Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue IV, 2011 | Page 64

Restaurant Group).
Originally, Wolken had planned to open
traditional brick-and-mortar stores, but
the mobile trucks offered him a way to
get into the Gandolfo’s brand for about
a third of the cost of a physical location,
healthy revenue numbers, lower overhead, and the opportunity to identify
strong market areas that might support
a standalone location later.
“I know my market, and the truck
helps me gauge different parts of town
while building awareness of the brand,”

“It takes fewer
employees to run
the truck,” he
says. And did we
mention it also
eliminates the
costs of building
and maintaining a
restaurant?

he says. “One of the things I’m looking to
identify is can the Dallas market support
the Gandolfo’s brand?” He’s essentially
using his truck as a market analysis and
site selection tool. And, of course, his
truck is a mobile billboard to introduce
the Gandolfo’s brand to the Dallas market.
Wolken loves the flexibility of the mobile truck model and says he plans to add
more trucks soon—at least one more by
year’s end. He likes that the truck