small business opportunities

CARLE PLACE, NY – PRNewswire

1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. (NASDAQ: FLWS) today announced it plans to hire more than 8,000 associates nationwide for positions across its gourmet food brands in preparation for the 2018 holiday shopping season. Hiring is now underway for seasonal roles at Harry & David, Cheryl’s Cookies and The Popcorn Factory. Competitive wages, flexible schedules, applicable employee discounts and new incentive programs are designed to attract passionate, highly-motivated associates. This seasonal hiring initiative is part of the company’s ongoing commitment to providing an exceptional customer experience to shoppers.

“Each year, our seasonal associates play an incredibly important role in helping us deliver millions of holiday smiles,” said Maureen Paradine, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. “As we approach the busiest time of year for our gourmet food business, we’re excited to offer job-seekers rewarding opportunities to build skills and gain valuable experience while delighting gift-givers nationwide.”

Available positions vary by brand and include full-time and part-time roles in high-volume areas such as production, gift assembly and retail stores, as well as call center, distribution and fulfillment center operations. Most of these seasonal roles are being offered in Illinois, Ohio and Oregon. Associates may be considered for permanent positions once the holidays are over.

Interested candidates can learn more about employment opportunities and apply for positions online at http://www.1800flowersinc.com/careers.

Video b-roll can be found at: https://web.1800flowers.com/press/.

MANASQUAN, NJ – College football season is here, and one lucky fan will be a big winner. Jersey Mike’s Subs, known for its fresh sliced/fresh grilled subs, kicks off its annual A Sub Above College Football Tailgate Sweepstakes.

“From our growing involvement with the NCAA and the 31 schools we’ve partnered with this football season, we know college football fans are sub sandwich fans,” said Rich Hope, Chief Marketing Officer, Jersey Mike’s Franchise Systems, Inc. “We’re excited to offer our annual Tailgate Sweepstakes once again this year so our fans can attend their dream game and will think of Jersey Mike’s first for all their tailgating needs this fall.”

One Grand Prize winner will receive six tickets to a 2018 regular season home football game of the Grand Prize winner’s choice scheduled to take place during either October or November 2018 at participating schools. Jersey Mike’s will fly the winner and five friends to the game, and provide a Jersey Mike’s Gift Card for a tailgate party prior to the game.

In addition, five First Prize winners will receive four tickets to one 2018 season home football game and a $100 Gift Card. Five Second Prize winners will receive a $100 Jersey Mike’s Gift Card and twenty Third Prize winners will receive a $50 Jersey Mike’s Gift Card.

Fans can enter through September 30 by placing a Jersey Mike’s online order at www.jerseymikes.com/order or through the Jersey Mike’s mobile app with promo code SUBABOVE10 or, without making an online order, by visiting https://www.jerseymikes.com/promo/cfb-tailgate-sweepstakes and following the instructions.
An additional score? Online orders, using the promo code, receive 10 percent off.

For additional information or rules pertaining to Sweepstakes, please reference https://www.jerseymikes.com/promo/cfb-tailgate-sweepstakes.

ATLANTA, GA  – Huddle House, the nation’s most iconic neighborhood diner known for its Southern hospitality and big portions at fair prices, recently commemorated its 2018 annual franchisee convention, which was held July 22-25 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

Themed “Our People, Our Success,” the convention brought the entire organization together to celebrate the brand’s system-wide successes, guiding principles, sense of camaraderie and community-centric business values.

“Our National Convention is always the highlight of the year,” said Michael Abt, president and CEO of Huddle House. “We get to bring all of our franchise partners and employees from the home office together to inspire and learn from each other. The time in Ponte Vedra Beach was energizing and a solid reminder of how strong a team we all are together.”

This year’s convention celebrated Huddle House’s company-wide accomplishments during its 2018 fiscal year and challenged all attendees – franchise partners, regional marketing and field team members, corporate leadership and vendors – to continue to exceed expectations, lead by example and serve from the heart. The three-day conference included extensive training, educational seminars and opportunities to share best practices across the franchise system.

During the general sessions, Abt unveiled that system-wide sales have increased by 2.5 percent and that average unit volume has grown by more than 7 percent. In addition to this continued sales growth, Abt also noted that the 69 percent of Huddle House restaurants that have already upgraded to its new Evolution design concept are outperforming the older designs by an average of 31.3 percent. As published in the current Huddle House Franchise Disclosure Document, the top half of all Evolution design restaurants posted an impressive average annualized unit volume of $1,002,796.

