Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue II, 2011 | Page 45
P O W E R
P L A Y E R S
Always looking ahead, Panos developed Fresh To Order
(f2o for short), a pioneering “fast fine” dining concept.
“I’ve been in the fine dining realm for
a long time and have always felt there
had to be a way to take fine quality
food and service and bring it down
in a sense to offer a quality meal for
under $10 in under 10 minutes,” he
says. “We knew there was a huge market out there for what we’re offering.”
In 2006, Panos partnered with
his long-time executive chef Jesse
Gideon to open the first f2o, which
features American fusion salads, sandwiches, and entrees such as Almond
Rosemary-Crusted Chicken Skewers
with Crunchy Asian Slaw, in Atlanta.
Daily lines out the door led them
to open five more, including one in
Chattanooga. In 2010, they began
awarding franchises for the popular
new brand.
“One of the main reasons we
wanted to be great franchisees was
so we could be the best franchisor.
Franchisees like us because they see
we’ve run our own units. We know
the pain they’ve gone through, and
franchisees do go through pain. It’s
hard, if you do it right,” Panos says.
“Because we’ve been through it, it’s
easier to be a sympathetic guide for
our franchisees. And you’ve got to be
sympathetic, because franchisees are
not your employees. They’re independent business people, and you have
to treat them with respect.”
f2o has already signed two groups
serving Hartsfield International and
another in Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and the surrounding
area. Projections call for signing at
least five multi-unit franchisees in
2011 to open a combined 15 to 20
stores within three years. By 2015,
Panos expects f2o to have 50 locations open nationwide and another
50 in various stages of development.
“We’re in a position now, thank
God, to double our size in the next
four or five years, because we’ve been
aggressive in paying down our debt
and we have access to capital for significant growth,” he says. “We never
grow for growth’s sake. All our stores
are profitable.”
Multi-unit Franchisee Iss u e II, 2011
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