Success Looking for More Places to Happen

From the beginning in 1958 when Matt and Ivan Perkins opened their first Perkins Pancake House in Cincinnati, Ohio, Perkins Restaurant & Bakeries have been about value, quality and traditional food at affordable prices.

For our guests, "Perkins" has always meant comfortable, family-oriented restaurants. For our franchise owners, "Perkins" represents a great opportunity to grow and prosper.

Although the company's basic tenets have not changed, the way we approach the marketplace has. In 1985, when Donald N. Smith organized a holding company now called The Restaurant Company ("TRC") to purchase the Perkins system from the Holiday Inn Corporation, he foresaw a shift in the marketplace. It was time for a well-managed, mid-priced, full-service restaurant chain. It was time for a new level of competitive thinking.

Today, the average first year sales of a Perkins Restaurant & Bakery is almost twice the 1985 system average. Our package of franchise benefits and services is one of the most comprehensive in the industry. Today, more than ever, value is the operative word. Customers find it on the Perkins menu. Franchisees find it in the Perkins brand.

A Solid Brand, A Proven Track Record

Perkins Restaurant & Bakery, with units located in 35 states and four provinces in Canada, is recognized for quality, casual full service dining any time of day. The soundness of our basic concept and the ability to adapt to current consumer trends have made the Perkins brand dominant for more than 40 years. Quality, moderate prices, extensive research and development, and legendary menu variety have kept Perkins Restaurants in step with a demanding public and out of the discounting wars.

A Complete Personalized Support System

With nearly 500 restaurants at the end of 2000, the Perkins system is large enough to offer the sophistication of a significant company, but we're small enough to know our franchisees individually and respond to them on that basis. All franchisees receive personal attention at every level.

What's it like to be a Perkins franchisee? From the beginning, we are closely involved with you, providing a network of support systems we feel are necessary for a successful business. You receive help in site selection and construction management. We provide a complete on-site opening team, followed by on-going business consulting, marketing, training and purchasing.

In addition, our research and development efforts are second to none, ensuring you the best menu in the business, including signature items you can trust.

On-Going Creative Improvements

Our on-going improvements aren't restricted to the menu. We continually refine and improve every aspect of our operating systems, developing new products, better facilities, easier training, smoother operations, more effective marketing and more efficient purchasing. We know that what works today might not work tomorrow. And we do everything we can to make sure our franchisees are well-prepared for changes in the marketplace.

Growth Opportunities

Although the Perkins chain has achieved excellent penetration in some markets, many areas of the U.S. and Canada offer enough growth potential to satisfy even the most aggressive development goals. In certain circumstances, franchisees may be granted exclusive development rights for a designated geographic area for a pre-determined period of time. These special rights help promote fast, solid growth which can help new franchisees quickly establish a strong and lasting presence.

A Lasting Concept - Flexibility to Fit the Site

It's a core concept that never goes out of style and one which offers a wide range of possibilities for serving different markets. We give you the ability to tailor your restaurant to the needs of the community it serves. Perkins Restaurants have built their reputation on breakfast, lunch and dinner. Some restaurants are open 24 hours and some restaurants are the preferred destinations for special occasions and family celebrations.

All stores offer an in-store bakery full of fresh cookies, Mammoth Muffins^®, pies and pastries, giving franchisees a viable retail sales opportunity -- not to mention a special holiday bakery program that guests have come to depend on and appreciate.

Regardless of a restaurant's role in the community, there are core menu items that guests can count on in every restaurant that boasts the Perkins trademark. These include such items as Perkins Restaurants famous pancakes, unique premium omelets, juicy USDA choice steaks, Bread Bowl salads, signature melt sandwiches and our bakeries' mouth-watering desserts. Perkins Restaurants also continually provides new lunch and dinner special options while maintaining the quality and value expected in all of our restaurants.

Strong Services to Support a Successful Opening

Because we operate a growing number of restaurants as well as being a successful franchiser, our understanding of what success requires in terms of services is based on real work experience and practical applications. Our commitment to both our own and franchisee-operated Perkins Restaurants is a cornerstone of our operating culture and, we believe, the secret to long-term strength.

We offer franchisees strong support to facilitate every opening. From helping you find a site to serving the first customers, we provide a full array of resources. For those who want it or for whom it is required, our development staff will manage the entire start-up process from start to finish.

Real Estate, Site Selection

Our real estate representative will help you identify possible sites and trade areas, help manage broker relationships and help ready your site package for approval.

Design & Construction

Our Construction Support Services can help you coordinate the architectural design and construction of your store. We can provide advice on critical design and hiring decisions and provide comprehensive support during all phases of construction.

Financing

We maintain a list of financing sources offering a variety of options which allow the franchisee to tailor terms to meet individual needs. Mortgage, sale-leaseback and construction lending services are available, just to name a few. Equally important, these financing sources are familiar with us, our financial requirements and restaurant financing in general.

