What are you doing to maximize AUV at your locations?

So how’s your catering business these days? What, you don’t have one?! The multi-unit restaurant franchisees below who do, say that catering is playing a role in boosting their AUV and have assigned a person at each of their stores to lead the effort. Beyond providing an additional revenue stream, a catering operation dovetails neatly with community involvement, another key component in boosting AUVs. And both fall under the category of local store marketing.

“The advertising we used to rely on is more expensive and less effective today,” says John Metz, who operates 60 Denny’s, along with three other restaurant brands. “With corporate managing social media and national broadcasting, local store marketing is the only thing left in our toolbox.”

Then there’s the basics. “Most franchise operators will tell you there are two primary paths to growing AUV: operations and marketing. Effective franchisees understand that how you approach both will determine your level of success,” says Chuck Doran, who operates 12 Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken locations. “Once operations are in order, step two to growing AUV is marketing. On the marketing side, our philosophy is rooted in community commitment.” See how he does it. You may want to try out some of his ideas.

An effective employee training program is another way to increase your AUV. “Our teams are trained with suggestive selling skills designed to increase average ticket, incrementally growing top-line sales,” says Tamra Kennedy, who operates 6 Taco John’s. “Our management teams are bonused on those results, and our teams earn raises based on store performance around selling goals as well.”

Clearly, no single tactic will make a dramatic positive impact, she says. “Rather, the combined focuses are cumulative, and when combined with new menu offerings, etc. we see AUV as a result rather than a target.”

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Franchisee Bytes: What is your greatest challenge?

CHUCK DORAN

Company: Owner, Far Hills Development, LLC

Brands: 12 Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken

Years in franchising: 11+

Most franchise operators will tell you there are two primary paths to growing AUV: operations and marketing. Effective franchisees understand that how you approach both will determine your level of success.

For us at Far Hills Development (a larger franchisee of Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken), we believe operational excellence starts and ends with the general manager and their leadership team. We focus heavily on management development and emphasize five fundamentals: employee appearance, hospitality, quality product, drive-thru speed of service, and order accuracy. Each restaurant is formally evaluated once a month against these five fundamentals and the GM receives a written summary. If there are any fundamentals that are not hitting the mark, we then partner district managers with GMs to create a plan of action addressing any opportunities.

To further support growth and to ensure that our GMs feel supported, we meet with every GM twice a month. First, we meet in a group setting for a holistic GM meeting, then we meet one-on-one to have a P&L review. It is essential that our GMs fully understand the P&L; this level of engagement is necessary to develop strong leaders and foster a culture of growth.

Once operations are in order, step two to growing AUV is marketing. On the marketing side, our philosophy is rooted in community commitment. While our franchisor handles traditional marketing (TV, radio, digital), we focus on embedding our brand into the communities we serve, primarily through off-premises sales and catering.

At the market level, we build relationships with sports venues, as well as music and entertainment venues, where we sell our products at concession stands. This elevates our brand perception, putting us on par with national players typically associated with big arenas, without needing traditional ad spend. It also allows us to reward GMs and their teams with event tickets.

At the store level, we partner directly with local high schools through a concession program that allows them to purchase our product at cost and resell it for fundraising. Some schools have generated more than $10,000 in a single year. Introducing our product to students builds loyalty that pays off throughout the school year, especially during milestones like graduation. We also partner with civic groups and churches, reaching people who may not be touched by traditional media but who are deeply embedded in the local community.

This multi-channel approach proves that when you invest in people and your local presence, brand loyalty follows.

TAMRA KENNEDY

Company: Twin Cities T.J.’s

Brands: 6 Taco John’s

Years in franchising: 40

Tamra Kennedy is an IFA Foundation Board Trustee, an IFA Board Member, and Past Chair of the IFA’s Franchisee Forum.

Our approach to AUV growth is grounded in each transaction. Our teams are trained with suggestive selling skills designed to increase average ticket, incrementally growing top-line sales. Our management teams are bonused on those results and our teams earn raises based on store performance around selling goals as well. We also lean on the opportunities that third-party delivery and app-based sales provide and offer our full menu during all open hours, including breakfast. While value does play a role in our marketing efforts, we focus on additional sales that are brought in through value messaging. Menu pricing continues to be analyzed with our brand’s pricing strategy partner. We are keenly aware of the careful balance we need to maintain between covering our food costs and the community’s tolerance for increased prices, so we do not use pricing to drive AUV intentionally. And this year, we have moved to extended summer weekend hours to drive more business to late night. No one tactic will make a dramatic/positive impact; rather, the combined focuses are cumulative and when combined with new menu offerings, etc. we see AUV as a result rather than a target.

