Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm not a huge fan of franchises or the restaurant business in general but definately not a franchise. With a franchise your handcuffed by suppliers you have to order from, policies you have to adopt, sales you have to or can't offer, etc. I think most of the fun of owning a restaurant would be crafting my own menu, running my own promotions and with a franchise that is all handled for you and you have to follow their plan. Also franchises have hefty fees and sometimes more expensive suppliers than you could find on your own. YOur basically paying for the brand recognition and I don't think baja fresh has much brand recognition. I think we may have one in union station in CHicago but that may be burrito beach. I think the whole expensive fast food fad is oversaturated. I would imagine I'm gonna pay like $9-$13 for a meal at this place if I get a meal, rice beans and a drink. I'd rather go to my local tacqueria and get real mexican for less money. Also someone who likes the quality ingredients fresh mexican approahc is going to go to chipolte. My buddy worked for a higher quality fast food franchise for about 15 years, had a deal to buy it, wound up falling through but said he would never go back to the restaurant industry or a franchise again. ALso not sure about baja fresh but many fast food franchises dont let you buy one store you have to comming to buying a whole region or 3-6 stores within a year or two year period
Consumer POV: I like them. They're kind of expensive, but the food is tasty. I don't eat there often - there's not one that's close, and when I am near one, I usually opt for a lower priced option.
Baja Fresh is pretty good, but like the other gentleman said, I think most would prefer Chipotle. Chipotle's taste is much more fresh, if someone is willing to dish out 10 dollars for a fast food meal, they will probably pick the higher quality dish.
Baja Fresh' brand name isn't very strong either. But who knows? Call up your bank of commence or something and see what they have to say about locations available. Maybe Baja Fresh is more popular where you're from or maybe there aren't any Mexican places in your region to over saturate that niche.
When I lived in Idaho before Chipotle arrived they were okay. But once Chipotle got to Idaho I never darkened their doorstep again. Now I live in Arizona and can't recall ever seeing a Baja Fresh, with a Mexican restaurant on every corner it would be tough to compete.
I like BF as a consumer. Years ago I considered buying a franchise restaurant and after some analysis narrowed it down to CiCi's Pizza. However, that was about 10 years ago. I didn't have BF in my line of sight but both share the fact that -- while being fast food and carry out is a big part of the service -- a larger proportion of customers at BF & CiCi's do eat in. I decided not to go into this venture; instead buying more rental properties. My chief concern was dealing with staffing issues.
Chipotle is owned by McDonalds......Why enter a fast food battle with them?
Is that why CMG is publicly traded?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
