14.5 percent same store sales growth over the previous year and putting it at the top of the Fast Casual sandwich sector at $1.442 million per unit, making Pickleman’s franchise ownership much more valuable than many other franchises. The veterans’ royalty discount has an estimated value of $35,000 - $45,000.
The company has achieved this impressive year-over-year same store sales growth while simultaneously upgrading and continuously improving the quality of the ingredients in the food, making news for the rejection of antibiotics, unhealthy oils and other preservatives and fillers. Pickleman’s takes an artisan approach to the food it serves, making many items from scratch, on site, daily such as its number one best selling item, chocolate chip cookies.
