One bad attitude or ill preparation can disturb the “multiverse” of restaurants

Cookeville – Recently, according to reports, Moes Southwest Grill (Moes) shuttered its doors permanently in Cookeville following what some said was a mediocre product at best, at least compared to other Moes in the franchise.

That begs the question, is it franchise problem or a franchisee problem? Franchise restaurants are only as good as management and employees, right? And the lifeblood of a franchise is consistency across the board. One bad attitude or ill preparation can disturb the “multiverse” of restaurants. To be a Moes Franchisee an investor needs liquid capital of $300,000 and a net worth of $1,000,000. The investment range is $566,300 to $1,585,610, and the franchise fee is $30,500. One would think that sort of investment would be enough to drive someone to ensure the quality of a location, but that doesn’t always seem to be the case.

The shuttering in Cookeville comes on the heels of multiple closings for the fast-casual Mexican restaurant recently. The 700-location chain struggled from 2019 to 2020 with sales falling more than 23% in that time. It also closed 6% of its restaurants, according to restaurantbusinessonline.

Moes – Fast Casual Mexican food chain is aggressively expanding.

However, those numbers have seemed to improve as the company is aggressively looking to expand nationally and internationally.

“We have cleaned up and streamlined everything,” Moes Told QSR magazine speaking on their attempt to improve brand efficiency and improve operations. “The brand has evolved its prototype by emphasizing the importance of catering, third- or first-party delivery and frictionless transactions.”

Moes says it is starting to turn a corner. 

“With the re-design and evolution of prototypes, coupled with the fact that operations are still simple, Moe’s Southwest Grill is starting to turn the corner with sales and AUV growth. New stores are doing tremendous for us, and we have an excited franchisee base,” said Moes.

Is the Cookeville closing an anomaly or a sign of the chain falling back into old habits? Time will tell.

Photo courtesy of Moe’s Southwest Grill.

Ron Moses is the managing editor of the Upper Cumberland Business Journal and can be reached via email. Send an email.

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