Throughout the convention, Huddle House bestowed honors on top-performing franchise partners and their team members in attendance for sales, customer satisfaction, marketing achievements and superior operations over the past 12 months.

During the banquet dinner, Abt presented the highest honor, “Franchise Partner of the Year,” to Huddle House multi-unit owner Jamie Hicks. Hicks earned the recognition for setting the “gold standard” for franchise partners throughout the Huddle House system who operate with pride and excellence daily, consistently serve up hospitality to every customer, support the local community and are wholly dedicated to elevating the guest experience.

In addition to Hicks’ impressive recognition as “Franchise of the Year,” several other Huddle House restaurant owners earned awards, such as “Best of the Best,” “Served from the Heart,” “Million Dollar Club,” “Star Marketing” and more.

Based in Atlanta, Huddle House restaurants have earned adoration in their communities for their warm, friendly atmospheres where every conversation, sip of coffee and bite of home-cooked meals are savored. Known for its round-the-clock breakfast, Southern hospitality and big portions at fair prices, Huddle House embeds itself into every community it serves by bringing friends and families together over delicious food, served from the heart.

To learn more about Huddle House, visit huddlehouse.com

For more information on the Huddle House franchise opportunity, visit huddlehousefranchising.com or call (800) 640-7125.

ST. PETERSBURG, FL –  PRNewswire

All County Franchise, a property management service provider offering leasing, tenant screening, rent collection, and maintenance services for residential rental properties, is celebrating the opening of its 50th location this month.

All County was started by Sandy Ferrera back in 1990, as a single mother raising two boys. 18 years later, All County began franchising in 2008. Growing multi-directionally, Ferrera has presided over the rise of a nation-wide property management service provider, now staffed by a team of over 90 franchise operators, and hundreds of office staff.

The company’s focus is on innovation and building tools and resources to support their franchise owners, including website localization, online training courses, and ready-to-implement sales and marketing materials.

Says Mrs. Ferrera, CEO and co-founder: “We have grown a lot in the past 10 years and I’ve been very fortunate to be surrounded by incredible individuals that helped us build the foundation for the franchise. Some of the individuals that helped us franchise back in 2008 are still with us today. So I attribute the success that we have had to those people that helped get us there.”

Upon celebrating his 5th year owning an All County Franchise, Darren Grassmuck says: “All County has a lot of knowledge and they utilized it to support me from day one. Their Best Business Practices have also guided me to grow my business year-over-year. If it wasn’t for their knowledge then I wouldn’t have been able to do it.”

FORT WORTH, TX – PRNewswire

Fuzzy’s Taco Shop has partnered with Share Our Strength’s “No Kid Hungry” initiative in their mission of ensuring all children get the healthy food they need to thrive. Throughout the month of September, guests at Fuzzy’s Taco Shop who donate $2 or more will receive a coupon for a free order of Chips & Queso redeemable on their next visit, while helping end childhood hunger in America.

The $2 donation provides a child with 20 meals through the Share Our Strength initiative. Last September, Fuzzy’s Taco Shop raised more than $93,000 and hopes to surpass that amount this year as they “Queso for a Cause.” In addition to its almost-famous Chips & Queso, Fuzzy’s Taco Shop is also known for Baja-style tacos and other casual Tex-Mex favorites across 144 locations nationwide.

“In America today, 1 in 6 kids faces hunger, so it’s more important than ever to contribute to programs like No Kid Hungry that are helping children gain access to necessities like a healthy breakfast at school and free meals during the summertime,” said Mel Knight, president of Fuzzy’s Taco Shop. “We are excited to partner with Share Our Strength for the fifth year because as an organization, we’re passionate about doing our part in making No Kid Hungry a reality in America.”

Donations made at Fuzzy’s Taco Shop in September will help No Kid Hungry fund school breakfast programs, recruit summer meal sites, and empower families to shop for and prepare healthy meals. The organization also provides grants to hunger-fighting organizations across the country to help them end child hunger within their communities.

Share Our Strength started on Capitol Hill in 1984 because of the famine in Ethiopia going on at the time. While the organization, started by brother and sister duo Bill and Debbie Shore, had many focuses globally for fighting hunger and poverty, Share Our Strength focuses their efforts, now, on making No Kid Hungry a true reality in America. For a list of participating restaurants or for more information on No Kid Hungry, please visit www.nokidhungry.org or dineout.nokidhungry.org.

