Franchise Focus

Checkers & Rally's franchisee has nearly 4 decades of experience

Sam Chand owns 31 Checkers & Rally's locations. Finding real estate to accommodate a double drive-thru is his biggest challenge.

Photo: Checkers & Rally's

March 18, 2024 by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Networld Media Group

Sam Chand already had the experience and know-how to run his 31 Checkers & Rally's units when he joined the franchise in 2015. He already owned several KFC and Taco Bell restaurants, and has 37 years of experience in the industry.

Photo: Sam Chand

"I started when I was 15 years old," Chand said, as a delivery driver. "This is all I know."

A Long Island resident, he owns almost all the KFCs in the area. In 2015, there was a Checkers & Rally's operator who owned three stores on Long Island and wanted to sell his business. Chand saw the "exceptional value" in the Checkers & Rally's brand and recognized room to grow, so he took the plunge and bought the three stores that were for sale.

He grew his business by buying out existing franchisees who either got into the franchise business for the wrong reasons or weren't thriving in the industry. He also built new locations in Nassau and Suffolk counties in New York and now owns 25 stores in Detroit, a new market for the brand.

It wasn't difficult going from KFC and Taco Bell to Checkers & Rally's. "It was actually a breeze," Chand explained. "The support is there … and the concept has less than a thousand square feet. … so the cost of opening up a new store is a lot less than a typical Taco Bell, which costs $1.5 million or $2 million."

Challenges

Chand said finding real estate is his biggest challenge, first because everyone's competing for the same plots of land and second because Checkers & Rally's utilizes a double drive-thru concept that requires extra space for lanes.

Municipalities also have concerns about the brands' late nights, especially being open after 10 p.m.

"You can find a store in a shopping center, like an in-line store, but it's not going to be (big enough) for the double drive-thrus," Chand said.

Culture

Culture is important for Chand's franchise, and he hires either people who have been in QSRs for a while or those who are new to the industry. He said 80% to 90% of his workforce is new to the QSR business. He spends a lot of time and money on training, which is critical to building a successful culture.

"We found that over the years, those people are going to last longer," Chand said. "We train our managers not to hire people who have had six jobs in the last two to three years." He wants employees who have stuck with a company for a minimum of three years. "If somebody is jumping ship, we will not hire them. … They do more damage to our existing staff than helping."

It's better to have one right person than five wrong people, Chand added. When he does interviews, he looks to build long-term relationships with potential employees.

"We want this to be a career choice for the person who's walking in," Chand said.

Training is critical, and that means making sure managers have an ownership mentality. Chand asks his managers what they would do in certain situations if they were the owners of the business.

"I always tell them that 'you are the person driving this bus with 19 people behind you,'" he added. Chand said he has a bonus program for managers to keep controllables within their targets. Managers get 10% of gross profits. He shares his P&L reports and teaches managers what it means to run the business.

He supports those employees who want to move up in their careers, even if that means at another job.

"We encourage all of our people to do better," Chand said. "If they have a better opportunity, we'll always support them."

Chand said in the 37 years he's been in business, he's never had to lay off a single employee, a fact that he's proud of. Cross-training is imperative — all of the employees know how to run the fry station, serve as cashiers and cook the food, so if someone doesn't show up, employees can pick up the slack. "I don't know how to do that" is not a phrase in his employees' vocabularies.

Photo: Checkers & Rally's

Franchise support

Chand says the Checkers & Rally's brand is supportive. It's a small company, with under a thousand locations, compared to, say, Yum Brands.

"You can pick up the phone and call the head of the department," Chand said, "but we have never had to do that. … These guys, they act like they're on your payroll. You're not a number to them. You are a true business partner for them, which is rare to find. … Say you need supply chain support. They make the calls for you instead of giving you the numbers."

Future plans

Chand said he is looking for new locations all the time. It's a tough market, he said. He's looking at a multi-unit deal in Connecticut, which doesn't have a Checkers & Rally's presence right now. It's cheaper to build out a Checkers or Rally's store because there's no dining room (just a few tables outside), a Checkers & Rally's can be constructed for under a million, Chand said.

Compared to a McDonald's, Burger King or Wendy's which all have stringent rules about construction, operations and culture, Checkers and Rally's was a "breeze," Chand added.

"When you compare it to those, I think it's the easiest decision," Chand said. "Return on investment is absolutely phenomenal. The cost of operating a Checkers is a lot less than the cost of operating any of the major brands."

About Mandy Wolf Detwiler

Mandy Wolf Detwiler is the managing editor at Networld Media Group and the site editor for PizzaMarketplace.com and QSRweb.com. She has more than 20 years’ experience covering food, people and places.

An award-winning print journalist, Mandy brings more than 20 years’ experience to Networld Media Group. She has spent nearly two decades covering the pizza industry, from independent pizzerias to multi-unit chains and every size business in between. Mandy has been featured on the Food Network and has won numerous awards for her coverage of the restaurant industry. She has an insatiable appetite for learning, and can tell you where to find the best slices in the country after spending 15 years traveling and eating pizza for a living.

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