• Investment Required
• Investment Level: $ 125 K
• Training and Support: Yes

Hooters restaurants aim for a strongly PG-13 air, where waitresses wear short-shorts and panty-hose and close fitting tee shirts and tank tops, where the customers engage in regular activities like trivia contests and dart contests.  While the company slogan is "delightfully tacky, yet unrefined", the restaurant chain works hard to stay on the "safe" side of titillation.

One aspect of the record growth and steady profitability of stores that's worth mentioning is that Hooters franchises appreciate in value at a reasonable rate – while the corporate office is not selling new Hooters franchises in the US, it's not impossible to acquire an existing franchise.  Many franchise owners have been in the business for a long stretch of time, and are looking to cash out and retire.

Hooters as a restaurant chain has a bifurcated management structure, with Hooters of America, based in Atlanta, and five of the original six founders based in Clearwater, FL.  Hooters of America makes the broad spectrum corporate decisions, while Hooters, Inc., maintains the intellectual property, logos, and determines uniform standards and practices for all restaurants in the chain.

Sometimes, this can result in a great deal of strife and turmoil, when the two organizations are not in synch with one another – for most of the 1990s, the two organizations were constantly taking each other to court, though there was a unified front presented to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, when it was determined that hiring women exclusively as wait staff was sexist and discriminatory.  Even after that battle was won (by putting pictures of a male restaurant manager in a blond wig and the obligatory uniform, complete with five o'clock shadow and hairy legs), the two sides tried to bury the axe – in each other's necks.  Ultimately, it required a federal court action, the retirement of one of the founders, and a failed hostile takeover attempt, but the two sides have reconciled, and fueled the explosive growth of franchises in the late 1990s.

Right now, the best opportunity to own a Hooters franchise is by setting one up in Canada, Mexico or in Europe, in particular, Eastern Europe, though Italy still has Hooters franchise areas available for allotment.  Getting in to the business isn't cheap – the franchise fee is $75,000, with an additional $15,000 US per location.  However, with typical per-store sales volume running at $300,000 plus, the franchise fee is likely to pay itself out in side of 18 months, which compares favorably to other franchises of a similar nature (Applebee's, Red Hostens).  If you can get one, a Hooters franchise is a sizable investment with a good payback term.

Please note that we are not actively submitting franchising applications to this franchisor from our website at this current point in time. Please do however feel free to browse our other top franchisor profiles, as a number of these companies are currently accepting new franchising opportunity applications that are well worth taking the time to explore.