For more information visit, www.FuzzysTacoShop.com. Like Fuzzy’s Taco Shop on Facebook, follow on Twitter, and Instagram for updates on promotions and your daily fix of taco pictures.

EDMONTON, Alberta –  GLOBE NEWSWIRE

Do you believe in Majik? Canada’s premium juice and smoothie bar, Booster Juice, is set to launch a brand new, seemingly magical product on September 1, 2018. To boost excitement ahead of product launch, the company has kicked off a cryptic blue-coloured advertising campaign that directs consumers to the social media hashtag #BlendItBlue.

“Booster Juice is thrilled to be introducing a fun and all-natural product offering to smoothie fans across the country,” said Dale Wishewan, President and CEO of Booster Juice. “The new product solidifies our commitment to offering fresh, innovative and unique products that support an active lifestyle. The teaser campaign is an exciting way to get consumers talking – we want to know what they think the product will be, so we are asking the question, how will Booster Juice blend it blue?”

Booster Juice’s Canada-wide teaser campaign features all-blue in-store marketing, traditional and unique outdoor advertising, radio and programmatic audio, digital advertising, street-team and social media marketing. The campaign serves to generate dialogue and build excitement by providing consumers with subtle hints about the new product that will transform smoothies into a vivid, beautiful blue, using all-natural ingredients.

The teaser campaign runs from August 16 – 31, 2018. You can view more hints about the secret product by following the social media hashtag #BlendItBlue or by visiting www.boosterjuice.com/blenditblue.

SAN DIEGO, CA –  GLOBE NEWSWIRE

Generation NEXT Franchise Brands, Inc. (OCTQB: VEND) announced today that the company is ramping production and delivery of its proprietary Reis & Irvy’s robotic frozen dessert vending kiosks after a brief delay that forced the company to redesign two key components.

By mid-August, the company had successfully delivered 15 units to franchisees in twelve cities across nine U.S. states as well as the province of Alberta, Canada. “After these initial installations, our Franchisee Support Team, in close contact with our franchisees, made us aware of two separate issues. The first issue was that we identified candy toppings ‘ricocheting’ out of the dispensing chute, resulting in the toppings, in some cases, landing outside of the cup, this resulted in the second issue which was the spillage becoming visible in the base of the unit. As a result, we decided to pause production in order to resolve this issue, which involved the design, prototyping and manufacturing of a newly-designed candy dispenser and drip tray. After thorough testing, we’re confident the new components have addressed the issues, and both previous and existing installations have been upgraded with the new components,” said Generation NEXT Franchise Brands Chairman and Founder, Nick Yates. “We believe we have passed our last design hurdle and we are now moving closer towards full-scale production.”

Locations, Locations, Locations

“We expect approximately 40 finished units to roll off the factory floor this week alone,” Yates added. “We anticipate these units will be delivered to franchisees in more than two dozen U.S. cities over the next 30 days or less.”

Notable locations scheduled for installation over the next 14 days include the Indianapolis Airport (Indianapolis, IN), Dallas Stars Hockey Club (Plano, TX), Houston Baptist University (Houston, TX), First Class Concessions at Fort Wayne International Airport (Fort Wayne, IN), University of New Mexico (Albuquerque, NM), Texas State University (San Marcos, TX), Gulfport High School (Gulfport, MS), Discovery Center (Boise, ID), Columbia Mall (Bloomsberg, PA), Groupon HQ (Chicago, IL), Bluegreen Vacations – Club 36 (Las Vegas, NV), Springfield Mall (Springfield, PA), Laserdome (Manheim, PA), Mockingbird Valley Indoor Soccer Club (Louisville, KY), Wayne State University (Detroit, MI), Oklahoma Christian University (Oklahoma City, OK), North East Mall (Hurst, TX), The Amazium (Fayetteville, AR), Porter Adventist Hospital (Denver, CO) and Quantum Leap (Johnson City, TN).

An Industry Disruptor

With over $170 million in franchise and licensing contracts, Generation NEXT Franchise Brands, Inc. (OTCBB: VEND) is leading the way with frozen desserts, fully autonomous robotic delivery, visual and audio entertainment, and a unique retail experience.

Generation Next Franchise Brands, Inc. (OTCQB: VEND) is the developer of the world’s first fully-automated robotic frozen dessert vending kiosk designed to disrupt brick-and-mortar competitors. Reis & Irvy’s unattended robots eliminate the need for costly rents and employees; significantly reduce food safety concerns; and are capable of operating 24-hours a day.

