Villemarie

VILLE-MARIE COLLECTION Elefant explains, “We’ve been meeting with a myriad of different types of potential franchi- sees. Some are franchisees for other brands, who are looking to extend their business model and get out of their one-target, niche market. For example, if someone’s in the QSR (Quick Ser- vice Restaurant) market with a large hamburger chain, they’re very interested in our Xavier Artisan brand because it gives their guests a healthy op- tion.With Millennials today, the market is chang- ing– everyone’s looking for healthier choices. So, this is the type of franchisees we’re speaking to for this particular brand.” For other brands, good restaurant experience is absolutely required. Elefant is up front about the L’Atelier d’Argentine and Wienstein & Gavino’s brands, saying “I don’t believe they can be run by someone with just management experience. You need to understand the restaurant industry. On the service side, to go back to the Xavier Artisan, if there was somebody who passed certain param- eters we have –with no experience –we would certainly train them. It’s a much simpler operation than a full-scale restaurant.” Ville-Marie Collection is presently in discussions with various prospects throughout the U.S. and Canada, as well as Europe and the Middle East, where they have franchising experience for some other brands with their European partners. They speak several languages within the company, understand the culture of many countries, and are doing their best to expand in a controlled fashion.