BAB, Inc. (OTCBB: BABB), the franchisor and licensor of Big Apple Bagels and My Favorite Muffin has announced its new franchise concept, SweetDuet Frozen Yogurt & Gourmet Muffins, which it is preparing to roll out this year. While BAB will be offering franchises in all fifty states, its initial development focus is targeted for the Midwest, specifically Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio. BAB is currently seeking interested Development Agents, Area Developers and individual Franchisees. As part of its introductory development plan, BAB will be donating 10% of the initial franchise fee from its first 50 units to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, of which BAB is a corporate sponsor. The Company is currently accepting inquiries from interested parties.
SweetDuet, as its name implies, is a fusion concept, pairing self-serve frozen yogurt with BAB’s exclusive line of My Favorite Muffin gourmet muffins, broadening the shop’s offering and therefore differentiating itself from the numerous frozen yogurt outlets already populating the market. SweetDuet Frozen Yogurt & Muffins shops will also include BAB’s Brewster’s Coffee and a streamlined breakfast menu. Franchisees will have the added benefits of opportunities for outside muffin sales as well as muffin gift-baskets. The concept is designed to work in 1600 square feet of space.
BAB believes this new venture to be a logical spin-off of its current franchise offerings. Its President/CEO, Vice President and its Director of Development are veterans of the frozen yogurt industry, all former multi-store TCBY franchisees that, collectively, controlled 70 units during the first generation of frozen yogurt shops that were popular in the 1980’s. Says Michael W. Evans, President/CEO of BAB, “SweetDuet is a natural for BAB. We know the frozen yogurt shop business. We know how to operate them and we understand the customer. But we’ve seen the yogurt stores come and go once already. These trends are cyclical in nature. Right now there is plenty of frozen yogurt competition out there, but what none of these new players has is our bakery component. We know from the performance of our stand-alone My Favorite Muffin franchises that our muffins are unmatched by anyone and they bring in regular customers on a steady basis. Unlike our competitors, SweetDuet customers will have not only an outstanding self-serve yogurt experience but they will become followers of our signature muffins as soon as they taste them.” The SweetDuet Frozen Yogurt & Gourmet Muffins shops will feature a wide variety of self-serve frozen yogurt and toppings as well as a bakery case presentation of up to 20 different varieties of the Company’s proprietary recipe cake-like muffins. Evans says emphatically, “It is this difference that we believe will give us staying power.”
BAB, Inc. operates, franchises, and licenses Big Apple Bagels, My Favorite Muffin, SweetDuet Frozen Yogurt & Muffins, Brewster’s Coffee and Jacobs Bros. Bagels. The Company’s stock is traded on the OTCBB under the symbol BABB and its website can be visited at www.babcorp.com.
