Franchise group leans on parent IHOP brand in dining-room reopenings
Franchisees of multiple brands in multiple states face heightened hurdles in reopening restaurants in the coronavirus pandemic, but MBN Brands has leaned on the expertise of the parent companies to help it navigate the challenges.
“IHOP has been great. The [parent] Dine Brand guys have been great,” said Leo Nolan, a partner in New York-based MBN Brands, whose two IHOP unit will be re-opening in Augusta, Ga., on May 1.
MBN Brands, founded by Kevin Mulcahy, Michael Mulcahy, Wyatt Batchelor and Nolan, acquired its first restaurants last March and has grown to also include 23 Jimmy John’s and 11 Burger King units in California, Colorado, Georgia, Missouri and Utah.
While rolling waves of states and cities imposed restrictions on dine-in service to stem the spread of the deadly COVID-19 virus in March, they also staggered the re-openings with different rules for different local jurisdictions.
The rules, Nolan said during a Zoom interview on Monday, changed seemingly by the hour.
Fortunately, he added, the corporate teams for each of the brands had been working on re-opening plans for weeks. Jimmy John’s is owned by Atlanta-based Inspire Brands, Burger King by Toronto-based Restaurant Brands International and IHOP by Glendale, Calif.-based Dine Brands Global Inc.