YOGESH PATEL

Company/Brands: Currito franchisee, 3 open, 5 upcoming

Years in franchising: 12

There’s a lot that goes into it—marketing and social media, third-party delivery, and finding ways to promote on these platforms have helped us capture new customers and bring them into our stores. Building on that, focusing on the in-store experience we give guests has been huge. We train our staff on how to upsell items effectively and organically at the register, asking if they’d like a side of chips and guacamole and seeing if they’d like to make their bowl into a combo meal. More than that, the importance of making sure that every guest who walks through our doors is thrilled with their experience, whether that’s chatting with them about their day or offering a complimentary side sauce for their meal. Altogether, these efforts allow us to turn new customers into regulars and ensure that our regulars are consistently happy after every visit. And in return, we’re able to maximize our overall AUV at of our stores.

MITCH COHEN

Company: CEO, PerformMax Franchisee Advisors

Brands: 8 of 10 Jersey Mike’s open, 2 more coming; 3 of 10 Sola Salon Studios open, 4th under construction

Years in franchising: 40

Mitch Cohen is the Incoming Chair of the 2026 Multi-Unit Franchising Conference. He is a board member of the IFA and of the Multi-Unit Franchising Conference. He is the CEO and founding partner of PerforMax Franchisee Advisors.

At our Jersey Mike’s there are two ways we do this: inside and outside.

Outside, one of the systems we use is to create a local store marketing calendar for each location. This allows the manager at each store to go door-to-door introducing our products by offering lunch to the business and then introducing them to our catering menu—what we call our “Celebration Center,” offering to provide catering for all work celebrations like birthdays, retirements, promotions, and anniversaries. That’s one way we maximize our AUVs.

Inside the stores, one of the things we do (because anybody can make a sub), is we try to separate ourselves by having our team members engage with the community by participating in philanthropic activities that they choose and feel are important to the community where they work and live. One of our values is, Give to give. We also like to be best-in-class in customer service. Our motto is to kill them with kindness and happiness.

KEITH COOKSEY

Company/Brands: Owner-Operator, 2 Surcheros Fresh Mex open, 2 more in design phase

Years in franchising: 3

At our Surcheros locations, our two key focus areas to increase AUV are online/mobile ordering and catering.

We’ve seen a significant shift toward online and mobile ordering across our locations. In the original store buildouts, online ordering was more of an afterthought, but with the big uptick in digital sales, we’ve begun retrofitting existing stores and designing our new locations with dedicated online order stations to support continued growth. Our stores are located in college towns, where students overwhelmingly prefer digital platforms over in-store ordering. Since prioritizing this area, we’ve seen our daily guest count increase by an average of 60 guests per day.

On the catering side, we now have a dedicated catering manager at each store. Their sole focus is managing current catering orders and building new relationships in the community. We recently catered two wedding receptions and are actively connecting with local wedding coordinators to continue growing this part of the business.

JOHN METZ

Company: CEO & Founder, RREMC Restaurants

Brands: 60 Denny’s, 5 Hurricane Grill & Wings, 3 Keke’s Breakfast Cafe, 2 Wahoo’s Fish Taco

Years in franchising: 23

John Metz is Past Chair of the 2012 Multi-Unit Franchising Conference and former franchisor of Hurricane Grill & Wings, which he sold to FAT Brands in 2018.

We’ve gone back to old-school local store marketing tactics, designating one person in each store to be in charge. In the “old days,” with three broadcast TV stations, it was really easy to advertise. From there, we went to 400 cable channels, and it became much more difficult to advertise. Now we’ve gone into a third stage where people don’t even watch TV; they’re on mobile devices or streaming at home. They can watch a show at any time, anywhere—so there’s no predictability about what, or when, people are going to watch. So the advertising we used to rely on is more expensive and less effective today. With corporate managing social media and national broadcasting, local store marketing is the only thing left in our toolbox.

