Garlic Jim's Famous Gourmet Pizza Franchise expands with five state sub franchise agreement

By: Garlic Jims | 5 Shares 888 Reads

EVERETT, WA (May, 2007) – Garlic Jim's Famous Gourmet Pizza®, the first and only "gourmet" carryout and delivery pizza chain, proudly announces a sub-franchise agreement with Franklin, TN-based Cutting Edge Foods for 49 stores to open across Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas by 2013. Cutting Edge Foods will open the first store by year's end, and is actively searching for interested franchisees to coincide with their plans to open the other 48 locations within the next six years.

"I had been doing due diligence on a number of concepts, and found Garlic Jim's to have a unique niche in the marketplace – they filled a void as opposed to a 'me too' offering," says Tom Jennings, president, Cutting Edge Foods. "The concept is fresh, cool, fun and upscale, which is what people are looking for, and the way they want to eat in today's world. The organization has tested and perfected the concept, and I feel I can help grow the brand in the same direction with our shared vision."

Cutting Edge Foods brings 20 years of quick-serve restaurant experience to Garlic Jim's and the marketplace, including involvement with direct operations and real estate development. With an infrastructure in place for site leasing and construction supervision, training, store management and food management, they're ready to help grow Garlic Jim's and bring Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas residents the taste that all who've tried Garlic Jim's pizza have come to love. Cutting Edge Foods will open their first store in Franklin, TN, in the Cool Springs area of Williamson County, by November 1, 2007.

"Our entire senior management team has franchise experience, and our grassroots knowledge in the marketplace was exciting for Tom," says Dwayne Northrop, chairman and CEO, Garlic Jim's. "We met eye to eye on many different ideas and felt that his previous experience would really help future franchisees in his region. His commitment to the concept and understanding of our calculated growth really finalized the deal."

Cutting Edge Foods will use the Garlic Jim's pre-approved training program for all the new franchisees. In an effort to maintain the freshness and quality that everyone expects of Garlic Jim's, all dough will be made on-site at the Cool Springs store, and a commissary will open to support all future stores in the five states. Additionally, Cutting Edge Foods will hold business opportunity seminars for compatible individuals interested in owning a Garlic Jim's and ready to be their own boss.

2007 has already been a busy year for Garlic Jim's. January 18, 2007, brought the announcement of a new 25-store sub-franchise agreement for the Denver, Colorado area. On February 6, 2007, Garlic Jim's opened their first franchise for the Golden state in Valencia, California. A week later, on February 13, the Lakewood, Washington location held their grand opening, joining an already prosperous Washington market. Tampa-based L&D Ventures announced a 100-store sub-franchise agreement for Florida and Puerto Rico on March 1, 2007, followed closely with the first Garlic Jim's bistro opening in the West Seattle Junction at the end of the same month.

ABOUT GARLIC JIMS

Garlic Jim's Famous Gourmet Pizza is proud to be the first pizza franchise to focus on quick delivery pizza made fresh with gourmet toppings. Garlic Jim's in-store system and team member training allows them to make pizza in 20 minutes or less "from order to out the door," thus pioneering the concept "Gourmet, Right Away."

At Garlic Jim's the term 'gourmet' signifies more than just the finished pizza – it refers to the finest ingredients: fresh packed sauces, fresh 100% whole-milk mozzarella and fresh dough made daily, where the customer can certainly taste the difference. Garlic Jim's offers customers two crust choices; hand-thrown thick crust, made with parmesan cheese and buttermilk, or garlic thin; four cheese options: 100% whole-milk mozzarella, cheddar, feta and parmesan; seven sauces: classic red, garlic basil, basil pesto, zesty chipotle pesto, creamy ranch, smoky sweet BBQ or fresh basil and olive oil, and a variety of meats, vegetables and gourmet toppings such as roasted garlic, marinated artichoke hearts, corn salsa and sun-dried tomatoes.

With gourmet pizzas such as Nutty Chipotle™, zesty chipotle pesto topped with spicy sausage, pepperoni, red onions, tomatoes and cashews, Jim's Gourmet Garlic™, basil pesto sauce, marinated artichoke hearts, roasted garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and feta cheese, and Chicken Bacon Ranch, grilled chicken, bacon, cheddar cheese, tomatoes, red onions and creamy ranch sauce, Garlic Jim's is putting a new spin on pizza. "We've gone out of our way to source the best ingredients available to create our specialty pizzas and as a result we also have the best tasting pepperoni pizza you will ever find," says Northrop.

Garlic Jim's has grown from two open stores in 2004 to 36 open stores and 93 franchises sold in 2006. In addition to current locations in Oregon, Arizona, California, Pennsylvania and Washington, Garlic Jim's has stores under development in New Jersey, Colorado, Florida, Tennessee and Texas. With projections of doubling in size in 2007, Garlic Jim's is sure to become the fastest growing gourmet pizza franchise in the country. For more information on Garlic Jim's pizza and franchising, visit their website at www.garlicjims.com, or call 866-918-jims (5467).