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DENVER, CO, Nov 25, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX News Network) --
Spicy Pickle Franchising, Inc. (OTCBB: SPKL) fast casual restaurants announced another new location and first drive thru.
Marc Geman, CEO of Spicy Pickle Franchising, Inc., stated, "Even though financing is still a struggle for some, several of our franchisees are positioned to take advantage of a slowing commercial real estate market and sign leases for new locations, which is certainly advantageous for them and positive for us."
We have the first lease in San Antonio, Texas for our Spicy Pickle franchisee that has a 7 restaurant development agreement, and we are relocating a franchised Bread Garden Urban Cafe to a new location which has our first drive thru.
The new Spicy Pickle restaurant is the first in San Antonio and will be located in an existing end cap within the University Square shopping center located at the southwest corner of DeZevala Road and Interstate 10. This mature center offers great visibility at one of the city's busiest intersections and retail corridors. It is also centrally located near some of San Antonio's largest employers and an area where office growth will continue in the years to come. Architectural planning is already underway.
Marc Geman commented: "The San Antonio location brings to a conclusion the site selection and lease negotiation for this franchisee's first location in a seven unit development. From here, we can get started on the design, build out, training and grand opening. The premises will be available to the franchisee at the start of 2009. This process has been as slow as our past site selection and lease negotiations but things appear to be loosening up and we are seeing that good locations at reasonable prices will become more plentiful going into 2009."
The location for the Bread Garden Urban Cafe is in Cloverdale, in the southeast part of the Vancouver metropolitan area. The location was originally built as a drive thru for Bread Garden by the owner of the Chevron station nearby but he sold to another brand and for awhile it became a local donut shop and then a chicken concept before becoming available to us again. Since it was originally designed as a drive thru most of the features needed to test a drive thru location are in place.
Mr. Geman further stated: "We are anxious to try a drive thru location for Bread Garden Urban Cafes as it has all the features that would make this type of service compelling to customers. It serves coffee and pastries as well as sandwiches. We look at drive thru as a move toward the speed of service QSR in terms of ease and convenience of service but with a decidedly upscale menu offering and quality. If this work well for us it opens up a lot of future opportunity for both Bread Garden Urban Cafes and possibly Spicy Pickle restaurants as we learn from operations at this location.
"It's a tough environment for expansion, but there is a bright spot. Commercial real estate prices are coming down, and we are now in a position to negotiate some very favorable terms in prime locations for those franchisees that are ready to expand. We are on the verge of a number of additional new lease signings. We are still looking for locations in several U.S. cities. Our Canadian subsidiary, Bread Garden Urban Cafes, is also looking for a number of additional locations. Western Canada is not experiencing the heightened financial turmoil we have in the U.S., and we anticipate continued expansion there as well.
"We are also continuing to take cost savings steps to bring our overhead down to a level commensurate with the new environment and our ongoing cash flow. Even in these tough times we think we will operate with decreasing overhead and increasing revenue which is certainly going in the right direction."
About Spicy Pickle(TM):
Founded in 1999, Spicy Pickle Franchising, Inc. (OTCBB: SPKL) serves high quality meats and fine artisan breads, baked fresh daily, along with a wide choice of eight different cheeses, twenty-two different toppings, and fourteen proprietary spreads to create healthy and delicious panini and sub sandwiches with flavors from around the world. As a leading "fast-casual" concept, Spicy Pickle offers menu items that are far beyond traditional fast food but without the price point of casual dining. The hallmark of a Spicy Pickle(R) restaurant is quality, service and an enjoyable atmosphere. The company is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, with restaurants open or under construction across 14 states and several more in development nationwide. Spicy Pickle Franchising, Inc. also operates as franchisor for Bread Garden Urban Cafes, a concept with 11 restaurants in the metropolitan Vancouver, Canada area. Bread Garden Urban Cafes serve coffee, pastries and breakfast items as well as lunch and dinner along with a wide variety of desserts. To find out more about Spicy Pickle (OTCBB: SPKL), visit our website at www.spicypickle.com/.
Forward-Looking Statements:
Certain statements in this press release
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