Boston Globe: "Buying Into a Franchise Can Take Uncertainty Out of Getting Started"

Interviewing a number of New England franchise participants and leaders, the Boston Globe reported, "Buying into a franchise can take uncertainty out of getting started."  As examples of this, the newspaper lists three new franchisees who recently bought franchises during these tough economic times. One being the Monastieros:

For Gina and Gregg Monastiero, it was a five-year journey of investigation and negotiation on the road to opening the region’s first Sonic Drive-in restaurant, which has obliterated company sales records since it opened in late August.

...For the Monastieros, their purchase was made easier by the poor economic climate. They began pursuing a Sonic franchise before the chain was ready to expand into the state. When the deal was finally done, the cost of both buying land and building on it had come down dramatically because of the downturn, Gregg Monastiero said.

Gina Monastiero already runs her own real estate development business and Gregg Monastiero works on mergers and acquisitions in high technology, so they were looking for an investment that would give them a good return.

Even with their management and financial acumen, they’re still relying on Sonic’s support to eventually expand beyond Peabody.

“We didn’t look at this as a mom-and-pop opportunity. Building 20 to 25 restaurants is a very large, $50 to $60 million operation,’’ he said. “To do that, we need strong management.’’ - Boston Globe

The Globe also lists the fastest growing franchise concepts in New England as given to them by the New England Franchise Association.

Editor's note: I edited this headline news summary from the full Globe article that Mr. Dubin published here. - Mr. Blue MauMau