Reis & Irvy’s-branded signature robot characters of the same name can dispense servings of frozen yogurt, ice cream, gelato and sorbet topped with a selection of six delicious toppings in under 60 seconds. With self-checkout touch screen ordering and payment options, video animation, music and delicious frozen dessert provided exclusively by Dannon, robot vendors meet consumers’ demand for immediate convenience, entertainment and a superior quality product – be it in shopping malls, medical centers and any other high-traffic area.

On June 20, 2018, the company announced a business relationship with five-time Major Golf Champion Phil Mickelson and his career-long business manager and business partner Steve Loy.

For more information, visit the Reis & Irvy’s website at www.reisandirvys.com or call Toll-Free (888) 902-7558.

SCOTTSDALE, AZ. – Cold Stone Creamery®  is excited to partner with the new animated adventure Smallfoot to introduce two special film inspired treats. The Smallfoot Creation™ and Shake will be available from August 29 through October 16.

“We are always excited to work with Warner Bros. and celebrate the release of a new movie, especially a family friendly film about friendship and discovery,” said Melissa Hubbell, director of marketing for Cold Stone Creamery. “Smallfoot was the perfect partnership and we can’t wait for people to enjoy the film and the delicious treats from Cold Stone Creamery with their family and friends.”

Cold Stone Creamery will also launch an online sweepstakes starting August 31. Visit www.ColdStoneCreamery.com/sweepstakes and take the “Which Smallfoot Character Are You?” quiz for a chance to win a private hometown screening of Smallfoot. Fans can take the quiz until September 14.

Smallfoot, from Warner Bros. Pictures and Warner Animation Group, opens in theaters September 28.

LOS ANGELES, CA – PRNewswire

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf®, one of the world’s leading roaster and retailers of specialty coffee and tea, is introducing limited edition “Bright Future” Blend Coffee and Tea for the back to school season to benefit local teacher projects on DonorsChoose.org. The coffee and tea blends are available from August 27th through September 30th and $1 from each sale in-store or online will be donated to fund projects at schools around company-owned retail locations in California and Arizona, and participating franchise stores.

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf® “Bright Future” campaign is part of the company’s Caring Cup Initiative, committed to supporting local communities including everyday heroes like our teachers. The campaign will officially kick-off by funding three local school projects on DonorsChoose.org to support local teachers for the new school year and inspire students to maximize their learning potential. The projects range from helping elementary school kids learn about college, to teaching students healthy “Farm to Table” cooking skills in support of their school vegetable garden, and encouraging Reading Every Day (RED). The remaining projects will be funded throughout the fall.

“The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf® is committed to supporting the teachers who dedicate their time, and often own money, to enrich their students’ education, and inspire them in all aspects of their lives,” said John Fuller, CEO, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf®. “We appreciate the importance of giving back to teachers in the communities in which we serve, and are excited to partner with DonorsChoose.org to fund projects at our neighborhood schools.”

IRVINE, CA – Whether in a sandwich or a salad, The Habit Burger’s Golden Fried Chicken delivers satisfying crunch and big flavor in every bite. For a limited time only, The Habit Burger is bringing back the Golden Fried Chicken Salad, giving fans of their hand-breaded, buttermilk battered, perfectly seasoned golden fried chicken the option of a sandwich or salad.

The Golden Fried Chicken Salad is inspired by the fan-favorite Golden Fried Chicken Sandwich, which permanently joined The Habit menu in late 2016. The Golden Chicken Salad starts with a buttermilk battered, hand-breaded sliced chicken breast, served atop fresh garden greens, with feta cheese, diced tomatoes, crumbled bacon, red onions, carrots and cilantro, and is then tossed in a house-made Southwest-inspired cilantro lime ranch dressing.

The Habit’s golden chicken is hand-dipped into house-made seasoned flour and buttermilk, not just once but twice, before being fried to perfection and custom made to order for both the salad and the sandwich.

The Golden Fried Chicken Sandwich features a fresh filleted chicken breast, cooked to a juicy golden brown and topped with creamy spiced red pepper sauce, lettuce tomatoes and pickles and served on a fresh bun.

Better burgers are just the beginning at The Habit where signature Charburgers are always made with 100% fresh ground beef, never frozen and chargrilled over an open flame. The Habit’s signature Charburgers, grilled sandwiches, fresh salads, delicious sides, and handmade shakes are always made to order.