Marketing

Pickleman's launches franchise discounts for vets

Doug Stritzel, founder and CEO of Pickeleman's, works in the kitchen. Provided by Pickeleman's

June 2, 2023

St. Louis-based Pickleman's Gourmet Cafe, which has 29 locations, is offering veterans a $10,000 discount on franchise fees as well as waiving the initial franchise fee and royalty payments for the first six months.

"Our family has a long history of military service to the country; growing up as a kid, I was privileged to witness my Uncle Greg's career firsthand," Doug Stritzel, founder and CEO, said in a company press release. "He was a highly decorated Navy pilot, Top Gun School graduate and Commander of the legendary Blue Angels. I remember him flying into Springfield, Illinois, in his A-10, then his F-18, and then one day he showed up in the Navy Blue Angel lead demonstration plane. Greg's commitment to excellence showed me that you can never dream too big. As a product of all of this, my dream was to create a system that provides the opportunity for people to become successful entrepreneurs."

Stritzel's brother, Mike Stritzel, CIO of Pickleman's franchising, joined the Army intelligence branch soon after 9-11 and served in Asia for 10 years in uniform and as a civilian.

"In order to have a healthy, robust, franchise system, we need to continue to add diversity, including adding franchisees from the veteran community that I believe will become some of the future role models in discipline and leadership that others may learn from," Doug Stritzel said in the release.

Pickleman's Gourmet Cafe expects the franchise will be attractive for veterans beyond the discounted term as it recently released its Average Unit Volume numbers for 2022, showing 14.5% same-store sales growth over the previous year and earning $1.442 million per unit.