So you have to go back to personal marketing, hitting the pavement one-on one. In fact, when I had my first restaurant, I went door-to-door and told every business in the area I was open and handed them my card.

We’ve had a tough year so far, profit-wise, so we’ve been looking for ways to cut back. We were using some other marketing channels. For years I’ve gone with rewards networks, but have cut that out. We found it wasn’t effective for us and was fairly expensive.

FRANCHISEE BYTES

What is your greatest challenge?

Constantly enhancing talent and increasing our capabilities to scale the business without losing sight of the nimbleness and connectedness we had when we were much smaller.
—Mike Kulp is CEO of KBP Brands, which operates 828 KFC, 119 Arby’s, 85 Sonic, and 56 Taco Bell locations. In 2016, he was Chair of the Multi-Unit Franchising Conference. He’s been in franchising for 26 years.

Our mission is to “change lives with a purpose,” and everything we do is aligned with that. The challenge now is to scale that mission by providing even more opportunities and platforms for others to thrive within our ecosystem while staying true to our values.
—Lawrence Kourie is Owner-Operator of 22 Dave’s Hot Chicken restaurants. He’s been in franchising for 12 years.

Like many others in this industry, I have a fast-paced management style and high expectations. The biggest thing I hit my head against is the fact that we can’t fix everything in one day. Growth takes time, and I have learned to celebrate the small improvements and wins that compound into lasting success.
—Alex Karcher is Operating Principal of JCK Restaurants, which operates 61 Carl’s Jr., 11 Jersey Mike’s, 8 The Human Bean, 8 Dave’s Hot Chicken, and 1 Hawaiian Bros. He’s been in franchising for 14 years.

When you have an intense passion for excellence, sometimes the drive for perfection can get in your way. Our team has helped me slow down and understand each circumstance before making any assumptions. I am always trying to get better. Sometimes it can’t happen instantly, and we need to follow our proven processes and be patient. The result and outcome we want will eventually come if we’re focused on what we know works.
—Nick Crouch is Co-Winner of the 2025 Single-Brand Leadership MVP for achieving leadership with a single brand. He is Co-CEO of Dyne Hospitality Group, which operates 118 Tropical Smoothie Cafes. He’s been in franchising for 13 years.

Managing different types of businesses requires different leadership approaches based on age groups, licensure, and industry specifics.
—Chanel Grant is Co-Owner of Healthy Living Ventures, which operates 6 Tropical Smoothie Cafe, 3 Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa, and 1 Vio Med Spa locations. She is the 2025 Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion MVP for her demonstrated exceptional commitment to the promotion of diversity, equity, and inclusion in her organization. She’s been in franchising for 10 years.

Finding the right employees can be challenging in our business. We are always in need of qualified, hardworking employees who can handle multiple tasks and adapt to change quickly. Therefore, to find great employees, we choose to invest time heavily in the hiring process.
—Phong Huynh is the 2025 American Dream MVP for achieving remarkable success in his new country. He is Co-Owner of Fuego Investments, which operates 30 El Pollo Loco restaurants. He’s been in franchising for 15 years.

People who won’t get out of their own way.
—Chad Given is Brand President of Sizzling Platter, which operates 361 Little Caesars, 107 Little Caesars Mexico, 185 Wingstop, 92 Jamba, 33 Jersey Mike’s Subs, 31 Dunkin’, 7 Sizzler, 5 Red Robin, and 1 Cinnabon. He is the 2025 Mega-Growth Leadership MVP for achieving excellence in growth and expansion. He’s been in franchising for 25 years.

Time. We have three children, operate six restaurants, and I work full-time as a physician. Having additional time would help so much, so it is important to make every minute count. Time is really your most valuable asset, and you need to structure your day.
—Carrie and Josh Ayers are the 2025 Veteran Entrepreneurship MVPs for outstanding performance, leadership, and innovation by military veterans. They operate 6 Playa Bowls and have been in franchising for 5 years.

Getting old. I feel like the peak years of my career are limited, and I want to take advantage of that time while I can.
—Sam Chand is the 2025 Multi-Brand Leadership MVP for achieving brand leadership with multiple brands. He is CEO of Jasam Enterprises, which operates 35 KFC and 25 Checkers & Rally’s. He’s been in franchising for 27 years.