Fantastic Sams Hair Salons, Nathan's Famous, Contours Express Women's Gym, Hollywood Tans and Wing Zone Target Atlanta for Franchise Development, Plan to Open Combined 150 Locations.

While many franchise systems work solo to develop brands nationwide, five of the world's top franchise systems, including one locally-based concept, have teamed to target the Atlanta market as one. Fantastic Sams Hair Salons, Nathan's Famous, Contours Express, Hollywood Tans and Wing Zone have announced plans to open more than 150 locations throughout the area.

The five some will host the Franchise Road Show Tour, a free traveling franchise opportunities seminar geared toward not only educating prospective franchisees of business opportunities, but also educating the community on the basics of franchising. The concepts will dispel the myths while exemplifying the true greatness of the industry at 7 p.m. Nov. 7 at the Doubletree Guest Suites, 2780 Windy Ridge Parkway, in Atlanta. For reservations, call 1-877-826-7123 or visit www.franchiseroadshow.net.

With 36 salons open in the Atlanta area, Fantastic Sams Hair Salons is primed to develop 44 additional locations throughout the market throughout the next five years, said Jeff Sturgis, Vice President of Franchise Sales and Development for the 1400-unit hair salon franchise.

"For a long time, we have had a strong presence in the Atlanta market," Sturgis said. "As we seek to expand our brand throughout the Southeast, it makes strategic sense to build out the unofficial center of the south."

With eight area restaurants and another six under development, Nathan's Famous, with more than 200 locations nationwide, the all beef hot dog concept born in Brooklyn in 1916, has plans to open 36 Atlanta locations in the next 5 years.

"Nathan's had good initial success in the Georgia/Atlanta market during the last six years," said Randy Watts, vice president of franchise operations. "We have no direct competition for our high quality fast food menu featuring our 100 percent all beef hot dogs and unique Crinkle Cut French Fries. An example of the strength of our menu can be seen when we opened in the Lenox mall. We were quickly voted the best hamburger in Lenox, a testament to the quality and variety of our menu."

Contours Express Women's Gym, with more than 250 units nationwide, has spent the last few years developing its brand in the Atlanta area, with nine locations. With the market size Contours' CEO Jose Perez, Jr. said the market could hold an additional 31 locations, all to open within the next five years.

"Atlanta is a great market for fitness because of the active lifestyles of its residents and the number of women in the market," he said. "We see an under-served population which needs more women's fitness centers."

Hollywood Tans, a 325-unit franchise, has also experienced an increased brand strength in the market, as it recently opened its fifth area location, with plans to open at least 20 more over the next five years.

"Hollywood Tans considers Atlanta an emerging market and one of the greatest opportunities in the country for growth," said Steve Beagelman, Chief Franchising Officer. "Hollywood Tans has just started to develop a presence in Atlanta and because of the growth in the market and the density in population, it is a high priority for us. There are no indoor tanning franchises in the Atlanta market that manufacture their own equipment – and we view this as a huge plus when competing in markets like Atlanta."

Locally-based Wing Zone, a fast-growing national 100-unit QSR chain best noted for its award-winning, 25 flavors of Buffalo chicken wings, with four Atlanta locations, plans to fully develop its home market with an additional 26 locations.

"Since Atlanta is our home town, we have made it top priority to fully develop the market and strengthen our brand here as we continue our steady growth across the country," said Matt Friedman, CEO and founder. "No matter where we open a new location, instantly a large fan base is created because of the power of our menu, which is enticing to a new franchisee. With four strong locations in Atlanta, we are poised to grow the brand to nearly 30 units over the next five years in our backyard."

As a National Franchise Lender, Popular Small Business Capital (PSBC) truly understands the needs and challenges that prospective franchisees may face when financing their business. PSBC lends to hundreds of different franchise concepts all around the United States.

"Most new franchisees will need an SBA loan to finance their franchise business because of either down payment and/or collateral concerns," said Niraj Mehta, Senior Business Development Officer. "Selecting a Preferred SBA Lender is important, however, it is equally important to select a bank that understands start-up franchise financing. PSBC has a uniform yet flexible lending program that will allow franchisees to finance the development of their store, as well as, provide them with sufficient working capital to ensure their success."

Together, the five franchise systems plan to open more than 150 locations throughout Atlanta in the next 3-5 years.
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