It’s not unusual for a parent corporation to possess many businesses. However, there has been a tidal wave of mergers and acquisitions in franchising in recent years.
It might be challenging to recall which parent businesses control which franchisees and which franchises are sibling companies. All of the reorganizations make the matter worse. In the following paragraphs, you can check out some of the biggest names in franchising, the owners, some of the companies in the network, and more.
Bloomin’ Brands exists for quite a while. Moreover, it was founded in 1988, and now it has based its operations in Florida. Some of the brands in this franchise include Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, Bonefish Grill, Outback Steakhouse, and more.
Brinker International began its operations in the 90s or in 1991, to be more precise. It’s based in Texas in the city of Coppell. Before it had this name, it was called Chilli’s. And now you may find the brand Maggiano’s Little Italy in this franchise network, too.
CKE Restaurants has its headquarters on the West Coast in California. The brand does business since the distant 1966 and still thrives in the food industry. It all started with Carl’s Jr., and now there are other brands like Red Burrito, Green Burrito, and similar.
Dine Brands Global is another franchise from California, but this one operates in Toluca Lake. This franchise belongs in the category of newer ones as its inception was in 2007. If you’re wondering how that happened, it was pretty simple. The famous brand IHOP purchased the restaurant called Applebee’s.
FOCUS Brands serves its customers in Georgia in the state’s capital. Since starting in 1991, this network now has several brands like Auntie Anne’s, Cinnabon, McAlister’s Deli, Scholtzsky’s, and many more.
Global Franchise Group is another Atlanta-based franchise. Since 2010, its brands specialize in tasty food like sweets, ice cream, pizza, hot dogs, and more. That’s why some of the brands include Round Table Pizza, MaggieMoo’s Ice Cream & Treatery, Great American Cookies, Pretzelmaker, and so on.
GOSH Enterprises, Inc. has been around since the late eighties (1986). One can find the HQ in Columbus, OH. Lennys Grill & Subs and BIBIBOP Asian Grill are a few of the brands associated with this franchise.
Inspire Brands made it to the headlines when it purchased Dunkin’ in 2020. With that being said, its origins don’t go back in history as it started doing business in 2018 in Georgia. That was when Arby’s Restaurant Group became Inspire Brands. Other brands in this franchising network include Arby’s, Rusty Taco, Sonic Drive-In, and such.
Jollibee Foods Corporation is a Philippine food brand whose story began in 1978. Besides the brands Red Ribbon, Greenwich, Yonghe King, and more, it’s in charge of the Philippine tasks for Burger King.
Kahala Brands is one of the franchises with the most brands on the list. Since starting in 1981, it has brought numeral other brands under its wings like America’s Taco Shop, Blimpe, Great Steak, Extreme Pita, Pinkberry, Taco Time, Thai Express, and more. Everything began with a business for smoothies and juices and loom where it is now.
MTY Group represents the parent company of the previously-mentioned Kahala Brands. This Canadian franchise operating from Montreal is enormous. It began doing business in 1979. Now, some of the brands it encompasses are Fabrika, Big Smoke Burger, Jugo Juice, Koya Japan, La Diperie, O’burger, and many more.
Panera Brands operates from Missouri, from the city of Saint Louis. Having said that, it’s a brand-new franchise, opening its doors in 2021. It consists of brands such as Panera Bread, Caribou Coffee, and the like.
RAVE Restaurant Group has been working since 1958 in Texas. It’s a synonym for pizza as the brands under this franchise are pizzerias and pizza restaurants like Pie Five Pizza.
Restaurant Brands International, or RBI for short, has a few investment firms as owners, including the widely famous Berkshire Hathaway. It was formed in 2014 and has operated from the Canadian city of Toronto. Even though it has very few brands, they’re very well worth it and include the likes of Popeyes and Burger King.
Sweet Brands International is another Florida-based franchise. Since starting in 2008, the franchise consists of brands for customers who have sweet teeth. They include Southern Charm Gelato, Smallcakes, and Decadent.
Yum! Brands’ HQ is located in Louisville in the state of Kentucky. This franchise has made its name since 1997 as a group of popular brands. Think of the likes of KFC, Taco Bell, WingStreet, Pizza Hut, and similar, which you can find worldwide.