Opening

Our New Store Opening (NSO) Team assists franchisees in opening their restaurants. Team members train staff, help operate the restaurant during the opening weeks and help push labor and food costs in line quickly. The crew arrives in waves both before and after opening to ensure a smooth transition. The only expense to franchisees for the new store opening team is the cost of travel, lodging and local transportation for the team members during their days on-site.

Purchasing

One of the flagship systems of our restaurant company, the Perkins Purchasing Program goes far beyond opening support, offering buying power, expertise and follow-through to franchisees. Volume pricing, forward buying and special packaging save waste and time in the restaurant and add up to one great deal for franchisees.

Training

Central to the Perkins operation is a comprehensive and continually evolving training system. All aspects of the program incorporate state of the art, relevant, easy to use materials designed to facilitate self-teaching whenever possible and to gain maximum guest impact from time spent on training. We provide training materials for everyone from the general manager to the dishwasher. We also have special training opportunities for multi-unit franchisees.

Marketing

Combining the best of both worlds, we offer national profile creative expertise balanced with a comprehensive network of in-field marketing support that is unmatched in companies our size. The national team creates high impact advertising for television, radio, in-restaurant and direct mail. In the local market, every franchisee is assigned a field representative to provide personal marketing attention, and franchisees participate in local marketing decisions on a one-store, one-vote basis.

Operations & Quality Assurance

Every franchisee has access to a personal operations consultant, a person assigned to help get the most out of daily operations. This consultant has a proven multi-unit track record and works for you as a liaison between all support departments. Our Quality Assurance program is a learning and development experience for the franchisees and their operators.

Research & Development

Simultaneously focusing on culinary creativity and the realities of chain restaurant operations, our R&D Department formulates upscale recipes that don't require "chefs" to prepare them. These recipes give Perkins restaurants a competitive edge while maintaining a solid operational base.

Technology

These days, you can't run a great restaurant without sophisticated computer software. In addition to our Menu Select program that helps customize daily specials to enhance variety and guest satisfaction in our restaurants, Perkins franchisees share in the benefits of PRISM Management Software, a computer package used by all Perkins restaurants. This software provides administrative conveniences from labor scheduling and management to simplified purchasing and inventory control.

Foxtail Foods^®

Foxtail Foods, our integrated manufacturing division, ensures availability, exclusivity, quality and price on bakery products. We have expanded its capabilities to provide our restaurants with the premium pies, pancake flour, syrups, muffin batter and cookie dough that make a Perkins bakery so enticing. Through Foxtail Foods, we can offer simplicity of preparation and consistency of quality.

Perkins Promise^®

The Perkins Promise® is our guarantee of 100 percent guest satisfaction. Going far beyond any advertising slogan, this Promise is part of a quality improvement system that involves regular employee quality circles, franchisee meetings, advisory councils and several quality monitoring processes. This system gives franchisees and their employees the power to satisfy unhappy guests on the spot.

Sound Business for Today and Tomorrow

For Perkins Restaurants, today's picture is bright and the long-term outlook even better. Appropriately, the investment required for participation is significant. The key question, of course, is whether the investment is justified by the expected return.

We believe it is when the new Perkins Restaurant is well located, well tailored to its market and well managed.

There are many variables beyond the basic concept that can affect specific sites. We cannot guarantee, promise, project or imply that if you buy a Perkins franchise it will meet a specific earnings objective. We can, however, share with you some information that will help you make your own projections about what return you might expect from an investment in a Perkins franchise.

Perkins Franchise Development Process
 
Step 1:
Submit the Personal and Financial Questionnaire included in this packet evidencing that net worth and liquidity qualifications have been met. No money is required at this time.

Step 2:
Attend a Pre-Application Seminar held at one of our corporate offices. During this one day meeting, we will provide more detailed information about services, identify the business relationship and outline our application process. Our candidates have given this meeting rave reviews!

Step 3:
Based on our preliminary review of your qualifications and the geographic area in which you are interested, we will invite you to submit an application along with the $5,000 (U.S.) deposit.

Step 4:
Your completed application along with all necessary supporting documents will be reviewed. Your proposed site will be evaluated and approved, or a more appropriate site will be identified. At this time, you also will determine which of our other support services you will need.

Step 5:
Following approval of your application, a Commitment Agreement will be issued. Upon execution, the balance of the license fee will be paid.

Step 6:
Prior to commencement of construction, a pre-development meeting is held. Company representatives at the meeting include individuals from our Construction and Operations Departments.

Step 7:
Shortly after construction begins, you will attend a two day Orientation Class in Memphis, Tennessee and your management personnel will begin extensive training (generally 8-12 weeks) at one of our corporate training restaurants.

Step 8:
As your store opens, we will execute your License Agreement. One of our experienced New Store Opening (NSO) Teams will be available to assist your management teams during the pre- and post-opening periods. Our NSO Teams are sent in three waves to ensure effective training and assistance throughout the entire opening process.

Step 9:
After final construction costs have been identified, you will provide us with a final cost analysis of your project. The information is used to assist franchisees in estimating costs incurred with opening future Perkins Restaurant & Bakeries.