Page 116 - Entrepreneur - USA (January - February 2020)
P. 116
THE FRANCHISE
→ ROOM TO SHRINK
A restaurant build-out
can cost hundreds of
thousands of dollars. But
what if all you really need is
the kitchen?
og Haus is the kind of place designed to spend time in. It he realized he could—but it would require ditching almost every-
serves dogs, burgers, beers, and the like, and its wide-open thing Dog Haus is known for. No high ceilings. No art on the wall. No
Dspace captures the vibe of a beer hall—industrial but clean, tables where customers could sit and snap Instagram photos of their
with high ceilings, wall-size graphics, reclaimed-wood-and-steel pastrami- and arugula-piled dogs. In fact, no way for a customer to
tables, and music trendy enough to draw in young customers. The spend any time there at all, because there wouldn’t even be a front
first time Jesse Koontz checked it out, he wanted to spend more time door for them to walk through.
there, too. “I just immediately fell in love with the concept,” he says. Instead, Koontz would open in what’s come to be called a “ghost
“I walked in and was like, ‘This place is cool.’ ” kitchen.” Most consumers never see it, or care about it, or even know
Koontz set out to become a franchisee, and in 2018, he opened his about it, but it’s there—a place that produces food and, just maybe,
own Dog Haus, now one of 34 spread across 10 states, in Chicago’s will also produce the future of the franchise food industry.
Lincoln Park. Shortly after he opened it, Koontz started think- PHOTOGR APH COURTESY OF DOG HAUS
ing about a second location. He wanted one closer to downtown ANYONE IN THE restaurant business knows the trends: People are as
Chicago, where foot traffic is especially high. But the cost gave him hungry as they’ve ever been, and they’re willing to spend money on
pause. A full Dog Haus launch can cost more than half a million dol- food. But they’re also focused on convenience. Workers are happy to
lars. Did he really want to take another gamble that big? eat lunch at desks, and when they return home at the end of the day,
What he really wanted was a way to test the market first. Then they have endless streaming to entertain them during dinner. f
114 / ENTREPRENEUR.COM / January-February 2020