Home Service Industry
Authority Brands is operating from Columbia in the American state of Maryland since 2017. The brands in this network provide services for different aspects of your house like your pool (America’s Swimming Pool Co.), cleaning and maintenance (The Cleaning Authority), plumbing (Benjamin Franklin Plumbing), and others.
BELFOR Franchise Group is all about maintenance and other services for your home. Further, its story began in Michigan in the not-so-distant year of 2009. Some brands comprising this franchising network are Hoodz, 1-800-Water Damage, and similar.
FirstService Brands operates from Pennsylvania and started doing business in the last century – in 1989. Moreover, it belongs to the Toronto-based FirstService Corporation and includes Paul Davis, California Closets, Pillar to Post Home Inspectors, and more.
Happinest Brands has a name that plays on words, wanting to provide a happy nest or home for its customers with brands like Ecomaids and Mosquito Hunter, to name a few. Its inception was in 2019 in New Jersey.
Harris Research Inc. has been around since the seventies or 1977, to be exact. Hailing from Utah, it consists of brands that include NHance Wood Refinishing, ChemDry, and others.
Home Franchise Concepts is a franchise which does business since 2006 and recently, in 2019, got new owners. Its headquarters are in the city Irvine located in California. Some of its companies are Budget Blinds, Kitchen Tune-Up, AdvantaClean, and similar.
Neighborly, Inc. represents one of the biggest names in franchising home services. Further, Mr. Handyman, Locatec, Dream Doors, Window Genie are just a portion of more than twenty brands in the franchising network. It operates since 1981 and is situated in the Texan city of Waco. You may know it from its previous name, which was Dwyer Group.
O2E Brands is another successful name from the Canadian franchising industry. Operating in Vancouver since 2015, it got several brands like WOW 1 DAY PAINTING and 1-800-GOT-JUNK under its wing.
Outdoor Living Brands encompasses brands like Conserva Irrigation, Renew Crew, Archadeck Outdoor Living, and more. It’s been around since 2008 with the HQ in the Virginian city Richmond.
Premium Service Brands is another Virginia-based home service franchise. It started doing business in 2005 and has a couple of brands in its network. Pro Lift Doors, 360 Painting, Kitchen Wise, and others are a few of them.
ServiceMaster, in the start, was all about moth-proofing. But the Memphis-based franchise now is known for a plethora of other versatile brands like Two Men And A Truck, AmeriSpec, Merry Maids, and others. It exists for quite a while – since 1929.
Stellar Brands has its roots in Waco. These are albeit fresh roots as its inception occurred in 2021. Bluefrog Plumbing + Drain and The Driveway Company are a few of the brands associated with this franchise.
Multiple Industries
Buzz Franchise Brands encompasses versatile companies, yet most deal with pools, swimming and cleaning. In turn, some of these companies are British Swim School, Pool Scouts, and more. The franchise started its operations in 2015 from Virginia.
Empire Franchise Group has everything – from barbershops (No Grease Barbershop) and grills and food restaurants (Barry’s Cheesesteaks) to diners (Thumbs Up Diner) and spas (The Float Spa X), and everything in between. Since its inception in 2019, its primary location is Georgia’s capital Atlanta.
Franchise Group Inc. exists since 1997 and has had quite a history. Since then, it has changed its name to Liberty Tax (1998) and then to Franchise Group (2019). This year was a pivotal moment when the acquisitions started. Some of the brands in this franchise network are The Vitamin Shoppe, American Freight, Pet Supplies Plus, and more. You can find it in Virginia Beach.
Franchise Source Brands International has various brands, predominantly focusing on coaching, entrepreneurship, empowerment, and similar activities. Formed at the start of the nineties in Connecticut, now it consists of brands like DigiKids, The Entrepreneur’s Source, AdviCoach, and similar.
Look Good Brands is a new franchise from 2019 with an HQ in Pennsylvania’s famous metropolitan city Pittsburgh. It came into being with the acquisition of Legends Boxing by the company Deka Lash.
Propelled Brands is new in the game. Actually, it began working in 2021 when NerdsToGo was purchased by FASTSIGNS International. With its base in Texas, it operates across different industries and has the two main brands we mentioned.
Strategic Franchising, on the other hand, has a history in the sector. After it was formed in 1994, it has worked in various industries and incorporated brands like The Growth Coach, TruBlue, Fresh Coat, and others.
