Last Updated on July 22, 2012 by DeanR
Amato’s Franchise
Amatos was founded in 1902 and first got involved with franchising in the year 2002. The concept for Amatois is based upon the simple but delicious Italian sandwich. Giovanni and his wife opened the first Amato’s shop in the city of Portland on Indian street.
For many years Amatos only served Italian food, however over time it added many other foods to the itinerary and went onto open a bakery. Today Amatos has 12 company owned stores and 14 U.S operated franchises; they have extensive plans to expand.
There are certain factors which makes Amato’s stand out; these include two totally different menus for lunch and for dinner. The history of Amato’s is also used extensively in the marketing of the company; Amato’s is over a hundred years old.
Set up of the Amato’s franchise operation
The franchisor has 12 employees, three of whom are dedicated to the franchise department. Amato’s provides franchisees with extensive training and support, this makes it stand out from many other competing franchisees. The initial training is for four weeks at the headquarters, this is supplemented by a further three weeks at the location of where you plan to set up your franchise business.
In addition to the training, Amatos provides support with the selection of your site; gives help with on site training of employees; permission to use the trademark, access to secret recipes and formulas, a list of suppliers and training material and manuals etc.
Marketing support and ongoing support is also provided. Ongoing support includes internet, help in the grand opening of the franchise, purchasing cooperatives, and field evaluations.
Costs and Requirements of running a Amato’s Franchise
The start up cost for the franchise varies from $380,000 to $500,000 Depending upon the individual’s financial situation; he/she should at least be able to cover around 60-70% of the start up costs. The royalty fee is 6% of the gross sales and the franchise fee is $25,000. Although Amatos does not provide financing it does provide a list of financiers which are reliable and know the ins and outs of the franchise. This term of agreement is renewable for 20 years.
In order to qualify for the franchise you should have net worth of $400,000, and liquid cash of approximately $80,000. It is also important that you have some prior business experience.
Other than the above mentioned criteria, there are many other requirements associated with running this business. These include specific site criteria detailing the dimensions of the shop, the lease and related utilities.
The site location is very important; the site should be located in a busy area that sees traffic of at least 15,000 cars per day. Ideally the store will be located close to office/work complexes and have a roof top area to utilize for in the evenings.
The restaurant itself should have a minimum seating capacity of 35, a parking space for at least 25 cars, and the building itself should not be less than 2,500 square feet.
The lease should be for five years initially, with further five year options available; the rent is very competitive.
The dimensions of the front line should be 35 feet minimum. Utility requirement include, a gas service, water line 1 ½ inch, sanitary line 4 inch, 800 AMP 120 and HVAC.
Contact Details
In order to get more information about Amatos, the address is 312 Saint John St,Portland, Maine 04107 and Phone number: (207) 828 5981.