Welcome to Proud Willie’s Wings and Stuff.  We are a business that knows what it’s doing, keeps it simple and does what we do extremely well.  The result: one unique franchise opportunity.

There are four facets of the Proud Willie’s concept that work together to make this a unique franchise opportunity.  First, it all began with a simple idea:  serving chicken wings, burgers, chicken sandwiches and a few other menu items such as Cheesy Tots (the “Stuff”) to the university community in Auburn, Alabama.  Second, we decided to make our lives easier by offering take-out and delivery service only.  This decision led to a number of advantages, including:

• No dining room required, so less space on which to pay rent and fewer staff needed to serve and clean up after customers;
• Lower real estate costs because not only do we require fewer square feet but also we do not need the maximum visibility, most accessible locations (in other words, highest rental rate);
• A streamlined, more efficient operation because we can concentrate on preparing the food;
• Lower build-out and furnishings costs;
• In addition to rent and personnel, reduced on-going costs, such as supplies and utilities; and
• The result: higher profit margins and fewer headaches.

A third dimension to this unique concept is Proud Willie’s hours of operation.  We are open for dinner, evenings and late nights.  We might open early on the day of a big event, such as a football game, in order to maximize our large order sales for tailgating and viewing parties.  On a regular basis, however, we open no earlier than 5 pm and close at 1 am on weeknights and 3 am on Fridays and Saturdays.  These hours of operation result in very little direct competition.

The fourth important aspect of the Proud Willie’s concept is locating in a university market.   People come to college towns for many reasons: first and foremost for education, but in addition, for sporting events, entertainment, services available to the public (such as medical care or library resources), professional conferences, shopping and dining opportunities or to visit their children at school.   By locating in a market that draws people from across the region, we have been able to build the Proud Willie’s brand and reputation well beyond our city.

None of these four elements is unique in itself.  Chicken wings are certainly one of the most popular menu items in America.  (In fact, Americans eat an estimated 1.3 billion chicken wings on Super Bowl Sunday alone.)   There are many other restaurants that offer delivery and carry out, other establishments that are open late, and college markets have been the starting point for many successful business concepts.  But, when you take all four aspects together, the combination becomes more than the individual parts.  The result: one unique franchise opportunity.