United Franchise Group is the owner of brands such as Experimax, SuperGreen Solutions, Jon Smith Subs, and Fully Promoted. It operates from Florida and has been present on the market since 1987.
Beauty, Good Health and Fitness Industry
Dessange International is a reputable and old owner that’s been in the business since 1954. The city it works in is Paris in France. And the brands that it represents, include Dessange, Fantastic Sams and Camille Albane.
Luxottica is an Italian franchise owner that was formed in 1981. Since then, it has been known as the biggest company that sells eyewear worldwide. And even though it’s the owner of just two brands – Pearle Vision and LensCrafters, it designs and provides fashion pieces, sportswear and similar for the ultra popular RayBan, Prada, and similar.
Regis Corporation works with salons for taking care of hair and it has more than 25 brands under its control. Some of them are BoRics, Carlton Hair, MasterCuts, Smartstyle, and others. Based in Minnesota, its founding year is 1922.
Self Esteem Brands is another beauty and health company that has been around for around 20 years. It owns multiple brands, among which are Waxing the City, Basecamp Fitness, Anytime Fitness, and The Bar Method. Same as the previous one, it’s located in Minnesota.
When it comes to WellBiz Brands Incorporated, it should be clear that the company exists from 1983. Since then, it has operated and controlled brands like Elements Massage, Drybar, Lunchbox Wax, and similar. Not to mention that it’s an American company, based in Colorado.
Xponential Fitness is in this category, as well. It expanded quickly thanks to purchasing five brands and adding more along the years. Now it owns Pure Barre, Stride, Rumble, YogaSix, Row House, and more. In terms of its history, it’s relatively new and appeared on the market in 2017, with a location in Irvine in California.
Car Industry
Driven Brands is based in North Carolina and has been operating since 1972. It exists and runs successfully in the auto industry thanks to Maaco and Maineke, which were set-up by two people. Some of the brands under this franchise owner include Pro Oil Change, Merlin, Carstar, Driven Florida Lubes, and such.
As the name suggests, Moran Family of Brands houses various brands like Multistate Transmissions, Smart View Window Solutions, Mr. Transmission, Alta Mere, and others in this industry. As for its origin, it was founded in 1990 in Illinois.
TBC Corporation owns many brands whose name starts with TBC. Usually, they are wholesale and retail ones in the auto industry. Some of the brands are Tire Kingdom, TBC International, Tire America, and more. The corporation has a main office in Florida and has been around since 1956.
Care for Seniors Industry
Best Life Brands is not too known yet, because its foundation year is 2019. Originating from Bloomfield Hills in Michigan, it works with the brands CarePatrol, At Your Side, Boost Home Healthcare, Blue Moon Estate Sales, and similar. Also, it’s worth mentioning that it was set up as a franchising umbrella to provide a healthy and quality life to all people regardless of their age.
Global Franchise Opportunities owns the brands for franchises like iCare Home and iHandyMan. It’s founded in 2015 in Florida.
Cleaning Industry
Clean Franchise Brands is newly formed in 2021 in Tampa. As a company in the cleaning field, it acquired brands, among which are Pressed4Time, Martinizing Dry Cleaning, and Bizziebox.
Printing, Copying and Tech Industry
Franchise Services Incorporated started working after Sir Speedy took control over PIP in the year of 1996. The main location is in California and some other brands that are covered are Multicopy, TeamLogic IT, and such.
Real Estate and Housing Industry
With a location in New Jersey, Realogy operates in the real estate industry for around 15 years. During that time it acquired the brands Century 21, ERA, Coldwell Commercial and Residential, and more. Basically, they are all focused on building and maintaining homes, offices, and other objects.
Retailing Industry
Eventually, Winmark Corporation is known for resale, but there are some new things sometimes. What’s interesting about it is that it has switched its name multiple times since its foundation in 1988. Firstly, it went by Play It Again Sports, then Grow Biz, until it settled for Winmark. Originally, it is based in Minnesota and some of the brands it has under its control are Style Encore, Music Go Round, Plato’s Closet, and others.
Conclusion
All in all, many companies are widespread on the market in their specific fields. Therefore, they acquire franchise brands and operate them to increase their gains. We showed you some of the bigger and more interesting ones, so we hope you now have the complete picture of this type of participant on the market.